Not alone on this journey
Not alone on this journey
How do spouses who come to church without their partners feel?
There are many of us even in our congregations. We are often female, but not always. Statistics from various sources indicate that typical congregations in the United States draw adult crowds that are 61 percent female, 39 percent male. On an average Sunday 25 percent of married, churchgoing women worship without their husbands.
At times it is not easy for us in church. We hear applications to Christian marriages that cannot always be shared directly at home and that may be difficult to practice. At times we can feel terribly alone in the trials and triumphs of life. For some of us, our spouses are supportive of our need to be nourished with the Word and sacrament and our desire to serve our Savior. For others of us, our spouses resent the time we spend at church.
Life for us is often a struggle. But it is an opportunity to grow spiritually and to make the most of our Christian vocation. Through our everyday living, God creates special opportunities to live in the joy of Christ. We have special occasions for prayer and the display of Christian love at its finest. It is a time to share our faith also by living it as honestly and graciously as we are able so that we attract rather than repel. We try to develop the “quiet and gentle spirit” that Peter encouraged (1 Peter 3:4). Our hope is expressed in Paul’s words that “the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband” (1 Corinthians 7:14).
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