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The Big Festivals - something for the single person
The Big Festivals each have something for the single person this year. Two years ago we wrote a short guide to how to make the best of a Festival when single which was published on the Christian Connection blog. It is as pertinent now as it was then.
Here we describe the specific talks and events for 2016.
Spring Harvest
2 - 6 April (Week 2)
Again this year, Spring Harvest at Minehead are running a Singles Stream, as last year was considered by the participants and organisers a great success. The event theme is Game Changers and will focus on how encountering God gives an opportunity to enlist in his mission and make a difference in your spheres of influence.
The singles stream will provide an opportunity to look at thriving in life and faith whatever your relationship status, with new content and speakers. The mornings will focus on making the most of where we are. The afternoons will be more tailored to those who would like to explore the possibilities of a relationship that could lead to marriage. There will also be social opportunities to meet others and make new friends.
The morning sessions will be led by Tina Southgate, a mentor and life coach who is also single. She founded Destiny Coaching Ministries and is passionate about helping Christians thrive and grow into the fullness of their purpose.
The afternoon sessions will be led by Andre Adefope who works for Visible Ministries as head of relationship development and oversees the Relationship Dilemma project. He has a keen interest in the area of dating and singleness and helping people apply God’s word to these often complicated issues.
New Wine
24 July and 2 August
Dr David Pullinger will be the speaker on Singleness in the two weeks. Fitting in the series on Love and Relationships, David will be giving one talk each week. Addressing both the blessing of singleness and Singleness in general.
- ‘Singleness as a Blessing’, Sunday 24 July, 2.30pm
- ‘Singleness’, Tuesday 2 August, 2.30pm
As always with David, his message is not only for single people, but for all and especially church leaders and those interested in this major socio-demographic shift in society towards being single for a greater part of adult life.
Greenbelt
26-29 August
At Greenbelt, the focus will be on supporting new people attending - it can be especially daunting when on you’re own - and on enabling people to meet each other. Christian Connection are also planning to sponsor some meetings as usual for those who are single but also a more general panel debate on Online Dating. Some churches are cautious about online dating as a result of not being well-informed. A session helping leaders and all who are interested will seek to dispel the myths and hear from a variety of key players in the sector.