Single Woman Speaking: An Introduction

Every story has a beginning.  Open the pages of the most boring of all text books and there we are confronted with a specifically designated space providing a semblance of beginnings for the reader, who sits at the ready to consume all of her words, to better comprehend the complexities of final products.  Introductions seek to persuade, outline, and convince the reader that the subject matter is important.

There are many other single oriented blogs out there in the internet stratosphere.  So, the question I am seeking to answer in my introduction: why should this blog matter?
There are three main parts to my motives in creating this blog.

1. Singleness as Sacred.

This blog has been born out of a desire to name, create, and establish a sacred space for single women in the church universal to speak together and speak to their communities.  It seems all to frequent that the liminality a single person possesses is uncomfortable for fellow parishioners and worshipers who are non-single.  At times, it is even uncomfortable for the person in possession of the singleness.  Single persons may not be shunned or labeled as leprous, but we definitely have felt as though our relationship status (or, lack there of) is something that needs to be cured. 

Even when we are not being cured by well-meaning attempts of our pew buddies, there are still many assumptions about person and worth around the church's single entities without giving them the space to let them have a voice.  My intention then is to carve out space for single women to speak and to name it as sacred.

2. Needing a Complexity of Voice.

Singleness is complex.  Typically when a person thinks of a single woman, the first image that comes to mind is that of a young, 20-something year old white girl.  While those persons can be single, they are not THE definition of singleness within the church.  The definition of singleness must encapsulate factors of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and age.  Single persons of the church include widows, divorcees, and single mothers.  The single club includes asexuals, lesbians, bi-sexuals, and transgender persons.  Singleness includes everyone on the spectrum of economics, political stances, and upbringings.

Some of these persons across identity markers struggle with and care about the same things.  Some of them disagree. However, we will never know and never grow as the Body of Christ if their stories are not shared or listened to.  What single blogs need is more intersectionality and willingness to live within the tension of differences.

Along with complexity of voice, there needs a complexity of topics. Most female blogs focus their encouragement on holding out till marriage or finding worth as a woman in marriage and motherhood (both of which are beautiful).  As interesting as these topics are, single women are concerned and passionate about many other things as well.  So within this space single women get a voice but it serves as an invitation to listen and be challenged.  I myself hope to be challenged.  In this, my hope is to have a majority of the blogs being written by someone who is actually not me.  I cannot speak to or for any other woman, and so I will be looking for other women to want to contribute their voice in this project.

3. Lack of Theological Undergirding.

As a reformed theologian who cares deeply about scriptural integrity and theological understanding, many of the single blogs I have read infuriate me.  Not because I have a disagreement of opinion. In fact, I hope women with whom I disagree will contribute to this blog.  The conversation will not be complete until it happens.  What infuriates me is that their use of scripture is unchecked and they do not seem to understand the theological implications of their interpretations.  Along with that, they rarely are intellectually stimulating.  I am not saying blogs have to be some great scholarly paper filled with high handed language. A blog of that nature would be counterproductive to cultivating a community. 

What I am saying is there is a great need for more single women blogs to treat their readers as sensitive and intelligent persons.  To treat the readers as faith-filled and doubtful. As thinkers, feelers, and doers. AND, that holds itself accountable to its theological responsibility as it dives into and unfolds scripture with integrity.


There are other hopes and motives to this blog, but these are the main three that I will seek to guide this blog.  I expect to fail, but in those failures I hope God's grace will meet me through my fellow single sisters as they encourage and challenge me to be better in running this blog.  If anyone has a story or experience they would like to share on here, I would be eager to hear about it.
I look forward to where this journey will lead.


To The King! To the Restoration!
Dixie, editor-in-chief