August 6 2001

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Her statements on the assumption of marriage producing maturity are bang on. Those who are immature and marry may actually pass this on to their spouse and even their children. It is as if we are saying that single adults will never experience the maturing strains of job stress, mortgage payments, car loans, and unexpected bills, let alone spiritual trials and testing.

If anything, I suspect that they may even become more mature in their faith since they must learn to lean on our heavenly Father for guidance and strength and not just the "arm of flesh" of a spouse.
Mike Thorburn
Pastor, Faith Baptist Church
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

With approximately 45 percent of the U.S. population 18 and older being single, there is no other era in which I'd rather be single.

We have more opportunities than ever for participating with acceptance in the lives of our communities and churches, but we are still perceived as an aberration to "the system," with marriage being next to godliness in evangelical thinking.

Too often the potentially nurturing contexts of church and family have been used to stifle and depreciate the value of living singly. Singles learn to love broadly and compassionately, as did Jesus.

Winner's article clearly called for the need to be far more intentional about calling out and upholding singleness, and for a new ...