One by One: Welcoming the Singles in Your Church

One by One: Welcoming the Singles in Your Church

by Gina Dalfonzo
One by One: Welcoming the Singles in Your Church

One by One: Welcoming the Singles in Your Church

by Gina Dalfonzo

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Overview

There are now more single adults than married adults in the United States, yet the evangelical church continues to focus primarily on serving couples and families with ministries geared toward their particular needs. This can lead, however unintentionally, to the marginalization of adults who are single by choice, divorce, or death, or who are simply not yet married. Families are a good thing, but so are all of God's people, and singles long to be lovingly integrated into the Body of Christ.

In One by One, Gina Dalfonzo explores common misconceptions and stereotypes about singles, including the idea that they must be single because something is wrong with them, and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways they are devalued, like when sermons focus overmuch on navigating marital relationships or raising children. She shows how the church of Paul, who commended those who remained single, became the church where singles are too often treated like second class Christians. Then she explores what the church is doing right, what unique services singles can offer the church, and, most importantly, what the church can do to love and support the singles in their midst.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780801072932
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Publication date: 06/20/2017
Pages: 240
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Gina Dalfonzo is an associate features editor at Christianity Today, as well as the editor of Dickensblog and a columnist at Christ & Pop Culture. Her writing has been published in The Atlantic, Christianity Today, First Things, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Guideposts, Aleteia, The Stream, and OnFaith, among others. She earned her BA in English from Messiah College and her MA, also in English, from George Mason University. Dalfonzo lives in Springfield, Virginia.

Table of Contents

A Note about the Interviews in This Book 7

Acknowledgments 8

Introduction 10

Section 1 Stigmas, Stereotypes, and Shame 21

1 Singles as Problems 27

2 Singles as Pariahs 33

3 Singles as Projects 58

4 Singles as People 71

Section 2 How We Got Here 81

5 The Man in the Hat 87

6 Courtship Crazy 99

7 Pressure and Paralysis 110

8 Friendly Fire 118

9 Two Stories 138

Section 3 Where Do We Go From Here? 147

10 Rethinking Our Values 149

11 What the Church Gets Right 180

12 We Need Each Other 195

Epilogue: Food for Thought 225

Notes 229

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