Christian “singles” looking for partners are not just embracing the internet, speed-dating and indoor recreational activities but are turning to outdoor activities with like-minded people.
Especially popular are fun events which focus on healing and protecting the environment, according to Christian Eco-Friends, which is promoting its Christian dating “ministry” with the tagline: “Fall in love with all of Creation – and each other”.
A year of research by Christian Eco-Friends with Christian singles in Bristol and surrounding areas showed that they are increasingly drawn to meeting others “in a way that has an ethical ethos and is face to face, especially after the pandemic”, says Christian Eco-Friends founder and director, Liz Baldwin.
Around 75 per cent of respondents said they would be “very unlikely” to meet a suitable partner in a bar or a club as it is “highly unlikely” they will share interests and passions.
Internet dating is seen as “fun” but ultimately unsubstantial as it's hard to get a real picture of a person.
Events include activities such as tree planting, eco-matting, re-greening parks, and greening woodland.
“Our research shows people prefer to spend and commit more time to a fun group environment that fosters stability, reliability and developing friendships as they help and heal nature,” said Baldwin. “Christian Eco-Friends meets this need.”
Events are held on the first Saturday of each month. On 4 March, for example, there is an “eco-matting trees” event in South Wales where people in the age group 20s–40s are invited to lay down woodchip and cardboard around tree saplings, ending with a drink at a local pub.
The aim of Christian Eco-Friends is to build social networks of Christian Singles through environmental initiatives which foster companionship and friendship.
It is inspired by the encyclical Laudato Si' by Pope Francis. He says in paragraph 47: “Real relationships with others, with all the challenges they entail, now tend to be replaced by a type of internet communication which enables us to choose or eliminate relationships at whim, thus giving rise to a new type of contrived emotion which has more to do with devices and displays than with other people and with nature.”
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