Some members love it, some members hate it...Do you think the purpose of Single's ward is matchmaking?. What do you think are the pros and cons?.
I found some interesting and funny reasons to attend a Single's ward:
10. Silent sacrament meetings.
9. Munch and mingle every other Sunday.
8. Way more money in the activity committee's budget.
7. No wondering if cute guy/girl in the row in front of you is married.
6. Flirt to convert is actively applied...
Source 4
Yes, I think singles' wards are designed to marry off the Young Single Adults. Let me qualify that by saying I've never actually attended a singles' ward, and I probably never will -- mainly because I'm a single *mom* and those wards do not have anything like Primary; secondly, because I feel I'm personally better served and able to serve in a family ward.
In my personal opinion, it gives the YSA the opportunity to meet and flirt and date a variety of people without being under the watchful eyes of their own parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, younger siblings, married friends, etc.
Roz
I think Singles wards do two very important things, at least in areas that are not predominantly LDS. It gives singles an opportunity to meet that might not otherwise. In my stake there is one singles ward, all the young singles from the area attend. If they all only went to their home wards, there wouldn't be many singles their age from which to choose for dating, etc.
The second thing is that the spiritual needs of a young single adult are very different than from married couples in their 30's and 40's for example. In a singles ward, the lessons and sacrament talks can be done with a focus intended for a young single audience.
Big changes coming for single Mormons
Attention single Mormons under age 30 in the Salt Lake Valley: The LDS Church is disbanding all student wards (except for students who live on a college campus), creating in their place congregations for students and singles together in 12 to 17 new all-singles stakes. Ref. Source 4
Organizational Changes Help Church Leaders Better Care for Young Single Adults
Salt Lake City | 2011-04-15 | Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are making some organizational changes in an effort to better care for young single members of the Church.
Source: LDS Newsroom RSS Feed Results for Latest News
I was reading an interesting article in a newspaper and they were commenting that Church leaders were acknowledging that part of the reason for the change with regards to student wards is because the Church was worried about massive losses of members in this age group. Elder Ballard also said:
“Stay in the Boat”: The 60th Anniversary Commemoration of Church's First Single Adult Stake
Today, 1,313 young single adult units in the Church bear the historical legacy of that first BYU student stake. They range widely over 43 states in the United States and four Canadian provinces and are found in New Zealand, Botswana, Australia, Paraguay, England, Tonga, and the Philippines, said Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, BYU professor of Church history and doctrine. Ref. Source 5h.