Creating a Singles-Friendly Sermon
October 1, 1997
For me and for many singles I've talked to, Sunday morning can be the loneliest time of the week. Why? Because we see church as a couples' and families' world. Sermons, announcements, even the way Sunday school classes and small groups are structured can communicate that we're not part of the program.
Yet singles make up 40 percent of the U.S. adult population. We are the fastest-growing population group.
How, then, can you be sure your church welcomes single adults? The good news is that the most significant ways don't require a program or a budget. But they may require a change in perspective. Listen and ask questions
David Fisher, pastor of Colonial Church of Edina (Minnesota) began learning about the single life today when he was asked to preach a sermon called "Single and Happy." To prepare, he asked questions of singles he knew: "What does it feel like to be a single person in a world that's mostly married? How can I describe that to someone else?" He says, "I had to learn to listen with ears that weren't normal for me."
Dan Yeary, pastor at North Phoenix Baptist Church, encourages pastors to gather ten to twelve singles and ask pointed questions: "How can I preach for you? What's the church doing that's helping you, and what could it be doing? Singles will perceive that you care and feel a sense of ownership in the church because they've been given a fair hearing."
As you're talking to singles, be sure to seek out people of different ages who are single for different reasons. The issues and needs important to a single 23-year-old can be vastly different from those of a still-single 39-year-old, or of someone whose marriage ended in divorce, or of a widow. Singles with children will have different concerns from ...
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