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Single
Adult Ministries Agency
Single, but not alone
Pastors report that at least half their visitors are single or single-again.
Because of these numbers, churches are seeing the need for ministry
to single adults.
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Support
and friendship
In 1993, I committed my life to the Lord. I left my worldly lifestyle
and started attending church with my 2-year-old daughter, and
we’ve been here ever since.
 Since
then, I have been part of the singles ministry — in the Sunday
school class and home Bible studies at First Christian Outreach
Center in West Columbia, S.C. This singles ministry has been sensitive
to the needs of single parents and their children, and our pastors
have made themselves available to us for support and friendship.
Divorce care is an awesome ministry to singles. Through divorce
care, I have been able to deal with my parents’ divorce,
that took place when I was 5, and to see how it has affected my
life choices. I have been helped to deal with my divorce and find
my identity in Christ, not in mistakes that I have made. I realize
that I am forgiven, and I am experiencing the forgiveness and
unconditional love of Christ.
— Melanie Todd
West Columbia, S.C.
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"The singles population is too large to ignore, and their abilities
and talents are too valuable to waste," says Dennis Franck, director
of the A/G Single Adult Ministries Agency. "If the church is going to
be effective in reaching and discipling adults, the single adult warrants
our efforts and time."
Recognizing this, the Fellowship organized the Single Adult Ministries
Agency in 2000. Churches are developing ministries to single adults
for various age groups (18-25, 20s and 30s, 35-plus) and need groups
(divorce care, widowed, single-parent family, etc.).
There are many scriptural role models of singles serving in ministry,
including the apostle Paul, John the Baptist, Naomi, Anna — and
Jesus. "We want to release single adults into the service of the greatest
single adult who ever lived, Jesus. He is the best model of what a single
adult can do for the kingdom of God," Franck says.
Some single adults (like married adults) first come to church because
of some struggle in their life such as a broken relationship, family
or employment problems, etc. Singles who are hurting hope to find an
open door to restoration and integration.
Ministry to single adults provides:
• unconditional love and acceptance;
• opportunities to meet other single adults;
• teaching/discussion on issues relevant to the single life;
• ministry opportunities.
In the United States, of all adults 18 years and older:
• 23 percent have never married (46 million);
• 10 percent are divorced (20 million);
• 7 percent are widowed (13 million);
• 4 percent are separated (6 million).
In society 44 percent of adults fit one of those categories. Yet in
most A/G churches, only 23-30 percent of adults are single. George Barna,
a respected Christian researcher, says that single adults are the largest
unchurched group in the country. Single-person households account for
one in every four homes, compared to only one in 20 a century ago.
Look around your church and you will find single adults serving in
many areas, including Sunday school, choir, ushering, greeting, music,
praise and worship, and serving on committees, boards and teams of every
kind. More than ever, congregations are recognizing the important role
single adults have in the church, and that the words church growth and
single adult ministry are synonymous.
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