“Thank you to Jacqueline and all the Bedford singles team that organised the day, it really did help me to understand so much more about being a christian single.”

In partnership with the Bedford Christian Singles group, Christian Connection hosted an all day seminar on ‘Single Christians: Life, Love & the Church’. It was a special and significant day for many, demonstrating how important and current this issue is for so many people.

The attendees left feeling inspired and understood as they spent the day buzzing with other single Christians.

The key issues that were identified include:

• The need for single people to be fully included in the life of their church.
• No differentiation between people on the basis of marital status; everyone treated as individuals rather than a member of a family group.
• Church leaders listening to single people and taking on board their ideas.
• Teaching and stories which had a wide reach – not simply focusing on ‘family’ examples
• Recognition and referencing of different lifestyles in the life of the Church rather than just the family.
• Addressing the major demographic shift not just inside but also outside the Church and the way the Church will need to change itself from within. The need to reach a growing numbers of people who live on their own, who aren’t yet part of the church as well as those who are.

“Excellent day out learning and meeting new people.”

The afternoon focussed on online dating and how to make it work for you. We looked at some of the enablers and blockers to online dating, as well as some practical tips to consider when choosing a photo and writing a profile.

For more great tips on online dating visit our previous blog ‘Online dating: how to make it work for you’.

Overall, it was a great time of meeting new people and making friends with the coffee and lunch breaks buzzing with lots of conversation and a great atmosphere.

So where do we go from here?

– David is working on publishing the survey results so that they can be easily found online.

– We are creating a guide to online dating, in the form of a graphic novel.

– We would like to publish a list of the Christian Singles groups around the country – to encourage groups to network and meet together from time to time.

– Christian Connection is working with David Pullinger to build a campaign in talking with church leaders to draw attention to the results of the survey and the actions that need to be taken.  While it’s great to preach to the converted – we need to move the story on.

“The church just needs to be aware / informed of the fact that church family life should mean a church family in which no-one is defined by marital status but by the fact that each person is brother and sister to the other, and within that each (whether married or single) has a God given place in the body of Christ and is indispensable in that body. (Each part essential for the wellbeing of the whole.)”

It is also important to continue to make people aware of this in the media. We have had some great media coverage so far: Including the Evangelical Alliance and Women Alive – but also Telegraph, Guardian.

Most importantly we want the work we do to impact single Christians and the wider church in a positive way.