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divorced mother of one

Dear Pastor,

Eventually the church will catch up with reality. More than half of the world’s population is single. It isn’t shameful or against the law to be in a single state. Many things factor into the circumstances of being single such as divorce, spouse’s death, or even the choice of remaining single. Also, not all spouses want to participate with the church and/or its events. Those individuals then feel shamed because their entire family isn’t there at the service.

Speaking from firsthand experience, that should never happen. You should be trying to be as inclusive as possible of everyone, not just married couples. The normative values should include every walk of life. The values that you preach in almost every sermon apply to white, married, middle to upper income, male individuals. This not a majority of the population and is very off-putting!

If the sermons would be more understanding and inclusive of all people, then congregations might come back to the churches.