Will churches recognize the power of one?
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___One may be the loneliest number, if Three Dog Night was right, but it's also becoming an increasingly popular number.
___New data from the 2000 U.S. Census confirms a trend that could have far-reaching impact on Texas Baptist churches: Single adults are becoming an ever-increasing part of the population.
___The trend is fueled not by divorce but by more young adults delaying marriage.
___Over the last 30 years, the percentage of women ages 20 to 24 who never have married has doubled. The proportion of women ages 30 to 34 who never have married has tripled.
___In 2000, 72.8 percent of women ages 20 to 24 had never been married, up from 35.8 percent of women in that age bracket in 1970. Likewise in 2000, 22 percent of women ages 30 to 34 never had married, up from 6 percent of women in that age bracket in 1970.
___Similar patterns are seen among males. In 1970, 81 percent of males were married before their 30th birthday. In 2000, less than half of all adult males under 30 had married.
___Over this 30-year period, the median age at first marriage for women increased by 4.3 years to 25, and the median age at first marriage for men increased by 3.6 years to 27.
___"The postponement of marriage has led to a substantial increase in the proportion of young, never-married adults," explained Jason Fields, a Census Bureau employee who specializes in family issues.
___That's a message churches should pay attention to if they want to be effective in reaching their communities with the gospel, according to two Texas Baptist singles ministers.
___"Churches need to realize this is a huge group that is sitting in your congregation," said Tiffany Terry, minister to singles at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and a recent graduate of Truett Seminary. "We have opportunities to either reach them or alienate them."
___"The single adult population in Texas may be the most under-evangelized group in the state," said
___(See Growing, page 12)
___Ron Hill, minister of education and singles at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio. "If we ever really want to consider ourselves evangelists, we need to wake up to the demographics. The stats don't' lie. They're here."
___But they're not in Texas Baptist churches--at least not in proportion to their presence in the general population, said Hill, one of the longest-tenured singles ministers in the state.
___Despite the clearly changing demographics, "I don't see churches trying to do anything about it," Hill said. "The turnoff singles have to churches is greater than ever."
___Since singles most often visit worship first rather than any other church activities, it is imperative for church leadership to be sensitive to singles in planning worship, Terry said. If the pastor talks only about traditional families, for example, singles will feel unwelcome.
___"On holidays like Mother's Day and Father's Day, include the single parents you have, the divorced singles you have," she urged. "They're reality."
___Also, remember something as simple as listing singles activities in the church bulletin that's handed out on Sunday mornings, Terry added. That sends a signal to visiting singles that this church cares about them, she said.
___And if the church has a singles minister, that person's name should be listed somewhere in the worship bulletin also, Terry advised. "Having a singles minister on staff speaks volumes to a single who walks in."
___The trend toward later marriage is just a fact of modern life, Terry acknowledged. "I'm 30 years old and I'm single. I never would have thought I'd be single at 30."
___This means churches must appeal to a different and more discriminating group of single adults than in decades past, when churches focused on an all-purpose "college and career" singles department.
___"Today's singles are used to high quality," Terry said. "Whatever kind of social things they are used to doing, they're used to top-quality things. We must offer the same quality things in our churches."
___Also, singles want to be integrated in the whole life of a church, she said. "Singles want to be in churches that are intergenerational, to be a part of something bigger than the fact that they're single."
___"Single adults want to be the church too," Hill added. "And the truth is they are, but a lot of churches don't let them be. If you're married, you're treated differently."
___Today's often older and more sophisticated single adults have found great acceptance in the workforce but too often still struggle for recognition at church, Hill said. "At work, the issue never is are you married or single. It's can you do your work. In the church, the question is not whether you can do the work, it's whether you're married or single. The questions change.
___"What I'm seeing is more and more single adults just passing the church by because they're not allowed in many churches to serve on committees, to be heads of committees, to be deacons, to be a real part of the church."
___At a minimum, church leaders should see the issue from an evangelistic standpoint, Hill reiterated.
___"Baptists have the greatest opportunity of anybody of I know of to reach single adults for Christ. If we do that, we become a better local church and a better denomination because we have become more inclusive."
___Among other Census findings related to single adults:
___ The proportion of U.S. households consisting of one person living alone increased from 17 percent in 1970 to 26 percent in 2000.
___ The number of single mothers increased between 1970 and 2000, from 3 million to 10 million.
___ The number of single fathers increased also, from 393,000 to 2 million.
___ Among 18- to 24-year-old males, relatively few live alone, even this age bracket represents a huge pool of singles. More than half (56.4 percent) of males this age were living at home with at least one parent in 2000.
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