Steve McLeod, who is associate dean at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, Tenn., wrote his dissertation on “Assimilating singles into a family-focused church.” He says issues worth examining are whether older singles want to participate in singles groups, and whether single adults in general prefer to stick with their lifelong religious affiliation […]

Tom and Bev Rodgers of Charlotte, N.C., have been married for 34 years. They co-direct a Christian counseling practice and wrote The Singlehood Phenomenon: 10 Brutally Honest Reasons People Aren’t Getting Married.

Dick Purnell of Raleigh, N.C., is the founder and director of Single Life Resources, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ. He speaks nationally on singles issues, and his books on singleness include, as author, Finding a Lasting Love: Friendship, Romance, Commitment and, as co-author, Singles and Relationships (A 31-Day Experiment).

Rob Eagar of Atlanta wrote Dating With Pure Passion: More Than Rules, More Than Courtship, More Than a Formula and speaks nationally on single adult issues. He says the church largely ignores singles and needs to do more to incorporate them and minister to them.

Rabbi Donald A. Weber of Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, N.J., has offered to pay for single congregation members’ fees to join the online Jewish dating service JDate.

Linda Hardin is national coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene’s single adult ministries.

Paul Jarzembowski is the USCCB representative to the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association, which is an outreach to singles and couples in their 20s and 30s.

Jeff Strank of LetMyPeopleGo organizes popular gatherings for Jewish singles in several cities. The annual Christmas Eve ball in New York City attracts more than 3,000 people. Contact through the website.

Spark Networks in Beverly Hills, Calif., owns online singles services, including JDate for Jewish singles, CatholicMingle.com, ChristianMingle.com and LDSMingle.com. In its 2007 trends reports, Spark Networks said it is seeing a rise in offline events connected to its dating sites and an increased subscriber base of single parents.