Welcome to Single Friendly Church Week - Introduction from our Director
Our Director Sorcha Connell invites us all to consider becoming more single friendly during this campaign week and beyond
Today marks the start of Single Friendly Church Week 2026 — and we couldn't be more excited to see churches across the UK step into this moment together. For the next seven days, from 27th September to 4th October, congregations of every size and tradition can pause and ask a simple but vital question: does everyone in our church truly feel like they belong, whatever their relationship status?
It's a question that matters more than ever. Singleness has been having a genuine cultural moment recently. ‘solomaxxing’ is currently trending. British Vogue asked ‘Is having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?’ in a viral piece earlier this year. Singleness seems to be being considered not as a rushed season before settling down, but an opportunity for intentional self-reflection and personal growth, without a specific ending. Christians across denominations are exploring this too, across all manner of topics from dating to divorce, widowhood to marriage, friendships to family and more.
The Office of National Statistics reports that across the UK, 8.6 million people now live alone, and nearly half of these are 65+. Although quite a stark number, it doesn’t cover nuances like living with family, single parents, renting, student living, and more. They also note that around a quarter of adults report they feel lonely often or always, relationship status not cited as a factor.
I’ve been the Director of the Single Friendly Church Network for a year now, and it's been fascinating to hear over and over that, while some churches fully embrace single Christians, many said churches do not appreciate the unique challenges faced by singles - socially, emotionally, spiritually and financially. And this is relational, not doctrinal. Church culture struggles to be fully aware and welcoming
In 2012, over 3,000 single Christians shared their experiences of church in one of the largest surveys of its kind ever conducted in the UK, by Christian Connection. Nearly half (43% agreed that their churches "don't know what to do with them." More than a third said they were treated differently to people in couples.
Many described being treated as useful labour - assumed to have more free time, leaned on more heavily, without anyone noticing they were carrying a whole life alone. And many more described simply not fitting anywhere - too old for the students, not a parent for the family ministry, a widow finding themselves feeling excluded almost overnight from a community they had helped build for years. This data is what inspired our founder Jackie to explore this more, turning this into the Single Friendly Church Network charity of today.
Why Single Friendly Church Week?
We are responding directly to the experiences we hear about from single people at all stages of life – during our events, at conferences and festivals, and in our survey responses. Some said that talks, courses, and even casual chit-chat after the service all seemed to be aimed at everyone ...except them. Others said it wasn't until they hit a particular age, or a particular life stage, that they started to feel like they'd slipped through the cracks. One woman told us that after her husband died, she’s stopped going to church altogether, for fear of how to walk in alone. Another person shared that despite coming from a good place, other Christians constantly asking about their relationship status can make single people question their value in church community life. Some feel that there’s an overfocus on marriage as the holiest route to happiness. These aren't rare stories. They're common ones. And this week exists because of them.
We don't think this is because churches don't care. We find it's usually because no one has considered to ask. So that's what this week is for: a chance to pause, notice, and take one small step toward becoming a community where nobody has to be part of a couple to belong.
This is the work Single Friendly Church Network has given itself to, to genuinely inspiring a culture shift, so that single people are welcomed, valued, and included at every stage of life, working ecumenically in churches across every tradition and denomination. It's why we exist across denominational lines, why we keep doing the research, building practical resources, and helping churches to become single friendly - because no single congregation should have to work this out alone, and no single person should have to keep explaining, again and again, what it feels like to be overlooked.
What to look forward to in Single Friendly Church Week
Single Friendly Church Week is for everyone – it's to inspire a culture shift so that single people are considered at every stage of church life, and not as an afterthought or a tickbox. Whether you've never married, are dating, divorced, widowed, or raising children on your own, this week is a reminder that you are not on the edges of church life — you are meant to be at the very heart of it.
Hey married people, those in couples – this is a clarion for you too! Reach out to the single people in your faith communities, get to know them, make space to really listen and acknowledge where they are at without attempting to fix or change. The first, step, the holiest step, is to listen, and be present.
We’ve just held our first ever (and very successful!) Conference called ‘Belonging: Every Single Person Loved, Welcomed and Valued.’ It was wonderful to meet you all! What an engaging and refreshing day exploring the reality of single Christians, listening to their life experiences, hearing directly from churches who are single friendly, learning about our resources, and the opportunity for spiritual reflection. Thank you to all who joined us for your heartfelt conversations, sharing, prayers, joys, challenges and so much more. Single Christians are hungry for true invitation, to be seen and heard in their communities – our conference brought some of them together, but you can make a difference too.
Could you consider a way to engage with Single Friendly Church Week? Maybe quietly reading the prayer, bringing single friendly resources to parish meetings and leadership, looking at seasonal times in the calendar and rethinking welcome and hospitality, maybe in simply a cup of coffee shared with someone new. We highly suggest you explore our Single Friendly Church Resource Guide as a starting point for ideas.
For those who are dedicated to being single friendly in their communities…..thank you for being part of it! Let's make belonging the norm, not the exception.
