by Katrina L. Spencer
Katrina Spencer began writing for Vinegar Hill Magazine in 2022 when she lived in Charlottesville. She left Virginia to pursue a master’s degree in journalism and media. Having completed her program, she now resides in Austin, Texas, and recruits freelancers to contribute to the publication.
The Church of Christ (COC) at Eastside in Austin, Texas, is making a vast array of preparations for hosting the National Christian Singles Seminar (NCSS), set to occur September 4-7, 2026. Among the church’s efforts at programming and hospitality are panels, guest speakers, hotel reservations, shuttles, tours, catering, entertainment and more.
“We think of it as inviting them personally to our house,” said Keyayna Thomas, the lead of the singles’ ministry at COC Eastside.
Thomas, 52, moved to Austin from Florida for work in 2024 and said she is eager to create opportunities for fellowship amongst Christian singles and others interested in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The 50th anniversary of NCSS comes at a time in the United States when the status of “single” is receiving increasing visibility.
Almost 6 of every 10 U.S. adults said they were not looking for a relationship or casual dates in 2022, and as of 2021, 25% of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married, according to Pew. Moreover, 29% of U.S. households consisted of just one person in 2024, according to U.S. Census data.
These trends may signal a shift in American attitudes towards marriage, relationships, dating and coupling overall. If marriage is declining as a central and organizing principle in American society, orientations around and accommodations of other statuses may be necessary.
“Something I heard from many single people who were religious was that their places of worship were more attuned to the needs and interests of parishioners who were married,” Bella DePaulo, author of Single At Heart, wrote. She has studied singles for years, collecting their anecdotes and statistics that describe their behavior.
“To the extent they [churches] paid attention to single people, it was with the attitude of helping or encouraging them to marry. Many single people wanted to be valued as single people and have their single lives taken seriously, and not just reduced to spouses in waiting,” DePaulo wrote.
Programming like the NCSS to be hosted at COC Eastside reflects the manifestation of that change.
“The average participant is not going looking for a spouse,” said Susan Smith, also a co-chair on this year’s NCSS committee.
Smith, 64, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, has worshipped at COC Eastside for 8 years, was married for 25 and said all singles, including people who are unmarried, divorced, widowed and single parents, are welcome to participate in the seminar.
“I would recommend the event to anyone 18 to 118,” she said.
Over the years, the event has exclusively been hosted by the COC and its predominantly Black congregations all across the U.S, including cities like Boston, Las Vegas and Nashville. For newcomers to the COC, some of its distinguishing characteristics include its a cappella worship style, close adherence to New Testament scriptures and its male leadership in positions of authority.
This year’s NCSS theme is “The Spiritual Anatomy of a Christian Single: Mind, Body And Soul.” In it, attendees will explore what it means to live a “clean, Christian single life,” Smith said.
Early registration costs $250 and organizers are expecting 150 attendees, Floyd Boozer, 68 and an elder in the church, said.
Boozer, originally from Houston, has attended at least 14 NCSS meetings and is a veteran of the national steering committee. At one of these events in New Orleans in the 1990s, he connected with Valerie, the woman who would become his wife.
The NCSS had hundreds of attendees prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Boozer said, and was once hosted online. Members of the current committee said they’re interested in recuperating and even exceeding the former number of attendees.
One of the missions members of the Church of Christ are called to, Thomas said, is to recruit new disciples, and the NCSS is an opportunity for evangelism.
Members of the steering committee have launched a tour in Texas in which they visit various churches announcing the upcoming seminar.
Thomas, who identifies as a “servant of Christ,” said she wants to break the stereotype that the seminar is an “extension of a dating app.” Her goal is to glorify God, she said, as a single person.
“You’re not waiting and sitting on your hands and doing nothing,” Thomas said. “There is nowhere in the Bible that says you’re guaranteed to get married.”
Many singles value their freedom, DePaulo wrote.
“They also appreciate getting to spend time with, and care for, as many people as they want, rather than elevating one person, a romantic partner, above all others,” DePaulo wrote. “When you enjoy and appreciate solitude, rather than fearing it, then you are especially unlikely to be lonely.”