More people are spending more of their lives single, and married couples now are a minority among U.S. households. The average age at marriage is on the rise, and one in four households consists of people living alone. As these new dynamics create socio-economic shifts, religious organizations are scrambling to address the needs and realities of the increasing number of single people. For years congregations considered singles a small minority best served by a singles group where they might meet a mate; now singles represent a larger portion of potential members and want singlehood to be treated as just another family situation instead of a transitional phase to move out of. Story opportunities on singlehood and faith abound, but three trends seem most striking:

• Singles of faith are making extensive use of the Internet for dating and social networking;
• Black women are the most apt to be – and stay – single, which has a significant impact on the way predominantly black churches organize their ministries.
• And declining numbers in Judaism put increasing pressure on single Jews to look for love within their own religion.

Why it matters

Religious organizations are adjusting programming now that nuclear families and married couples no longer represent the majority of households.

Jump to:

• Story angles
• National sources
• Religious organizations
• Background

Story angles

• How are single Christians coping practically with calls for chastity outside of marriage in an age when people remain single much longer than in years past”?
• Observers say there is a trend toward single people of faith embracing chastity.
• How are congregations supporting and embracing the increasing number of parents who are single by choice? How do they respond to the increasing number of couples who live together outside of marriage? Or senior citizens who live together but forgo marriage so that they do not lose Social Security and pension benefits?
• People nowadays are more likely to date and marry outside their faith. How are congregations responding?
• The explosion of online dating has raised a host of ethical issues; where do people turn for guidance?
• Religious online dating networks face competition from commercial dating sites; how do they compete?
• Singles groups frequently focused on younger adults eager for marriage; how do they address the needs of people in their 40s and beyond seeking spouses?

National sources

ACADEMICS

• Donna Freitas, an assistant professor of religion at Boston University, wrote Sex & the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance and Religion on America’s College Campuses (forthcoming in 2008) and co-wrote Save the Date: A Spirituality of Dating, Love, Dinner and the Divine. Contact 703-568-6580, freitas@bu.edu.
• Monique Moultrie is a religious studies scholar at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., who specializes in women/gender studies, African-American studies and sexuality – specifically on African-American single Christian women.  She says more black women are single – and likely to stay that way – than any other population.  Contact monique.n.moultrie@vanderbilt.edu.
• Vanessa Ochs is a University of Virginia anthropologist and author of the 2007 book Inventing Jewish Ritual. She can talk about the role of the Internet in the contemporary Jewish dating scene, life cycle rituals for single people, and creating rituals that acknowledge the place of single people in the community. Contact through Arielle Levites, Jewish Publication Society, 215-832-0601, alevites@jewishpub.org.
• Jane I. Smith is professor of Islamic studies and co-director of the Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. A prolific author and lecturer, her recent work includes, as co-author, Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today and, as co-editor, Islam and the West Post 9/11. She is co-editor of the journal The Muslim World. Contact 860-509-9532, jismith@hartsem.edu.AUTHORS / BLOGGERS (medium subhead)
• Michael J. Anthony is professor of Christian education at Biola University, La Mirada, Calif., and co-author of Single Adult Passages: Uncharted Territories. Contact 562-944-0351 ext. 5527, michael.anthony@biola.edu.
• Christa Ann Banister of St. Paul, Minn., drew on her experiences with single life for her 2007 novel Around the World in 80 Dates: Confessions of a Christian Serial Dater. Contact cell 615-243-0092, freelance_christa@comcast.net.
• ReShonda Tate Billingsley writes Christian fiction directed at African-American women and teenage girls. Some of her books feature single characters using their faith to cope with issues. She recently left her job as a television news reporter in Houston to write full time. Contact reshondat@aol.com.
• Anna Broadway wrote Sexless in the City: A Memoir of Reluctant Chastity, forthcoming in April 2008, about being a single Christian looking for love in contemporary society. She is based in the San Francisco area. Read her blog. Contact 646-710-0805, danzfool@gmail.com.
• Audrey B. Chapman, a family therapist in private practice in Washington, D.C., is an author, radio host and relationships expert. Books she has authored include Getting Good Loving: Seven Ways to Find Love and Make It Last. She calls black women the least-partnered group in the United States. Contact 703-914-2068.
• Camerin Courtney is managing editor for Today’s Christian Woman magazine and a columnist for ChristianSinglesToday.com. She wrote Table for One: The Savvy Girl’s Guide to Singleness and co-wrote The Unguide to Dating: A He Said/She Said on Relationships. Contact ccourtney@christianitytoday.com.
• Connally Gilliam of Arlington, Va., who works for the Christian ministry The Navigators as a life coach for young adult singles, wrote about unintentional singleness in Revelations of a Single Woman: Loving the Life I Didn’t Expect. Read an August 2006 Washington Times interview with her. Contact 703-533-7335, connallyg@gmail.com.
• Michelle McKinney Hammond of Chicago is a cable show co-host, public speaker and the author of several Christian books on living single, including Secrets of an Irresistible Woman: Smart Rules for Capturing His Heart and Ending The Search For Mr. Right: How to Be Found by the Man You’ve Been Looking For. She founded HeartWing Ministries. Contact heartwingmin@yahoo.com.
• Esther D. Kustanowitz writes about Jewish life, social media, relationships and dating. She writes the singles column “First Person Singular” for the New York Jewish Week. She is a contributor to many blogs, including Beliefnet’s Idol Chatter, which examines spirituality and popular culture. She is also the senior editor of PresenTense Magazine, a publication centering on Jewish life and culture. See her blogs JDaters Anonymous and My Urban Kvetch. Contact esther.kustanowitz@gmail.com.
• Margot Lester of Carrboro, N.C.,  writes relationship features and the “Ask Margot” column for the Match.com online dating site. She says the two issues people currently are writing her most about are sex before second marriage, and about being devout in their religion and “unequally yoked” – pairing up with somebody who is less observant, is of another religion or is not religious. Contact margotlester@earthlink.net.
• Jennifer Marshall of Arlington, Va., public policy director for the Heritage Foundation, wrote Now and Not Yet: Making Sense of Single Life in the Twenty-First Century, about women living in – and finding purpose in – unexpected and undesired extended singleness. Contact Melissa Sturgis, Multnomah Books, 719-268-1935, msturgis@randomhouse.com.
• Paul Mitchell of London wrote the self-published 2007 book Please God by You – The Essential Guide to Jewish Internet Dating. Contact author@pisciumpublishing.com.
• The Rev. Susan Newman, who is ordained in the United Church of Christ, wrote Oh God!: A Black Woman’s Guide to Sex and Spirituality. She directs the Washington, D.C., office of the Balm in Gilead. Contact ohgodandsex@aol.com.
• Scott A. Shay, who is chairman of Signature Bank in New York City, wrote the best seller Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry, in which he recommends that Jewish people reverse the trend of delaying marriage and childbearing. Contact 646-822-1472, Sshay@signatureny.com.
• Trish Ryan, who lives outside Cambridge, Mass., wrote He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Hope and Happily Ever After, forthcoming in April 2008. Contact trishryan12@gmail.com.
• Matthew Paul Turner and Kerri Pomarolli co-authored the 2007 nonfiction book How to Ruin Your Dating Life: A Christian’s Guide for Avoiding (Almost) Every Mistake in the Book.  Contact Turner at MatthewPaulTurner@gmail.com or Pomarolli through Rhonda Boudreaux, 913-780-4035, rdboudreaux1@aol.com.
• May Vanderbilt of San Francisco is a co-author of the Good Girl line of novels, including the 2007 title The Book of Jane, about single Christian women navigating modern life. Contact may.vanderbilt@gmail.com.
• Neil Clark Warren, a psychologist and former dean at Fuller Theological Seminary, co-founded and chairs the eHarmony online dating service. He has written several books about relationships, including Date … or Soul Mate?: How to Know if Someone Is Worth Pursuing in Two Dates or Less. Contact eHarmony press contacts, 626-795-4814. media@neilclarkwarren.com.Donna Marie Williams of Chicago wrote Sensual Celibacy: The Sexy Woman’s Guide to Using Abstinence for Recharging Your Spirit, Discovering Your Passions, Achieving Greater Intimacy in Your Next Relationship. Contact DMarie342@aol.com.

FILM

• J.J. Adler directed the 2007 documentary Unattached, about single Orthodox Jews in New York City. Watch the trailer. Contact 646-246-3933, jjadler@gmail.com.

Religious organizations

• Bike & Brunch is a Jewish, largely single bicycling group in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., region. Contact 301-881-BIKE, info@bikeandbrunch.com.
• Bryan Finley, college and singles pastor at Crossroads Fellowship in Raleigh, N.C., created the Raleigh Matrix networking site for Christian singles. Read an April 20, 2007, story in the Raleigh News & Observer. Contact 919-981-0222, info1@crossroads.org.
• Imam Mohamed Magid and Amaarah Decuir, his wife, of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center in Sterling, Va., run Companionships, a national service that introduces single Muslims on weekend retreats and educates them about matrimony. Contact 703-474-2998, hagmagid@aol.com or Amaarah@companionships.org.
• Mah’Atah Mchapes (“What are you looking for?” in Hebrew) is a Jewish social network in Portland, Maine, for single and married people ages 21 to 39. Read a July 30, 2007, Portland Press Herald article. Contact founder Fae Silverman, mchapes@gmail.com.
• Pam Kanaly and Shelley Pulliam are co-founders of Arise Ministries, a nonprofit, nondenominational women’s ministry based in Edmond, Okla., that holds annual conference retreats for single mothers. Contact 405-359-7368, shelleypulliam@ariseministries.net or pamkanaly@ariseministries.net.
• SinglesOfFaith.org in Phoenix, Ariz., organizes single Christians for volunteer work. Read a Dec. 15, 2006, Arizona Republic story. Contact founder Mike McCartney, 602-487-9832, Support@SinglesOfFaith.org.
• Dave Sloan of the God’s Family ministry, which has programs for Christians of all denominations and speaks around the country on chastity for single adults. He lives in Atlanta. Contact davesloan@godofdesire.com.
• Spark Networks in Beverly Hills, Calif., owns online singles services, including JDate for Jewish singles, CatholicMingle.com, ChristianMingle.com and LDSMingle.com. In its 2007 trends reports, Spark Networks said it is seeing a rise in offline events connected to its dating sites and an increased subscriber base of single parents. Contact Gail Laguna, 323-836-3000 ext. 4402, glaguna@spark.net.
• Spokane Christian Singles in Spokane, Wash., organizes speed dating events and other social activities. Contact founder Cathy Prows, 509-226-7674, scsingles2000@yahoo.com.
• Jeff Strank of LetMyPeopleGo organizes popular gatherings for Jewish singles in several cities. The annual Christmas Eve ball in New York City attracts more than 3,000 people. Contact 212-717-2018, jeff@letmypeoplego.com.

DENOMINATIONAL MINISTRIES

CATHOLIC
• The National Catholic Singles Conference will be April 25-27, 2008, in Chicago. Sponsors are the Theology of the Body International Alliance, Catholic Match online dating service and CatholicSingles.com online dating service. Read a July 6, 2007, Catholic News Service article. Contact Anastasia Northrop, president of TOBIA, tobia@theologyofthebody.net. 
• Mike Hayes is managing editor and co-founder of BustedHalo.com, an online, Catholic-based magazine aimed at people in their 20s and 30s. He wrote the 2007 book Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in Their 20s and 30s. Contact mike@bustedhalo.com. 
• Paul Jarzembowski is acting executive director of the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association, which is an outreach to singles and couples in their 20s and 30s. Contact 815-727-6411, paul@ncyama.org.

PROTESTANT
• Ed Stetzer directs Lifeway Research of the Southern Baptist Convention’s LifeWay Christian Resources. Read a December 2006 article and an August 2007 one about two Lifeway studies on young adults and religious life. Contact Chris Turner, media relations manager, 615-251-2307, chris.turner@lifeway.com.
• Jim Johnston directs young adult ministry for the Southern Baptist Convention’s LifeWay Christian Resources. Contact Chris Turner, media relations manager, 615-251-2307, chris.turner@lifeway.com.
• Bill Lizor directs single adult ministries for the United Methodist Church. Contact 615-340-7005 or 1-877-899-2780 ext. 7005, blizor@gbod.org.
• Kay Collier McLaughlin founded and leads Solo Flight, a national ministry for singles in the U.S. Episcopal Church. She is director of communications for the Episcopal diocese of Lexington, Ky. Contact KCollierM@diolex.org.
• Linda Hardin is national coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene’s single adult ministries. Contact 816-333-7000, lhardin@nazarene.org.
• Daniel Vassell is national coordinator for the Church of God’s single adult ministries. Contact dvassell@churchofgod.org.

PENTECOSTAL
• Dennis Franck is the Assemblies of God national director of single adult ministries. Contact 417-862-2781 ext. 4125, singles@ag.org.

Background

ARTICLES

• Read a Sept. 12, 2007, USA Today article about trends in delaying marriage.
• Read an Oct. 15, 2006, New York Times article about married couples becoming a minority among U.S. households.
• Read a June 3, 2007, Baltimore Sun article about single black Christian women.
• Read a July 13, 2007, U.S. Catholic story about Catholics and online dating.
• Read a Sept. 10, 2007, Catholic Digest story about singlehood and Catholics.
• Read about clergy reaction to the marital breakups of high-profile Christian couples, reported by a National Newspaper Publishers Association story published Sept. 6, 2007, by the Pittsburgh Courier.
• Read a July 7, 2007, Evansville Courier and Press article about single pastors.

SURVEYS

• The Census Bureau in 2007 reported:

• The percentage of households consisting of one person living alone has increased to 26 percent.
• The median age for first marriage has increased to 25.5 years for women and 27.5 years for men.
• 9 percent of households are headed by single parents.
• Of Americans over age 18, 56 percent of women and 60 percent of men are married.

Read a news release. Contact 301-763-3030, pio@census.gov.

• See the Faith and Family in America 2005 survey, conducted for Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, which shows that 71 percent of Americans still consider the traditional family the ideal, and 49 percent think married people are happier than unmarried people.
• The research services department of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2005 surveyed a sample group of members, elders and ordained ministers, and found:

• Unmarried adults represented 24 percent of the members, 20 percent of the elders and 14 percent of the clergy.
• Of the currently single adults: 43 percent of the members, 32 percent of the elders and 48 percent of the clergy had never been married; 34 percent of the members, 36 percent of the elders and 7 percent of the clergy were widowed; 20 percent of the members, 28 percent of the elders, and 42 percent of the clergy were divorced; and the rest had been both widowed and divorced.
• Single parents living with children represented 2 percent of the members, 3 percent of the elders and 10 percent of the clergy.

The survey’s results are posted. Contact Jack Marcum, 502-569-5161, jack.Marcum@pcusa.org.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

• David A. Roozen is professor of religion and society at Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Conn., and directs the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. He specializes in national religious trends. Contact 860-509-9546, roozen@hartsem.edu.
• Christian Sports Fellowship of Connecticut organizes single adults for sports, outdoor activities and other events. Contact Ed Wheeler, 203-912-8222, ewheeler@optonline.net.
• North of Boston Jewish Singles, based in the Merrimack Valley, organizes social activities for adults ages 40 and older. Contact info@nobjs.org.

IN THE EAST

• Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is professor of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. She co-authored Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today. Contact 202-687-2575, haddady@georgetown.edu. 
• Vicki Scheib directs single adult ministries for Living Word Community Church in Red Lion, Pa. Contact 717-848-4293, vscheib@lwccyork.com.
• Rabbi Donald A. Weber of Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, N.J., has offered to pay for single congregation members’ fees to join the online Jewish dating service JDate. http://jdate.com/ Read a Religion News Service story published Nov. 8, 2007, by USA Today. Contact 732-308-0055, rebweb18@optonline.net.
• Robert Wuthnow is a sociology professor at Princeton University and directs the Center for the Study of Religion. His books include, as author, America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity and 2007’s After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion. Contact 609-258-4742, wuthnow@princeton.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Rob Eagar of Atlanta wrote Dating With Pure Passion: More Than Rules, More Than Courtship, More Than a Formula and speaks nationally on single adult issues. He says the church largely ignores singles and needs to do more to incorporate them and minister to them. Contact 770-887-1462, rob@robeagar.com.
• Dick Purnell of Raleigh, N.C., is the founder and director of Single Life Resources, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ. He speaks nationally on singles issues, and his books on singleness include, as author, Finding a Lasting Love: Friendship, Romance, Commitment and, as co-author, Singles and Relationships (A 31-Day Experiment). Contact 919-363-8000, conferences@dickpurnell.com.
• Lori Little of Lawrenceville, Ga., is the creator of “21 Principles of a Healthy Single Mom” DVD ministry. http://www.hope4singlemoms.com/ Contact 678-889-7747, lori@hope4singlemoms.com.
• Robert Michael Franklin is president of Morehouse College in Atlanta. Among the books he has written are Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities and Another Day’s Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis. Contact 404-215-2645, rfranklin@morehouse.edu.
• Jamillah Karim is assistant professor of religion at Spelman College in Atlanta, and she has researched South Asian youth living in the United States and African-American youth. Contact 404-270-5524, jkarim@spelman.edu.
• Tom and Bev Rodgers of Charlotte, N.C., have been married for 31 years. They co-direct a Christian counseling practice and wrote The Singlehood Phenomenon: 10 Brutally Honest Reasons People Aren’t Getting Married. Contact 704-364-9176, trodgers1@carolina.rr.com.
• W. Bradford Wilcox is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. He studies religion, family life and relationships. His recent research focuses on how American family changes — including increases in singlehood — are linked to secularization and religious polarization in the United States. Contact 434-760-0466, wbw7q@virginia.edu.
• Lauren Winner is an assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Duke University, Durham, N.C., and the author of Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity. Contact Lauren@LaurenWinner.net.

IN THE SOUTH

• Alan Corry of Franklin, Tenn., is founder and president of singleadultministry.com, which offers conferences, training and resources. Contact 615-794-4920, tpc_tn@bellsouth.net.
• Calvary Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky., has had a singles ministry for 30 years. Contact Pastor Robert Baker, 859-254-349, bob@calvarybaptistchurch.com, or Pat Ham, interim minister to single adults, patham@windstream.net.
• Steve McLeod, who is registrar at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, Tenn., wrote his dissertation on “Assimilating singles into a family-focused church.” He says issues worth examining are whether older singles want to participate in singles groups, and whether single adults in general prefer to stick with their lifelong religious affiliation or seek fellowship at the church with the biggest singles ministry. Contact 901-761-1353, smcleod@harding.edu.
• Theologian, independent scholar, speaker and author Renita J. Weems of Nashville, Tenn., writes frequently on women’s spirituality, the black church, religion and popular culture, and does a column for Beliefnet on relationships. She is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Church with a doctorate in biblical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary. Contact sowithin@bellsouth.net.
• J. Bradley Wigger directs the Center for Congregations and Family Ministries at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Contact 502-992-5428 or through his Web site.

IN THE MIDWEST

• Penny Edgell is a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul. She wrote Religion and Family in a Changing Society. Contact 612-624-9828, edgell@umn.edu.
• Dale Piscura is associate/counseling pastor in Sevenoseven, the young adult ministry at Cuyahoga Valley Church in Broadview Heights, Ohio. Contact 440-746-1707, dpiscura@sevenoseven.com.
• Christian Smith is William R. Kenan Jr. professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., and directs the university’s Center for the Study of Religion and Society. He is co-principal investigator of the National Study of Youth and Religion. Contact 574-631-4531, chris.smith@nd.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• Thomas B. Holman is a professor of family life at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and has researched courtship among Mormons. Contact 801-422-6704, thomas_holman@byu.edu.
• Jon E. Singletary directs the Center for Family and Community Ministries at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Contact 254-710-4819, Jon_Singletary@baylor.edu.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Gary Richmond is pastor for single parents at Evangelical Free Church, Fullerton, Calif., and wrote Successful Single Parenting. Contact him through 714-257-4385, linda.brame@evfreefullerton.com.
• Art Gorman is pastor for single adult ministries at Bethel Church of San Jose, Calif. Contact 408-246-6790, sermon8r@aol.com.
• Bishop Noel Jones is pastor of the Los Angeles-area City of Refuge Church, which has more than 10,000 members. He has established the FaithMate.com dating Web site for single Christians. Contact 310-516-1433, info@noeljones.org.
• Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert, Calif., has a ministry called Catholic Singles Inc. Rose Sweet is its director. Contact 760-346-6502, SacredHeartCSI@aol.com, or the Rev. Howard Lincoln, pastor, hlincoln@sacredheartpalmdesert.com.
• Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer is pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood., Calif. Most of the more than 13,000 members of his congregation are single. The church has a You Are Not Alone single parent ministry. Contact 310-330-8000.