A Note from Soozung Sa

This is an exciting time to be in single-adult ministries! It has been a long time since the Family and Life-Span Office has devoted a large part of one position to single-adult ministries in The United Methodist Church. I am honored to serve you as the Director of Ministries with Families and Singles. The greater part of my portfolio is designed to meet the needs of leaders in single-adult ministries, particularly in the local church setting. The other part focuses on meeting the needs of leaders who work with family ministries, especially leaders who work with parents of teenagers. As you may intuit, there are many single parents of teenagers, so the two portions of my portfolio go quite well together.

These first two years will be a time of observing what is and is not going on in the local church, at the conference and jurisdictional levels, nationally, and even globally; then assessing the greatest needs of single adults and leaders of single-adult ministries. It is my greatest desire to then provide resources and networking opportunities for leaders of United Methodist and ecumenical single adult leaders. We have already begun conversations about training events just for you through the year 2006.

It is also a challenging time to be in single-adult ministries as our communities seek to define what it means to be "single." The definition varies from person to person as much as the needs vary. "Stages in life," "life experiences," and "age" are not always the best way to categorize single people. Actually, many single people do not like to be categorized. Determining the most effective way to minister with singles is also different from congregation to congregation, since demographics, geographic location, size of the congregation, and size of the town or city where the congregation is located can determine the needs of the single population as well. What is clear is that the single population typically makes up fifty-four percent of the population, and this part of the congregation is not always considered in ministry design.

I encourage you to catch the energy and be a part of this time, to be a part of shaping the direction our Family and Life Span Office will take as we juggle the needs, desires, dreams, and visions of many. I invite you to make a connection with me, to share your ideas and stage in ministry. What are your greatest needs as a leader? What is going well for you? How does your congregation view singles and singles ministries? Your input and thoughts are valuable and will be critical in creating movement or continuing what has already been set in motion in single-adult ministry in The United Methodist Church and beyond. I look forward to being in ministry with you!

Peace and grace,
Soozung Sa
Director of Ministries with Families and Singles
Family and Life Span Office
General Board of Discipleship

Editor's Note: Soozung resigned from the General Board of Discipleship in June 2004. She's getting married! For information about singles' ministries, contact Bill Crenshaw at bcrenshaw@gbod.org.

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