It’s Valentine’s week, and one important conversation to have is about singleness. What messages do people get about being single? Are there positives and negatives? How can the church do a better job at creating space for single people to exist and to lead? We’re joined by Dr. Bella DePaulo and Holly Stallcup to talk about it. Things we mention in this episode/other resources:- Bella’s TedTalk ‘What No one Ever Told You About People Who Are Single’- Bella has tons of books on Amazon, man of which are on singleness- Holly mentions Jenna DeWitt and Gina Dalfonzo (author of One by One: Welcome the Singles in Your Church) Connect with Dr. Bella DePaulo on her website, Twitter, Facebook, read her blogs ‘Living Single on Psychology Today and ‘Single at Heart’ on Psych Central, or buy any of her books on Amazon. Connect with Holly Stallcup on Twitter or learn more about Now She Rises. Quotes:- “This is an option. If you think [singleness] suits you, it’s a good valuable way to live.” (tweet)- “Being single is not a monolith.” (tweet)- “Church culture at large makes the assumption that singleness is a stepping stone and that if we see it any more than that, it devalues marriage.” (tweet)- “If single life is valued, than the people who want to marry will be going that direction from a place of strength [instead of] running away from single life.” (tweet)- “Single people across religions often feel like they don’t have a place in their churches. They feel like they aren’t valued.” (tweet)- “A lot of this is just becoming aware of the cultural norms that we’ve embraced.” (tweet) Join the Cxmhunity on Facebook! Connect with Robert on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Connect with Holly on her website or Twitter. Connect more with CXMH on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. Ways to support CXMH:- make a pledge on Patreon and get rewards like submitting questions for upcoming interviews, a mug, sticker, t-shirt, or more!- give a one-time gift using PayPal- Do your Amazon shopping through this link- Leave us a rating & review on iTunes or Google Play- Check out our CXMH merchandise to show off your support- Listen to the Cxmhunity Spotify playlist here- Check out other episodes and find your favorites guests on our website. Intro/Outro music for this episode is ‘Fall Down’ by Rivers & Robots.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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