A PEW FOR ONE, PLEASE: The Church and the Single Person

by William Lyon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 1977

Another book on singles and the Church, like Saturday Night, Sunday Morning by Christoff above. Lyon is a clinical psychologist with theological training in addition, and resembles Christoff in writing from first-hand experience and using realistic case histories, in this case mainly from the Los Angeles area. He makes use of the existing literature (not much), and has visited churches working with a variety of programs for singles. Though he does not shout as loud as Christoff, he is more systematic and operates in greater depth. Areas in which this helps the reader are: his identification of the needs of the different categories of singles; his examination of various types of church programs and the services they offer; his analysis of the part the church plays in these programs, and a comparison of them with more commercial offerings. In all the above, the author's professional insight into personal needs and group dynamics is most helpful. Finally, there is a probing chapter for churches about to move in this direction--what questions they should ask themselves, what essentials to hang onto, how to use limited resources. If you are going to buy only one book, this is it.

Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Seabury

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION