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Christian dating in Ireland: where faith and love meet

Church in Shandon, Cork

For many Irish Christians, the goal of dating is to find a lasting relationship with someone who shares the same values. At EliteSingles, we understand that the happiness that such a match can bring, which is why we aim to provide a dating platform that can help Christian singles connect, emotionally, spiritually, and for the long-term.

Christian dating in Ireland

Considering that Ireland boasts the one of highest percentages of practising Christians in Europe,1 there is no shortage of Irish singles keen to find a compatible Christian partner. Yet, although millions of Irish men and women identify with the faith, the Christian dating pool can still seem limited. Indeed, these days it can be surprisingly difficult to find a partner who shares your values, let alone an Irish man or woman who you actually want to date!

Christian blogger Rebecca Vandemark (33), who says that “my partner’s faith is the most important aspect when considering who I date,” thinks that part of the complexity of Christian dating is age, saying that the “church is not equipped to handle singles over the age of twenty-five.”2 Christian author Carrie Lloyd (34) agrees, adding that gender can also come into play. She says “not every Christian may have access to a healthy community of single Christians. There appears to be more men to women in the ratio of singles so there can be a sense of competition or futility in pursuing dating in the church.” But, says Carrie, all is not lost. In fact, ”we can take the matter into our own hands.”3

Taking the search for love online

One powerful way to do this is to head online to find a suitable partner. Indeed, many Irish Christians are now turning to the internet to find a long-term, spiritually-connected mate. In the words of Jenell Paris, social anthropologist at Messiah College; “Christians should look online for dates…because that’s where the people are!”5

Truly, online dating for Christians does make sense. Not only does the creation of a personalised profile allow a chance to be upfront about the importance of God in one’s life, various matching systems mean that singles are free to actively seek someone who has similar priorities. This means that those you do meet will already be singing from the same hymn-sheet: wonderful news for those who wish to live a Godly life and thus don’t want to bother with those who are less active. After all, as many spiritually-minded Irish singles could tell you, there is a big difference between being a ‘cultural’ Christian and actually being a follower of Christ.

For Irish singles in the second camp, online dating is the smart way to seek lasting love. Wherever you are in Ireland from Donegal to Cork why not start your journey with EliteSingles today?

Sources:

1 Christianity by Country: Wikipedia statistics taken from various censuses. Found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_by_country, accessed 25.02.14

2 Rebecca Vandemark is a Christian blogger and author at http://www.caravansonnet.com/. All of her quotes are from an exclusive EliteSingles interview, 2013.

3 Carrie Lloyd is a Christian relationship expert from http://herglassslipper.co.uk. All of her quotes are from an exclusive EliteSingles interview, 2013.

4 Jenell Williams Paris: Christianity Today: Is Online Dating for Christians, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/october/online-dating-christians.html, 2011.

5 Cacioppo, J.T., Cacioppo, S., Gonzaga, G.C., Ogburn, E.L., and VanderWeele, T.J. ‘Marital satisfaction and break-ups differ across on-line and off-line meeting venues’, PNAS. 2013.

6 Croucher, R. (2010). ‘Christian Dating Sites’. Published online on jmm.org.au

About the author: Sophie Watson

See more articles written by Sophie Watson