CLINTON – Being a parent is challenging enough when you have a spouse to partner with you, but what if a person is raising kids alone? First Baptist Church of Clinton, Mo., has established a ministry for these single parents.
Melissa Warren, herself a single parent, started the church’s Solo Parenting Ministry after several years of prayer and planning. “I am the parent of some children with some special needs, and it was extremely difficult for me to remain in the church with the struggles that I was dealing with,” she said while talking about the circumstances she was in when she first felt the call. “I just felt God laying on my heart that it was something I needed to not complain about, but to do something about.”
It was clear where the Lord was leading her, yet she shared how she resisted the call at first—something she referred to as a “Moses moment.” She was reluctant to take any action, feeling that she wasn’t the right person for the job. “But eventually,” she said, “God put the right things in place and the right people in place to encourage me. So I went to several churches in the community, and I went to several non-profit organizations, and just had a conversation saying, ‘This is a need. What can we do?’”
In January 2024, Warren’s God-given vision finally began to solidify. She met with Pastor Pat Findley of FBC Clinton, and he agreed that something needed to be done, and they had the resources to do it. They created a leadership team and began the process of building a ministry for single parents.
Their mission statement spells out what they believe is most important to serve single parents: “Our mission is to empower and equip solo parent families through prayer, encouragement, discipleship, and fellowship, fostering strong families and healthy communities in alignment with the beliefs and values of First Baptist Church of Clinton.” This encompasses the vision Warren has for FBC Clinton’s Solo Parenting Ministry and the direction she’d like it to go in the future.
“We specifically chose to use the word ‘solo’ because we do encourage anyone who is parenting alone,” Warren said in explanation of how she named the ministry. “Whether it be long-term, short-term, a spouse is deployed, or a spouse is even present in the home but just does not offer support. If someone feels like they are alone in parenting, we want to encompass anyone who has those struggles.”
FBC Clinton’s Solo Parenting Ministry puts on several yearly events, such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gatherings, a back-to-school backpack drive, and an October Trunk or Treat. In addition, they organize social get-togethers to help develop relationships within the church’s solo parent community. Another SPM leader, Jim Griffey has helped organize a group of volunteers so that they can provide simple repair, maintenance, and needs that solo parents may have.
The ministry is also looking into potential partnerships with local organizations to provide as many resources to solo parents as possible. One of these is with Door of Hope, a pregnancy center in Clinton. “We’re partnering with them to hopefully provide some quarterly classes on parenting, budgeting, life skills, things like that,” said Warren.
When asked where she would like to see this ministry in the future, Warren described how her dreams have turned from seeing her desires fulfilled to watching God create something beautiful in His own power. “When God laid this on my heart, I had a lot of ideas based off of the needs that I had. But in the two years that I said no to God, He opened my eyes to how different each solo parent’s situation and needs are. I learned in that timeframe that whatever plans I have are going to hold us back. And so, I would like to say that we would love to have all these partnerships going and have a huge variety of resources that we can offer to solo parents, be able to come alongside them and support them in their needs. But the reality is, we’re just along for the ride. God has the final plan.”
Warren said that her experience has taught her that God can and does use anybody, no matter who they are, to do the work He calls them to. “I think it’s important for people to recognize the needs that are in their community and to recognize that if God calls you to do something, you don’t have to know how to do it. You don’t have to have everything lined up, you just say yes, and He does some pretty amazing things with that.”