Major Mistakes
Major Mistakes the Church the
is Making with
Church is Making
Single Parents by Robert Beeson with Single Parents
I hated Sundays . That was the day I was reminded I didn ’ t fit in anymore ... anywhere . Once a vibrant part of the church community , I had loved joining my people , worshiping , taking in God ’ s Word , and recharging spiritually . But after my divorce , that familiar experience disappeared . Vanished . Now different , I fell from inclusion into seclusion .
My three young daughters and I walked into church alone . I felt their eyes on me , sometimes stares . I imagined their questions : Where ’ s the mom ? What ’ s his deal ? Who failed whom ? Maybe some were thinking or whispering those words , and maybe they weren ’ t . Regardless , one thing I knew for sure was that my people had become those people . I was the odd one out in the
20 • Solutions pew . I didn ’ t fit , didn ’ t belong . Nobody actually said that ; they didn ’ t have to . I just felt it . It was a horribly real experience of being treated like an outsider where I once was very much an insider .
One out of every three families in the U . S . is a solo-parented family . Sixty-seven percent of those families don ’ t attend church because 1 ) they feel judged and 2 ) they feel as if they don ’ t belong . They are now cast off , sometimes unknowingly and unintentionally , to search for healing alone .
My words here are not intended to convey contempt but rather sadness . I personally walked this solo road , and I have become close to many solo-parent