Making a Difference In the Lives of Single-Parent Families

Family ministry in America is changing. This change has everything to do with incorporating the large number of single parents. Historically, when churches have thought of family ministry, they have focused on the two-parent home. Pastors and church leaders are becoming aware of the need to make changes in family ministry to be more inclusive of the single-parent family.

Leaders agree that reaching and ministering to families is a major priority for the local church. But churches struggle to define a position on singleness in our culture, and it has resulted in inadvertent--not effective--ministry to single-parent families.

For the most part, single parents do not feel included in the typical two-parent family ministry program. At the same time, if a single adult ministry in the local church focuses only on the young, never married college/career single with no children, then single parents also feel out of place.

In single adult ministry, there must be a balance in understanding the issues they face, whether never married, divorced or widowed, and the family/parenting issues they deal with every day. Whether the local church incorporates single parents under the family ministry or the single adult ministry, they have to be intentional in their planning to be effective in ministering to both the adult (as a single and a parent) and the children living in single-parent homes.

Adapting to this philosophy of integrating single-parent families has been slow for a lot of churches. With greater awareness of the need to accept single-parent families into the mainstream of family ministry, more churches will appoint people whose ministry focus will be to coordinate various ministry areas to reach single-parent families.

When Reaching Out to Single Parents, Always Remember The Family

Ministers and church leaders must realize that a single-parent family is a family. Although single parents are single adults, most of them report struggling more with parenting issues than single adult issues. Each church needs to recognize the family aspect of single parenting and develop ministry programs that will help them to be the most effective parents they can be.

Single-parent family ministry should be involved in every area of ministry:

• pastoral care,
• single adult,
• family,
• youth and
• children.
  

Most churches have well defined ministry areas that need to include single parents in their ministry programming. For example, the pastor and deacons head up the pastoral care ministry in small and rural churches. In medium-sized and larger churches, they may even have a staff person assigned to pastoral care. Like all church members, single-parent families will need the support of those involved in the pastoral care ministry. Leaders should make sure these precious families are not left to fend for themselves when they need encouragement.

Single-parent families are an important part of the church family. Take time to get to know these families and understand their needs, then work to ensure your church strives to meet those needs in a variety of ways. The result will be individuals and families who are equipped to better serve others and serve God.

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