The membership of Trinity United Church of Christ consists of 76% persons who are single individuals. My encounters with many singles of our congregation have revealed that they have been pressured by messages from many churches, family and society to value obtaining a spouse over developing and celebrating a sense of wholeness in their singleness. Many of the singles who attend our church have found themselves devaluing “who they are” as singles because they have bought into these grafted societal messages that they are not whole because they are not married, rather than seeing themselves as made in the image of God. Consequently, this ideology has left many of them feeling ashamed to admit that they are single. Thus, this article will focus on the importance of spiritual formation of single adults via the use of stories. In addition, it will argue that it is necessary for the church to provide ministry for African American Christian singles that is not perceived as a matchmaking club, but an affirmative space where they can understand their value steeped in God’s image and embrace their sense of wholeness in their singleness. As a result of this project, it is my desire that single persons who perceive themselves as incomplete will be able to transition to a new state of wholeness, become more involved in the singles ministry, and fully live out their singleness based upon the church motto “Unashamedly Black, Unapologetically Christian, and Sufficiently Single” in an affirming church environment via the exploration of their narratives.
