Share This Article
LONDON — Single people should be celebrated and not seen as “lesser” than coupled people, the Church of England says in a new 200-page report titled “Love Matters.” After all, it notes, Jesus was single, too.
The report, published Wednesday by a church Commission on Families and Households, urges people to honor singleness and single-person households — and to be open to reimagining a society that allows everyone to thrive, including the unpartnered.
“The Commission believes strongly that single people must be valued at the heart of our society,” the report says. “Jesus’ own singleness should ensure that the Church of England celebrates singleness and does not regard it as lesser than living in a couple relationship.” The commission was formed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
The report notes that a “growing number of people” in society are not in a relationship or living with relatives — and that singleness “can be a deliberate choice.”
An individual may not be in a relationship for myriad reasons, the report says. “Sometimes the right partner has not been found, and sometimes separation, divorce or death has resulted in the loss of a partner,” it says.
Church leaders appear to be looking through a more modern lens when it comes to traditional religious teachings, relationships and family constructions.
The Church of England has long taught that marriage is a gift from God — with a goal to procreate and raise children in the Christian faith. As recently as 2019, guidance from the church noted that sex outside marriage is “regarded as falling short of God’s purposes for human beings” and that “for Christians, marriage — that is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows — remains the proper context for sexual activity.”
Wednesday’s report notes that “singleness does not necessarily imply celibacy, although this is the choice some single people in faith communities make.”
The number of people living alone in the United Kingdom is on the rise, data shows. According to the Office for National Statistics, Britain witnessed an 8.3 percent increase in people living alone over the decade to 2021. One-person households ranged from nearly 26 percent of the total in London to 36 percent in Scotland, the office said. In the United States, 29 percent of households consist of just one person, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Almost 38 million people live alone in the United States, the bureau concluded last year, up from 37 million one-person households in 2021.
Those who live alone are more likely to feel less financially secure than couples do and to report higher levels of anxiety, according to the British government.
The Church of England report also explores the cost-of-living crisis rocking Britain and touches on global issues including Russia’s war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
Same-sex marriage advocates argue more work remains to be done. The Church of England sparked anger in January when it announced after years of debate and consultations that it would not allow same-sex couples to marry in its churches.
The church said its teaching that marriage is between “one man and one woman for life” would not change but that same-sex couples are welcome to have their civil partnerships blessed.
In 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. But not long before then, such a wedding — including the service, officiant and place — would have been impossible. Their union would have been opposed by the church because Markle was divorced and her former husband still alive. “This is a historic moment for a bedrock British institution,” The Post reported at the time.
In February, the church said it was exploring whether to use gender-neutral language instead of referring to God solely with masculine pronouns, such as “He” or “Our Father.” Any change would be major after centuries of prayer and teachings and would need approval from the Church of England’s General Synod.
Some commentators framed the proposed move as a political decision by the church — with one priest telling the Times of London that some people “think we’re being a bit woke.”
Photo by Eberhard Grossgasteiger/Pexels