Our necessary social distancing and church cancelations have eliminated the primary ways widows, single parents, divorcees, and those called to singleness for the Lord experience family in the body of Christ. Single Christians rely on community groups and worship services to meet most of their needs for human connection in healthy ways. Coronavirus has left single Christians feeling even more alone and empty than usual. But our churches can do something about it.

What happens when single people don’t have family to turn to? A 2017 study found that single people were less likely to rebound from doubt and more likely to lose their faith. While 65% of Christians have doubted for some period of time, the most common response is for Christians to seek comfort from their families. Yet without this safety and solidarity in the home, single adults are twice as likely to lose their faith in the face of serious doubt.

The Church needs to see more Christians faithfully walking out lifetime singleness for the sake of the kingdom (AKA “celibacy”). That witness helps the Church grasp the hope of the gospel and begin living into the reality of the kingdom today. No witness to this hope is more moving than that of Christ himself.