A survey of single Christians in the UK suggests most felt their church responded well to the pandemic and would like online content to continue. 

The poll, done by Single Friendly Church, heard from over 500 single Christians about their experience in lockdown.

The organisation says the church needs to continue to listen to what they are doing well and badly as around 30 per cent of the church is single and 40 per cent of the population. 

Half of the respondents in the survey rated churches helpful or very helpful overall. There were many appreciative comments of how church leaders had risen to the challenge. One in five people rated their churches as not very helpful or unhelpful. 

Nearly two-thirds of respondents looked abroad for resources (63 per cent), accessing prayer, social groups, sermons, services and bible studies online. 

When asked what they would like to say to church leaders, the dominant message was for much more regular and sustained contact, with a spirit of caring, particularly among those who live on their own. 

Having no one to interact with meant that they also sought more social, not just spiritual, opportunities. For example, the formation of online groups was an attraction, to find people to laugh and commiserate with and share life experiences. 

Some respondents were distressed when leaders led services as a family, or suggestions were made about how to worship as a family without any ideas for single people. Many still felt that churches have a bias towards families with children. 

When there was a limit on the number of households physically in church, some single people thought they should stay away rather than take the space of a family, whereas others thought that going physically was more important for them and that they should be given precedence. 

Single Friendly Church advised that church leaders think through the needs of their congregations and be open about how they approach attendance.