Latter-day Saint Life

4 Reasons Singles Wards Are Important & Aren't Just Marriage Markets

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MR says: We all know that finding an eternal companion is a wonderful thing, but it isn't the only thing in young single Mormons' lives. That's why singles wards can help young Latter-day Saints with so much more than just dating.

This week was my last Sunday in a singles’ ward before I join the ranks of the blissfully wed. It has caused me to review my seven years of sitting in wards where leaders crack jokes about sitting a little closer together or give lessons that involve stories about people who got married nine days after one of them returned from a mission. I’ve heard countless people announce activities and add that ‘you might meet the one while eating these baked potatoes’ or ‘there might be someone special at this pool party.’

Indeed it would seem that the sole purpose of living and breathing in a singles’ ward is to catch the attention of some other living, breathing person with whom you could spend your eternity. It can feel like the singles’ ward exists just to get us married off.

I do not mean to diminish either the importance of eternal marriage nor the need to make it a priority. . . .

That said . . . the purpose of a singles’ ward is something much larger than an ongoing speed-dating event.

The Most Important Purpose of a Singles’ Ward 

The most important purpose of a singles’ ward and perhaps the thing that is most often neglected, is to provide a place where we can help each other draw closer to Jesus Christ. Your 20s in the time when you are just discovering how to seek personal revelation, just understanding how to apply the atonement and how much you will need it for life. It is a time when you first discover you can sink and must learn who to call upon for rescue.

Lead image from Meridian Magazine.
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