On Sitting Alone in Church | Dani Treweek
A few weeks ago, a podcast interviewer was asking me about some of the practical complexities and pastoral challenges that single Christians often face in churches today. When asked that question, I often mention that, for some single Christians, something as simple as where to sit in church can be deeply profound and deeply perplexing. […]
Life in the Family of God | Dani Treweek
Let me be very clear. Marriage is a wonderful gift from God. It has enormous significance, enormous meaning, and enormous importance. Marriage is very, very good, and it is able to bear very, very good fruit. Most wonderfully, our marriages are meant to point us towards the eternal marriage between Christ and the Church. Marriage […]
When Two Become One? | Dani Treweek
I was reminded of an anecdote I heard recently. It was given by a faithful and thoughtful Christian pastor explaining the kind of aspiration he has for his marriage, and indeed for all Christian marriages. He told the (real) story of an elderly married couple who visited a new doctor for the first time. The […]
Let’s Be Friends | Dani Treweek
Of course male/female friendships have the potential to be complicated, compromising or unhealthy. Sadly, all human relationships have this potential. Why? Because they are relationships between sinful humans. Friendship is no exception. And of course, close male/female friendships between two people who are not married to each other have the potential to develop into something […]
Avoiding the Either/Or Trap of Christian Singleness | Dani Treweek
I embarked on my PhD research into a Christian theology of singleness back at the beginning of 2016. If I was beginning my PhD studies now, in 2023, I’d be entering into a very different landscape. There have been so many changes to the Christian singleness conversation across the last five to six years in […]
Friends, We Are Not in a Grief Contest | Dani Treweek
Grief is real, and it is awful. The older I get the more I know the truth of that deep in my being. Single or married. Same or opposite sex attracted. Young or old. Male or female. We all have unique griefs and hardships in this life. We all experience those griefs and hardships in unique ways, and […]
Let’s Talk About the Gift (Part 1) | Dani Treweek
OK. Let’s talk about that gift. You know the one. But if we are going to talk about it, then let’s really talk about it. Let’s do the deep dive, ask the hard questions, and see where we land. Check out this excerpt from the Focus on the Family website: For the moment let’s focus our […]
Hey single Christian. Your celibacy is uniquely meaningful | Dani Treweek
When we last chatted I reminded you of just how very ordinary us single, celibate Christians really are. (If you missed that little discussion, stop, click this link, read, and then return here.) If it left you feeling a bit, well… average, #sorrynotsorry. I mean, that was kind of the intention after all! But don’t worry, because here comes […]
Hey, single Christian. Your celibacy isn’t extraordinary | Dani Treweek
So here’s the thing. Single Christian, your celibacy is totally ordinary. Yep. You heard me. We are utterly unexceptional. Unremarkable even. Of course, our celibacy is also uniquely meaningful. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves shall we? We’ll get to that in the next post in this series. (Pssst. I’m watching you! Don’t skip ahead!) For now though […]
The Loneliest Day of the Year | Dani Treweek
What day is the loneliest day of your year? For some, it is Christmas Day. For others, it is Mother’s or Father’s Day, or perhaps their birthday. For yet others, it is a date that seems entirely innocuous to the rest of us but is hugely significant for them. For me, it’s none of the […]
The Cumulative Weight of the Evidence | Dani Treweek
I was outside the restaurant, waiting for my friend. She arrived a little late, a little flustered, a little distracted. “Sorry!”, she hurriedly apologised. “I was listening to the latest episode of Serial and lost track of the time”. “Serial?”, I asked, “What’s that?” “You know. Serial. The podcast”, she replied “Podcast?”, I asked, “What’s […]
And the Gold Medal of Singleness Goes To… | Dani Treweek
Recently, a friend directed me to a newly published article on singleness. He thought I might like it. He was right. Mostly. Stephen Wellum begins his article, Singleness in the New Covenant, with this question: “Where does a single person “fit” in the Bible amidst the abundant blessings of fruitfulness, fertility, and family? The answer is found by […]
Marriage: God’s Solution to Sexual Temptation? | Dani Treweek
I’ve played enough games of Monopoly during my lifetime to appreciate just how powerful the Get Out of Jail Free card is. Having that trump card in your hand can make the difference between climbing to the heights of Mayfair or slumming it on Old Kent Road for most of the game. That one magic card has […]
On ‘Old Books’ and the Single Christian Life | Dani Treweek
C.S. Lewis once wrote that ‘every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes.’ Though written in the mid-twentieth century, Lewis’s words are no less true today. Like all of those before it, our age has its own outlook. We twenty-first century people […]
The Heavenly Significance of Singleness (and Marriage) | Dani Treweek
In his recent article, Does Singleness Show Heaven? author Matthew Capone argues there is no biblical warrant to conclude that singleness in this life witnesses to or anticipates the life to come. More than that, he concludes that earthly singleness is a “not good” reality whose only consistently unique comfort is found in the knowledge that it will […]
What Singleness Reveals about the World to Come | Barry Danylak & Dani Treweek
With rates of long-term singleness on the rise across Western societies, evangelicals are increasingly reflecting on the challenges this poses for the church. In The Meaning of Singleness: Retrieving an Eschatological Vision for the Contemporary Church, Danielle Treweek reframes the discussion around the Bible’s picture of the creation to come. Author and theologian Barry Danylak spoke […]
Singleness Lessons I Learned from the Early Church | Dani Treweek
Lately, Christians have cast their minds and social media musings back to the early church on the topics of singleness and sexuality. Much of the conversation centers on past spiritual practices of celibacy and claims about what early church leaders taught about singleness. Some suggest that early church leaders enthusiastically ‘tore down’ the centrality of marriage within […]
Adam’s Aloneness Wasn’t Just His Singlehood | Dani Treweek
As I watched the scene, I couldn’t help but be struck by the image of Adam by himself in the Garden of Eden. The words of Genesis 2:18 are very familiar to us today: “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.’” Or at least, they are very familiar […]
Upholding the Dignity of Singleness in the Church | Matt Hodges
I recently preached a sermon on singleness and was shocked by the feedback I received. Several single brothers and sisters told me it was the first time they’d heard singleness addressed from the pulpit, at least in a way that wasn’t telling them how to date or find a spouse. One sister said it was […]
Choice and Circumstance: Not a Single Thing | Dani Treweek
Have you noticed that we humans tend to excel at viewing the world through a lens of either/or? That thing is either big or small. It is either fast or it is slow. It is either enjoyable or it is boring. And so on. Not only that, but we usually consider our designation of something […]
Declaring Myself Single | Ruth Baker
If you google “singleness” or “life after divorce” the top search results include things like “find your truth” and “work out what makes YOU happy”. This is very unhelpful advice in life generally, let alone when one is single and the general climate is about when to date (again) and how to work on yourself so […]
Singleness: A Personal Testimony | Jane Tooher
There are many privileges involved in preparing and giving Christian talks. One of those is growing in your own understanding, learning new truths and relearning old ones. Not so long ago I had to give a talk on singleness and in the course of preparing these are some of the truths that were impressed upon […]
The Key to Companionship for Singles | John Lee
Most of the advice I’ve received as a single man has been about finding a spouse. Whether it’s exhortations to grow or encouragements to persevere, conversations are anchored to the anticipation of future marriage. Marriage is a beautiful, God-glorifying gift that should be encouraged and pursued by anyone who desires it. But future hopes of […]
