{"id":29576,"date":"2013-01-30T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T19:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?p=29576"},"modified":"2013-01-29T20:27:29","modified_gmt":"2013-01-30T03:27:29","slug":"the-church-and-boarding-house-community-for-singles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2013\/01\/the-church-and-boarding-house-community-for-singles\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church and Boarding House Community for Singles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Recently the Globe and Mail<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/a> that for the first time in Canadian history, there are more households comprised of singles than of families with children. Where single dwellers \u201caccounted for only 7.4% of homes in 1951,\u201d census figures from last fall show that now, 27.6% of Canadian homes have just one occupant, a trend that the is \u201cmirrored in the United States and a few steps behind similar trends in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

At The American Conservative<\/em>, Rod Dreher\u00a0considers<\/a> whether this change signals a move toward self-actualization for individuals, or is purely a sign of selfishness. Will this cause a clash in values between families and singles, he wonders?<\/p>\n

Rather than getting worked up over the decline of the traditional family, though, what if we consider the missional opportunities this trend could offer? Churches that have built strong family ministries ought to be working to be sure that they are also providing real community for singles. Families ought to be including single friends in their daily lives.<\/p>\n

Frankly, moving beyond the single-family dwelling place might be a good thing. As more and more people are living alone, what about reviving the boarding house? Ruth Graham\u00a0writes<\/a> in the The Boston Globe<\/em> about the ways the boarding house\u2014a big house full of strangers who rent rooms but share a common table\u2014shaped 19th century U.S. history. She suggests that the boarding house could return as a viable housing solution in light of the growing number of singles and the economic downturn, writing that already \u201cmicro-apartments, extra-tiny private spaces with shared kitchens down the hall, are taking off in cities including Boston, New York, and Seattle.\u201d (This is a fascinating article\u2014you should read the whole thing.)<\/p>\n

Whether or not the boarding house comes back into fashion, why not consider doing more with the space we have, making our family borders (pun intended) a bit more porous? When my husband and I were dating, he rented a room in a single-family home, and after we were married, we managed a boarding house of sorts for international students. Both were good experiences, and someday we hope to have a room in our family\u2019s home to rent to college students in the town where we live now.<\/p>\n

The way we live is changing. If \u201cself-actualization\u201d becomes loneliness, let\u2019s be sure the Church is prepared to welcome singles warmly into its Family.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently the Globe and Mail\u00a0reported that for the first time in Canadian history, there are more households comprised of singles than of families with children. Where single dwellers \u201caccounted for only 7.4% of homes in 1951,\u201d census figures from last fall show that now, 27.6% of Canadian homes have just one occupant, a trend that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1354,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1484],"tags":[1822,1821],"class_list":["post-29576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-culture","category-ofthemoment","tag-boarding-house","tag-single-life"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Church and Boarding House Community for Singles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recently the Globe and Mail\u00a0reported that for the first time in Canadian history, there are more households comprised of singles than of families with\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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