SPAG magazine stands for Single Person Approved by God and comes out quarterly, the most recent edition being for Spring entitled "Same Sex Marriage and the Church".
The bumper second issue focused on the struggles of remaining single, particularly when you are a homosexual. It is never easy to live the life that we've been called to as Christians, but having the gift of singleness is particularly burdensome.
Editor Vikki Nunn claims that this is a gift to be embraced. The gift is about not being distracted from following God, and accepting being in His will rather than marrying out of our own desires, which can often end up backfiring.
Marginalised and misunderstood singles
It's not only the individual Christian who must accept this gift and calling of singleness but the church needs to be more aware of how they treat singles. Are singles marginalised in the church? That's what Christena Cleveland researched and her findings were surprising.
Marriage and a family focus is overwhelming in most denominations, whereas any sort of a singles emphasis is greatly ignored. Not only inside the church though, as Christena admits "a senior vice president of a well-known, enormous parachurch organisation recently admitted to me that every single one of the 60+ 'middle management' staff members he oversees is married."
Where is the voice for the singles in Christian communities? Things have to change and people need to be more aware of how to be inclusive toward singles.
Gay Christian singles and acceptance
People also need to learn how to be inclusive of gay Christians. Many sides of this issue were covered in the most recent SPAG magazine. Those who struggled with temptation, both in and out of the clergy, and how to respond as a pastor and a Christian to the same-sex marriage debate.
And evangelical pastor Ken Wilson explained why "welcome and wanted" is a biblical response to gay and lesbian couples in evangelical churches. That it is hypocritical to say "I love you, but I hate your sin" when "most evangelical churches have remarried leaders. No one speaks of loving these remarried people but hating their sin."
Guest columnist Justin Lee told of his own struggles to understand why "in all likelihood, I would always be gay, whether or not I ever acted on my feelings." He told of the negative Christian responses he had gotten from well-meaning people and concluded that "many churches don't know how to respond to a gay person" - which is a sad reality.
The voice of change
While it may be completely on the mark that the church struggles to full integrate and cater to its singles with any orientation, thankfully publications like SPAG are raising awareness for this overlooked need.
You can subscribe to the magazine at www.spagmag.com
Bridget Brenton has been researching apologetics, philosophy and the paranormal for years. You can check her apologetic effort out at 101arguments.com
Bridget Brenton's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/bridget-brenton.html