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“Man, I’m so glad to be married finally,” my friend said. “Dating is a war zone these days.”
I nodded along, having heard many comments like that from my single friends.
Thanks to a whole host of factors — online dating giving the illusion of infinite choices, social media creating unrealistic expectations, a hook up culture that puts superficial and transient relationships over lasting ones, and much more — 2025 is not the easiest time to be hoping to settle down with Mr. or Miss Right.
But one daring Catholic couple is determined to do something about it.
Emily Wilson Hussem and Daniël Hussem want to heal the dating culture, especially among the Catholic community. To that end, they’ve dreamed up a new kind of dating app, SacredSpark, with some very unusual features.
Here’s how it all began, and what makes SacredSpark different.
The Catholic matchmaking post revolution
Emily Wilson Hussem is a speaker, YouTuber, award-winning author, wife and mom who shares her faith online and travels the world sharing her witness of faith at conferences and events across the globe.
Two years ago, she had the “silly idea” to do a “matchmaking” post on Instagram for Catholic singles to find each other. The premise was simple: Put out the call for anyone looking to meet a Catholic spouse to comment, then each person could look through the comments to find someone with whom they might hit it off.
To her surprise, it exploded in popularity with thousands and thousands of comments. It was so popular that she did another, and then another. Her most recent was a collaboration with Father David-Michael Moses:
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These posts have led to 11 marriages, 20 engaged couples, and a baby. And those are just the couples she knows about!
Strengths together
She and her husband were inspired to continue the positive momentum from the matchmaking posts with SacredSpark, a platform to connect Catholic singles and heal the dating culture.
Meeting someone across a distance hits close to home for the Hussems. Emily is from Los Angeles, California, while Daniël is from the Netherlands. His background in technology merged with her ministry experience to become SacredSpark. She told Aleteia:
I've been walking with people in ministry for 14 years now, and my husband brings over a decade of tech experience. So our two strengths in collaboration on this, combined with our heart to transform the Catholic dating culture, is what we hope will make SacredSpark something that transforms people's lives for generations.
My husband and I are from two separate countries. Our love story is impossible without the miracle of the Lord bringing us together. We really feel that SacredSpark is a part of that, as well as a story of hope. We want to be a beacon of hope, as the two people who started this, and met from very far apart.
God can do anything. You just let the Lord lead, and you never know what could happen. And that's what we're trying to do with SacredSpark is to be open and let the Lord lead.
What makes SacredSpark different
Emily described some of the things that set SacredSpark aoart:
1Robust local presence before unlocking
The app has not launched yet, but the waitlist has thousands and thousands of singles on it already (and counting!). Upon launch, SacredSpark will unlock for full access by diocese, with a threshold of waitlist members that must be met before it can fully unlock, which you can track live:
It’s almost a race between dioceses and an opportunity for the community to come together to support their singles. We want each one, when we launch, to be buzzing with people in the area. We hope this will get all of the dioceses rallying around it, not only helping people to connect, but also transforming the health of the Catholic dating culture through this initiative.
2Intentional versus superficial connections
Instead of instantly swiping through photos, you will hear how someone introduces themselves and get a feel of how they carry themselves through an audio clip or short video intro. You first see only a glimpse of them — enough to encounter a real person, but not enough to reduce them to a snap, superficial judgement about who they are based only on what you see.
Think of the Love is Blind or The Voice approach.
We're leading with the interior followed by the exterior. Both are equally important, we’re just swapping them around.
Many dating apps are superficial and feel like you’re “shopping” through faces like we shop for products online. We wanted to design something that slows us down and helps us see the person before the picture, and by introducing video and audio their humanity and personality shine through so much more than with just static images.
3Builds friendships, not just dating relationships
Beyond meeting someone to date, SacredSpark is designed to promote community, friendship, and support among all singles. After all, you only marry one person, but can be friends with many others and help encourage each other along the way.
We’re building SacredSpark to be a place where singles can connect with one another for support and walking alongside one another. They can be in community with one another and in solidarity as they discern their vocation, whatever that might be. It’ll be a hub for Catholic Singles to connect and walk with one another on the journey.
4A matchmaking feature
A fun and distinct feature of SacredSpark is the option to invite friends or family members to be your “matchmaker.”
“It's blending technology with the tradition of setting up your friends,” Emily said.
This optional feature is perfect for someone who is tired of dating apps and would love for a trusted friend or family member to do the heavy lifting for them.
5Formational resources
“SacredSpark is built to help make meaningful online connections that lead to lasting offline relationships — because dating isn’t done on an app, it’s done in real life. And that’s where the real journey starts,” said Emily.
The first formational resource SacredSpark has created is “Dating 101,” a practical course on healthy dating practices. The course will be made available to people on the waitlist even before the app launches in their city.
What I found in my years of ministry is that many people are not formed to date. Nobody ever taught them. We have so many broken homes and broken families, so many young people were not raised to see what a holy sacramental marriage is and what it looks like to date in a healthy way. Our hope is that this will help transform the dating culture so that people know how to date in a mature way, communicate in a mature way, and respond in a mature way. We want it to be the healthiest possible place that it can be.
SacredSpark is aiming to launch at the end of September. Join the wait list, and here’s to healing the dating culture so it’s less like a war zone and more like the Body of Christ.
