Sidestepping the swingers' sites, Christian singles seek cyberspace
romance.
By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer
7/1/00 Excerpts used by permission
NEW YORK (AP) _ In the often racy realm of cyberspace dating, these are
come-on lines with a difference: "Avid reader, enjoys theological studies."
"Single, conservative Lutheran pastor in rural Iowa."
Uncomfortable with local bar scenes, restless in the social circles of their
own churches, single Christians by the tens of thousands are flocking to
Internet services offering the prospect of spiritually correct matchmaking.
Some of the sites are listed in the same directories that promote "Hot Sexxy Singles" or "1-to-1 Extramarital Dating." But operators of the Christian
services say their patrons, by and large, are sincere in their faith and their romantic quests.
Most of the Christian singles sites include testimonials from couples who
married after linking up through the Internet.
Two... satisfied customers are James and Tonya Wieck, both 38, both
divorcees. They met online in January through Shining Star Singles, and married April 27 after an e-mail courtship.
Wieck, an architect and Adventist Church deacon from Sun Valley, Calif.,
proposed to Tonya during their first date, after he flew to her home in
Amarillo, Texas. By that point, he had used the Internet to introduce her to the televised services of a popular Adventist preacher.
"We got to know each other the best way -- by words," Wieck said by telephone
from California. But physical attraction was a decisive factor when they finally met.
"My profile had been out there (on the Internet) for three years," he said.
"I got e-mails from women with pictures that didn't match what I was looking
for, who were obese or not very pretty. Sometimes it was difficult to say
'You're not the kind of person I'm looking for.' You get the feeling it's a
lonely person, and the door is being slammed in their face one more time."
Nannette Thacker, who runs Shining Star Singles along with her husband, said
the 3-year-old service maintains a pool of about 4,600 members.
"Some say they're just looking for a friend, someone to correspond with,"
she said. "Deep-down in their hearts, I think most want a serious relationship,
but they want to be careful to start with."
Most of the dating services urge users to be cautious about meeting
strangers.
Thacker said Shining Star has had only a handful of problems, such as a user
employing an obscene alias.
This article was published on the Associated Press on 7/1/00. Since then, our site has grown and we have thousands and thousands more members.
