As Solo Flight gathers for its 20th consecutive year, the coordinators are discerning the future and looking to conduct visioning sessions centering on being single in The Episcopal Church.

“Solo Flight Episcopalians – single, divorced and widowed of all ages – have been gathering for a weekend of personal and spiritual growth, fellowship, networking, worship, outreach, evangelism, and fun for two decades,” noted Dr. Kay Collier McLaughlin, founder of Solo Flight Ministries With Single Adults and Solo Flight Conferences. “This year, we are discerning together where God is calling The Episcopal Church in general and Solo Flight in particular in terms of ministry with single adults, and if the Solo Flight ministry for single adults continues.”

The 2010 Solo Flight National Conference for Single Adults will be September 3-6 at the Roslyn Retreat Center, Richmond, Virginia. McLaughlin notes that there is still time to register.

The 2010 theme, One Is A Whole Number, will be the focus for keynote speaker Jane Gentry Vance, immediate past poet laureate of Kentucky, and session leaders such as the Rev. Laurie Brock, a young adult single priest from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Other presenters – mostly young single adults – will address the theme from the perspective of the laity in a culture where the average age of first marriage hovers around 30 years old.

McLaughlin noted, “At the 20-year mark, we have so many areas on which we have done a great deal of research, such as the ordained single person, ministry with ex-clergy spouses, and later dates for first marriage in church and culture. We have had 19 exciting conferences, 19 wonderful keynote speakers, and 19 years of bringing together single adults who have felt isolated in their parishes and dioceses. In a denomination of small congregations, most will not be in parishes that will have a trained leader dedicated to this ministry. Our belief system and our structure make The Episcopal Church the ideal place to do ministry with single adults of all ages.”

She added that an invitation is being issued to church leaders, ordained and lay, who are concerned with Christian Formation, ministry with young adults, church growth and evangelism to register for this conference “to engage in the discussion about making words ‘The Episcopal Church welcomes you” be true for single adults of all ages.”

Further information and registration: http://www.soloflightministry.net. Scholarships available; contact kcollierm@diolex.org or davidwperk@aol.com.

The Episcopal Church welcomes all who worship Jesus Christ in 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations. The Episcopal Church is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Solo Flight Ministries: http://www.soloflightministry.net

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

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