Christian women spend years praying and waiting for husbands who may never come. Is the Church to blame?

Many Black Christian women are praying for Christian husbands who, statistically speaking, will never arrive. And the Church is partly to blame. That’s the controversial idea at the heart of Alan Charles’ new play Why Didn’t I Get Married? Sam Hailes spoke to him to find out more   

For every seven women in church, there’s only one man.

That’s according to playwright Alan Charles, who says single Christian women who want to be married to a fellow believer are being put in an impossible position. Many are told to wait and pray, but statistically speaking, when it comes to finding lasting love, they’re at a significant disadvantage. 

The “7:1 dilemma” is a common but rarely discussed phenomenon, says Charles. His latest production Why Didn’t I get Married? promises to “rip the bandage off a long-simmering wound in the Black Christian community”. 

The plot centres around a bold legal move: a group of single Black Christian women file a class action lawsuit against the Church. Their charge? Emotional and psychological trauma caused by involuntary singlehood—something they say is partly due to the church’s failure to support realistic relationship outcomes.

It’s been billed as a “gripping semi-courtroom drama” where the church is called to the stand and the audience becomes the jury. I spoke to him to find out more ahead of the play’s arrival in London and Luton later this month…