Single leaders and aspiring leaders from throughout the Southeastern United States, representing close to a dozen churches, gathered to have a training workshop in Columbia, South Carolina entitled “Engage." We saw the Holy Spirit move as we sought to learn to better engage God in our walks with him, as well as how to engage one another for his glory.With over 120 in attendance, the weekend was a great time not only to open the word together and learn from great singles leaders and ministers, but also to have timely panel discussions (a continuation of the Denver conference, “Elevate”) about relevant single ministry issues and hot topics. The panels were trying to address the varied and diverse needs of a ministry that represents people in many life stages ages 18-80, often the only commonality being a shared current marital status. Along with the panels, some highlights were also how the singles ministry can be elevated and more prominent in our church culture, as well as becoming more effective at reaching and converting single men.
Many highly effective men and women of God were single in the scriptures, so why do we often shudder at the idea of being single, or in the singles ministry, as if it’s the black hole of God’s kingdom? The largest demographic in our country has recently become those who are single, for the first time since the government started compiling such statistics in 1976.We recognize that the need to effectively reach this demographic with the (eternal) life transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to rise in our churches. We must be ready to engage both those inside and outside of our churches as we set our hope fully on the grace to be given to us when Christ Jesus is revealed (1 Peter 1:13). We look forward to hearing more great news, as other regions of the country host their own singles leadership workshops this year to help train and equip the saints to spread the good news of Jesus Christ!