With a growing number of churches within the body of Christ embracing the need to minister to single parents as a rapidly-growing demographic across the United States, many questions have arisen regarding the topic of single moms’ Bible studies, support groups, and ministries in churches. The Life of a Single Mom® is a national ministry that has worked with thousands of churches across the U.S. and beyond to help them launch, grow, and trouble-shoot single moms’ ministries, as well as develop single mom events and a robust single moms’ outreach plan. We’d like to address some of the questions that we field on a regular basis:
Doesn’t single moms’ ministry support divorce, unwed pregnancy, or other unbiblical behavior? No. Single moms arrive at their journey in a variety of ways, including death of a spouse, abandonment, adoption, and much more. Yes, the body of Christ should continue to teach sexual purity and forever-marriage, as this is biblical. However, the reality is that we have millions of single mothers across the U.S. who need ministry. We are not advocating for the world to have more single moms! We are simply encouraging churches to minister to the needs of those in their community. Regardless of their arrival to the journey, single moms are here and they are raising millions of children. We cannot ignore the need to minister and encourage single moms, as they raise their children. The Life of a Single Mom® Ministries is simply seeking to teach the church to meet people where they are (and eventually elevate them to new hope in Christ, the maker of all things new)!
Why are you only promoting single moms’ ministry versus single dads’ ministries or single parents’ ministries? We recognize that both single moms and dads exist, either as co-parents or sole custodians. We have great compassion for those dads that are single parents, too. However, we must stay in the lane the Lord has called us to – single mothers. Statistics continue to support more than more than 80% of single parents in our country with domiciliary custody are women, which represents the greatest need. Therefore, our focus is primarily on single mothers, as we see this as the largest need. Additionally, if a church sees a number of single dads who need support, we are supportive of opening a separate group for dads, as well! What we often suggest to churches is launch a single moms’ ministry first, as that need is most prevalent. Troubleshoot any challenges. Then, launch a single dads’ ministry next. Allow the ministries to fellowship regularly via summer social or quarterly gathering, but also give them the freedom to meet exclusively, as well. There is no right or wrong, in this area. We honor the church’s decision to do single moms’ ministry, single dads’ ministry, or single parents’ ministry. We are sharing what we’ve found to be best practices, which is to offer single moms’ and single dads’ ministries as separate ministries.
For more statistics and information on why the church should be involved in single moms’ ministry, check out this book!
Single moms’ ministries just create division and further divide/separate single moms, don’t they? No. Single moms’ ministries do not divide the church any more than women’s ministries or youth ministries or widows ministries separate. We want single moms to be part of various groups at the church — singles, women’s ministry, volunteer opportunities, etc. But whether a single mom has been parenting alone for a few months or for years, the journey is different than dual parenting, and the journey can be lonely. Single moms support groups allow for deep fellowship, the sharing of ideas, and encouragement for a journey that is unique. These ministries simply allow another opportunity for fellowship with people who are in similar seasons of life.
Our sole mission, as the body of Christ, is to populate Heaven and plunder Hell! Our goal is to see souls transformed by the blood of Jesus. There are millions of single mothers that are unchurched in the United States, and many, many are unsaved. Single moms’ ministry may very well be the way that the unreached, unchurched single mom in your community comes to Christ. More opportunities equals a greater chance to share the plan of salvation.
The Life of a Single Mom is a national, faith-based, nonprofit that exists to see that no single mom walks alone. To date, the organization has worked with thousands of churches to start a single mom’s support group in cities throughout the U.S. and beyond, as well as having served more than one million single mothers with a variety of programs. Offering a large array of books, curriculum, training materials, online instructional videos, podcasts, newsletters, life skills education, and more, TLSM is one of the largest single mom organizations in the U.S. The robust selection of single mom programs focus on empowering single moms to grow spiritually, emotionally, financially, and parentally through Single Mom University, Single Moms Across America, the National TLSM Single Moms Conference, boot camps, and a variety of other programs. For more information, visit www.thelifeofasinglemom.com.
