If you’ve been single for a while, you’ll have noticed your dating and relationship priorities might have changed. The chances are, what someone is looking for in their early twenties is quite different from what they’re looking for later on, into their late twenties, thirties, forties and beyond. We all change as we get older, and our priorities when it comes to dating and relationships are likely to change too. So, how might what you’re looking for in a life partner change over time? What might you encounter at different dating life stages? And how can you plan for an amazing future no matter what your age?

Amid life’s constant hustle and its highs and lows, we invite you to pause and reflect on some enduring truths. ‘Celebrate You’ is our new short film, created to help you reflect through powerful affirmations, highlighting your unique qualities and the infinite value you hold to God. Whether you’re watching on a big screen at a festival or on your phone at home, take a moment to let each word sink in and affirm God’s love for you and your worth in God’s eyes. Watch and be uplifted by a message of love, hope and personal strength today and always.

The Christmas season is a time for connection, reconnection and new connections. For most of us, it’s a time for being together, for meaningful conversations, and surrounding yourself with the people you love, whether family or friends. A very famous Christmas film opens with clips of connection: people coming home to arrivals at an airport, with joyful connections, hugs, kisses, handshakes, seeing old friends, new friends, loved ones, which fills the viewer with warmth. If you’re wondering how to connect this Christmas, here are some simple ways.

As we enter the Advent season, what should our focus be? According to modern Christian thought, Advent is the season of reflective preparation for Christ’s nativity at Christmas and Christ’s expected return in the Second coming. Whilst we may now see Advent as a season that serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth, originally there was little connection between Advent and Christmas. By the 6th century, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ, but the coming they had in mind was his second coming in the clouds, as judge of the world. The Advent season was not explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas until the Middle Ages. So, how does this history lesson relate to you, as a single Christian today and what could hopeful waiting look like?

When I was on tour during my work as an actor and travelling around the country, I had to do a lot of ‘church hopping’. I would try out different churches in each venue to maintain some sort of fellowship. It was a wonderful chance to try out different styles of worship, meet new people and find out more about the local area. But I was very much single during this time – and being a first time church visitor as a single person can be daunting, isolating and nerve wracking. So, what did I learn that could help?

If you’ve been single in church for a while, you may have noticed that a lot of churches don’t really know what to do with single people. Perhaps you’ve struggled to relate to a sermon, or sat patiently through a 10 minute anecdote about the preacher’s happy family. Maybe you’ve started attending a new church and no one has come to say hello. Maybe you’re just wondering where you fit in. It’s no new fact that many churches tend to focus on couples and families, and single people report feeling overlooked, misunderstood and even unwelcome. The good news is that change is possible – and it can start with us! As an individual, here are a few things you can do to help your church become more single friendly, better welcome and include single people.

Prayer should be a key part of the life of a Christian, but sometimes we wrongly think we should only be praying about serious things or more ‘spiritual’ things, like world peace and salvation. However, the Bible talks about praying without continually, and praying about everything. And everything includes singleness and dating!

When I ask people to list the qualities they’re looking for in a partner, they often say they’d like to find someone who’s living a full life, someone who has good friendships, interesting hobbies and dreams for the future. How do we find that person? First, we become that person ourselves.