S.A.L.T. SINGLES MINISTRY PAGE 1

S.A.L.T. Singles MinistryCelebrates One Year of Service!Written by Sia Adamu, Japera Rahming, and Michelle Rutledge

The Single Adults Living Transformed Ministry affectionately known as S.A.L.T. is just a little over ayear old. In January 2016, we began with an open house kick-off and topic discussion on SpiritualGifts. Led by co-leaders Sia Adamu (Reuben Family) and Michelle Rutledge (Asher Family) and adynamic leadership team, S.A.L.T. has been active.

Some may wonder:

Why is there a need for a Singles Ministry?What will I gain from attending S.A.L.T. activities?

Well, we’re glad that you asked!

The goals of S.A.L.T. are fellowship, outreach, spiritual support and guidance to help meet the uniqueneeds of members, age 18 and up, who have never been married, are divorced, or have been widowed.

As a single, have you ever:

Asked, “What is my purpose?” Wondered if there is someone you can invite to go with you to your office Christmas party? Been bored or lonely on a Friday or Saturday night? Thought “I’m not married yet; will I ever know the role of Mom or Dad?” Pondered on how best to approach social media with your teenager? Tried to recall the name of the tax preparer, because your late or former spouse used to handle

that?

We have.

S.A.L.T. SINGLES MINISTRY PAGE 2

In addition, “single” can be such a polarizing word even among those of us who are single. Somesingles may think, “Oh, I’m not single, because I’m not interested in marriage” or “I’m not single,because I’m in a romantic relationship.” Some singles don’t want to be identified as single. And thereare married people who, when they think of singles, declare, “Thank God I’m not single!” Even amongfellow Christians within the church, singles can be met with inaccurate assumptions, distrust, pity orshame. So often we find personal experience can shape our view on the term “single.”

Discussions surrounding these perceptions and the reception of the word “single” helped determine thename of this ministry: Single Adults Living Transformed Lives (S.A.L.T.)

In S.A.L.T., we define “single” simply as “not married.”

The path of a single’s journey can vary. We acknowledge that being single in your 20s may lookdifferently in your 40s, or even 70s. Yet we feel the experiences of each individual single canstrengthen the sum total of singles. The S.A.L.T. Ministry offers a safe place where singles can beauthentic about celebrating their accomplishments and sharing the struggles in the various stages oflife. They can do this alongside other Christian singles who love the Lord.

So, as a single, what can I contribute by participating in S.A.L.T.?

First Corinthians 12:12-26 (NKJV) encourages us to be in unity by freely contributing our gifts tostrengthen the body of Christ. We desire to help promote the growth of singles in their Christian walk.Yes, your story can help support another in his or her Christian walk and can strengthen your walk byhelping to build another’s faith. We hope to be Christian singles who are growing in our faith by:

striving to be the women and men whom God has called us to be; not conforming to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds daily that we

may prove that what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2(NKJV)).

If you are a Christian single and enjoy activities, such as spiritual topic discussions, volunteering in thelocal community, fun social outings like bowling, and sporting events, please consider joining theS.A.L.T. Ministry.

We invite you to connect with S.A.L.T. on Touchpoint or request to join our mailing list atsingles@tpcbc.org. We meet the third Friday of each month from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Also, if you areinterested in serving on the S.A.L.T. leadership team, please let us know. Help is wanted!!!

In March, the S.A.L.T. Ministry will be discussing “Spiritual Journaling” on Friday, March 17 at 7:00pm in Room 204/206. We hope to see you there!