Our Group History

My name is Larry Taylor and I started a single parent family support group in 1998 with the help of the Harris YMCA in Charlotte, NC.

As a single parent myself, I realized there was a serious lack of support for single parent families in the Charlotte area and especially approaching parenting from a biblical perspective. I actually did a community survey of available resources among single parents and their needs and it was no surprise their top issue was they felt very isolated, even though they comprised over 30% of households. One in three children in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region were growing up in a single-parent home. What was even more disappointing was in 1998, there were no churches in Charlotte we found that had specific ministries for single parent families.

In fact, what parents often said was they felt unwelcome in most churches. They had no place to feel comfortable because while churches had ministries for singles and couples, single parents simply did not fit in with either group. They felt judged for being a single parent family even though it often was through no fault of their own.

So the single parent group started in 1998 to meet the needs of single parent families in the Charlotte, NC area. The group met at the Harris YMCA for parenting classes the first half of the meeting followed by the second half being a support session to share challenges we as single parents faced. Child care was provided by the Harris Y. The group did ongoing outings and activities outside of class and the highlight of the year was our camping weekend at Cane Creek Park outside of Waxhaw, NC.

It was approximately around 2003 (don’t recall the exact time) when the group moved to Forest Hill Church and their Tuesday night class ministries. I will prefix this by saying even though I had promoted an active campaign for acceptance of single parent families, there was still resistance in the church acknowledging single parent families as having their own identity as a group. And as I write this history overview in 2026, I have to sadly say too often little has changed when it comes to the acceptance of single parent families within the Body of Christ.

But anyway, we did continue the group through 2008 but sadly had to discontinue the group due to the inability of securing a facility that provided child care, which is essential in having a single parent group. But we gave it a great 10 year run and I am so honored and blessed to have worked with this incredible group. These parents were living proof of God’s faithfulness and strength while going through unbelievable hardships and challenges.