BYU Singles Wards

I have made fun of singles wards a lot in my time. It always seemed to turn church into high school, with all the gossip and dating and goofing around. And it made me feel like a horse in some sort of breeding compound. I didn't like singles wards at all.

Then I came to this new ward (YSA 181st). It's been fantastic. Everyone is really open and accepting of others, and it's so much more laid back than most of the wards I've been in. Going to church with these guys is great, because everyone is so excited about the gospel and just wants to talk about it. In this ward, I feel a lot more like a member of the army of Helaman - we're going to go out there with our gospel knowledge and kick Satan's tail!

So I have come to re-appreciate singles wards. That said, I ran into my friend Jimmy on campus the other day, and he had quite the stories to tell about his singles ward. I thought it was hilarious, so I'm sharing it with you.

Jimmy said his ward was like most singles wards, at first: very date-happy. Nothing new there. But a few weeks ago, the bishopric took it a few steps further - they called and set apart a Dating Council.

No, really.

The members of this Dating Council are in charge of getting people together. Any member of the ward can report to the Dating Council a couple that they think should be set up. The Dating Council, with funds from the ward, will then arrange the date for said couple. It's completely voluntary (aka, you can NOT go on the date if you don't want to) but I imagine it would be embarrassing to back out of a date the entire ward knew was going on.


Then again, I can't see any way this whole process isn't just embarrassing for everyone involved.

But it seems to be working for Jimmy's ward. And I'm sure they're all living happily ever after.

:)

I love my singles ward. But you can understand why the concept still makes me smirk.