Photo by Erik M. Lunsford/The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
Single people have played a large and important role in the Christian church and this role can sometimes be overlooked. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in His earthly ministry walked in singleness, as did the Apostle Paul. There have been church orders reserved for single people, such as the widows of the early Christian church, or the cloistered life of monks and nuns. While the vocation of marriage is right and holy, the vocation of singleness is also a gift from God, that a person may use his gifts to serve God’s people.
Singleness includes those who have never married, who have yet to be married, and those who have been widowed by their spouse and now walk a newly single life. Single people are an important part of church and congregations are to care for them just as they care for the married. Singles’ ministry remains a key component of connecting and encouraging the congregation as a whole family in Christ Jesus. The resources provided enable church congregations to foster conversation and support for all of those who walk in singleness, no matter their situation.
Index
Resources Available
Life Library – Sexuality
This collection of articles focuses on and emphasizes biblical sexuality as it relates to both the married and unmarried.
The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge – Erin’s One Question Interview: The Gift of Singleness
As couples everywhere prepare to celebrate romantic love this Valentine’s Day, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel are going against the flow — with a Valentine’s Day celebration of singleness.
Inviting Deaconess Ellie Corrow (Missionary Care Coordinator for the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and bona fide single person) into the Lounge for “Erin’s One-Question Interview,” the Ladies explore singleness as a biblical Christian vocation and look at how the Church can do a better job of welcoming and ministering to single people.
“St. Paul talks about singles in really very glowing terms,” says Corrow. “We tend to forget that. Marriage gets elevated, and singleness becomes this thing that you need to fix in your life. … What we fail to do is to support singleness as a valid vocation — and a joyful vocation.”
Hello, My Name is Single by Adiane Heins
Hello, My Name Is Single is a witty book that challenges and encourages single men and women to live secure in Christ, whether they’re searching for Mr. or Mrs. Right or completely content living the single life. Author Adriane Dorr Heins treats her readers to a delightful conversation of practical and personal issues many singles face. She offers a historical, biblical approach that reminds readers that their identities are found in Christ, not in relationship statuses on Facebook.
Ethics of Sex: From Taboo to Delight
Available from CPH, this book is a much-needed, masterful compilation that speaks to the nature of Christian sexual ethics as simultaneously positive and prohibitive. Ten distinct yet interrelated essays invite us back to a way of life in harmony with the Lord’s created order, an order that bears fruit in intimacy, compassion, love, and joy.