Single Life

I would like to ask how do you see single people in Anglican Church. I have a feeling that despite RCC have institutes of consecrated secular life, many Catholics even don't know that they exist.
Do you have consecrated singles for example, do you see singleness as a vocation?

 

Welcome Dominika. I can't help with your question unfortunately, I don't know the answer. I do know though that pretty well all Anglican congregations will welcome you whether single or not.
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I don't know of consecrated singleness but I do know that singleness should at the very least be seen highly as Paul spoke highly of singleness. Not everyone is called to it but those that are should see it as a higher calling and the church should also

 

The RCC does have secular institutes of consecrated life. I think we have similar in the Anglican Communion with what are called dispersed religious communities. The members of these do not live together in a convent like a traditional community. They live in the world and have secular occupations. Some may be ordained and some are lay. Some are celibate and some are married. They all have a rule they follow. So, yes, I do believe we have something equivalent to the RCC's secular institutes of consecrated life.

 

I have come to understand and respect that some people are called to singleness. One of the cases that really helped me understand this was one of my first acolytes. His father had sired two families over the years and the boy had many siblings. There was always a vibe of 'this is what men do, have large families' coming his way. But I realized as he reached his late teens that he was asexual. Of course, in his father's mind such a category did not exist. The boy is now 22 or 23 and has never dated. His father once came to me privately and asked if I thought he was gay and I told him no, J___ is not gay he is asexual and I tried to explain what that meant.

In American conservatism there is a tendency to make every issue bipolar and black or white. In terms of sexuality that leads to thinking in terms of straight or gay. My own mother once eloquently stated, "Any man that lets another man put something in his butt is a faggot." In her mind, bisexual doesn't exist. Anyone who classifies in that manner is just being dishonest about how gay they are. And I've already mentioned the difficulty these people have with understanding someone who has no sexual inclinations. They tend to just lump those people into the gay category too.

I was at the doctor's office a couple of years ago and read a truly fascinating article in one of the waiting room magazines by a woman who went through the process of becoming a consecrated virgin in the Roman church. She had all of these same pressures. Her friends were all marrying and having families. Her parents began to wonder if she was queer or something. No one took the time to understand that she just didn't have any great desire for a romantic relationship. Finally, someone actually listened to her and told her about being a consecrated virgin. She had a lovely ceremony in her late 20s, presided by a bishop, and was consecrated as a virgin.

 

I agree some are called to be celibate and the single life. Some people are asexual. However I do not think someone called to the single life is necessarily asexual.

 

I think the same. Thank you for your explanation.

 

Thank you, If I had an Anglican congregation not so far away from a place I live in, I would probably join it or at least attend some celebrations.

 

What is your geographical context? In the United States under ACNA we have a strongly developed Single Life ministry. I can point you to several theologians if interested. Also, the ACNA has several orders of nuns, who follow more of a medieval format of the Single Life, if that appeals to you: https://anglican.ink/2021/04/14/ny-nuns-quite-tec-for-acna/

 

I'm from Poland.

 

Are you the Dominika from the Orthodox forums. She is also from Poland.

 

No, I'm not from the Orthodox forums.

 

Poland is a big country. There is a Church of England (Diocese of Europe) church in Warsaw:
Kaplica Res Sacra Miser ul. Krakowskie Przedmiescie 62 (https://www.anglicanchurch-poland.org/warsaw)

 

My grandparents on my father's side both were of Polish heritage. People would sometimes ask my dad why our surname didn't end in "-ski" like so many Polish names do. He would reply (in humor) that his ancestors were from Eastern Poland, where the snow got so deep they had to use snowshoes instead of skis. (I don't suppose that joke works in Polish the way it does in English, though.)

 

Well, I can tell you that my surname ends in "-er"

 

Thank you very much, unfortunately, it is still far away from my place, but who knows where I will be in the future.

 

I'm not surprised to hear it. I know Poland is a big country and, without checking facts, I believe it's much bigger than the entire UK. It could be the same as someone telling me the nearest place to something for me was in London. Much too far away.

 

Some Abbeys, such as this one, accept oblates. I am not sure if it is restricted to single people or not.

https://edgwareabbey.org.uk/oblates/

 

I don't think this is a solution for our OP. She lives in Poland. I went to your link and as I suspected whilst it isn't specified you probably need to live in the UK because of the connection with the community that's required.

 

I thought she was asking whether we consecrate single people in the Anglican communion. My reply was only to say yes.