WillowTheWhisp Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 The Young Single Adults in our Ward have been told not to attend our Ward next week but to go to a newly created Single Adult Ward several miles away.Now I can understand the logic of such a SA ward in places where there are large numbers of YSAs who are not living with their families (such as University students living on campus etc) but I am struggling to understand the logic of it here.We are a small Ward. (80 or so in regular attendance including Primary children) and our YSAs all have callings in the Ward. Two are in Primary. We struggle to fill all the callings anyway bt now we are going to lose some of the most reliable and valued personnel.However, that's not the only problem. The new Ward will consist of YSA fom different Wards and will be located several miles from here. Most of these young people have no transport, cannot even drive, so will have to find bus or taxi fare to get there instead of travelling to what was until now their own home Ward with their families.Isn't the church supposed to be about strengthening families not ripping them apart?I am struggling to understand why this was done and can forsee it leading to inactivity amongst the young people who find it difficult to get there. I'm really hoping they change their minds on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miztrniceguy Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 sometimes you have to think about things, and pray to know what is right for you. sometimes ward boundaries are about having enough priesthood holders. there may be a need in the SA ward for Priesthood holders. I understand your frustration. I am in a ward that was put into a different stake for this reason. My ward chapel is the stake center, but not for my ward for the past several years. I do not attend stake conference since it is about 15 miles away, and my ward chapel is right behind my house (tho i have to drive a mile to get to it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pushka Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 (edited) I haven't been to church for a few weeks, so haven't heard whether this has been extended to my ward too, can you tell me more about it Willow? Where the new SA Ward is for instance? I agree completely with your reservations about sending the YSA to that ward if it's so far away, I think there's only currently 2 YSA in our Ward, and they are reliant on their parents for transport to/from church too, at the moment..very disruptive idea.. I meant to add, do you know if the new SA Ward is to serve all of the YSA in our Stake? Edited March 23, 2009 by pushka To add new question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palerider Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Here where I live we are in a small Branch....we struggle here too....a few years ago our stake started a YSA Branch....my son and daughter attend there every week....he was our Branch Mission Leader and my daughter was in Young Women's......2yrs later we lived to tell about it....they meet in our stake center.....and thats 85 miles away....every sunday my son and daughter drive there and back....they love it and wouldn't want it any other way...the other side of it....they are encouraging you to go....there not making you.....:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 sometimes you have to think about things, and pray to know what is right for you. sometimes ward boundaries are about having enough priesthood holders. there may be a need in the SA ward for Priesthood holders.There has never been a SA ward in our stake. This is an entirely new creation. I'm not sure where the priesthood holders will come from or even who the Bishop will be. It was just sprung upon us in Sacrament meeting.I haven't been to church for a few weeks, so haven't heard whether this has been extended to my ward too, can you tell me more about it Willow? Where the new SA Ward is for instance?I agree completely with your reservations about sending the YSA to that ward if it's so far away, I think there's only currently 2 YSA in our Ward, and they are reliant on their parents for transport to/from church too, at the moment..very disruptive idea..I meant to add, do you know if the new SA Ward is to serve all of the YSA in our Stake?As far as I know it is going to be located at Rossendale Valley. I don't know if that is permanently or just the first week or what. They've just been told not to come to our Ward but to go up there instead.Ours are reliant on their parents for transport too - so I don't know what they are supposed to do if they can't get there. According to my daughter (who isn't old enough yet and is hoping it fizzles out before her birthday!) it is supposed to encourage the inactive SAs to come back to church but I can see it just sending more of the young ones inactive.As far aas I could gather it is supposed to be for all the ones in our Stake. When I mentioned about distances some would have to travel I was just told "Be thankful it's not the old Stake boundaries or they might have had to go up to Workington and Carlisle!"Here where I live we are in a small Branch....we struggle here too....a few years ago our stake started a YSA Branch....my son and daughter attend there every week....he was our Branch Mission Leader and my daughter was in Young Women's......2yrs later we lived to tell about it....they meet in our stake center.....and thats 85 miles away....every sunday my son and daughter drive there and back....they love it and wouldn't want it any other way...the other side of it....they are encouraging you to go....there not making you.....:)Thats not too bad if your son and daughter are able to drive thre and back. Only one of our YSAs has a car and that is more often not working and he can't afford to get it fixed. None of the others can drive. Car insurance is very expensive here for youngsters, not to mention the cost of the lessons and keeping a car on the road. Not many families can afford to do that. So we are faced with a situation where the kids are being sent to a Ward miles away from the one the rest of their family attends and most of them will struggle to get there. Some may be on a direct bus route but others will not and public transport is very sparse on a Sunday.It sounded more like compulsion rather then suggestion here. My husband wondered what would happen if they can't get to the other ward, are they allowed to come to ours with their family or must they just stay at home? It will be vey strange without them. It just seems so contradictory to the church image of families worshipping together and feels so alien. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alana Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 That sounds just like our ward/stake. Our ward is small because of the amount of inactive. All the YSA in the stake meet together to form their own branch. Wouldn't it make more sense if the YSA on the other side of the county attend in their home wards, where there is their family and it is closer? None the less I"m glad they have their own branch. All the people in that branch are single and in the same age bracket and it helps them to get to know each other and be around those who are in similar situations with similar needs as themselves. With the YSA leaving your ward, you might feel the pinch. It'll be hard for your ward and it might be hard for some of the YSA to not be with their families but I think the church lately has been really trying to focus on what is best for the singles in the gospel. Having them not attend with their families isn't weakening families, it's giving them an opportunity to forge their independence, meet with other singles and be where they need to be to receive support from others like themselves. As far as feeling the pinch in primary and similar callings, you'll get around it, I know we have. As far as 'ripping families apart' I respectfully disagree. The singles programs in the church are carefully thought out and governed programs aimed to support a specfic demographic in the church. In the case of Young Single Adults, it's especially important for them to be around other YSA's while they 'brave the world.' They are a unique group and this doesn't isolate them, but it meant to be an aid for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 The Young Single Adults in our Ward have been told not to attend our Ward next week but to go to a newly created Single Adult Ward several miles away.Now I can understand the logic of such a SA ward in places where there are large numbers of YSAs who are not living with their families (such as University students living on campus etc) but I am struggling to understand the logic of it here.The logic is the same as for a University Ward. A lot of the point of a YSA (or SA for that matter) is to get people of simular age and value together to mingle and become friends and ideally get them married off to each other, this doesn't work if everyone stays in their family wards. So if you have several feeder wards you have a greater number of YSA or SA mingling and interacting. Additionally some people have an easier time identifying with people of their own age and marital status and can feel out of place in a marriage ward, this can be especially true of converts and investigators. Isn't the church supposed to be about strengthening families not ripping them apart?Think starting new ones (ideally of course), if you live at home going to a different ward then your parents isn't exactly ripping the family apart (no more so than moving into a new ward and going there is). I'm living at home and go to a different Stake let alone ward than everyone else in the house it hasn't hurt my relationship with my family one bit. Now transportation is a legitimate concern, and in my experience nobody is forced to go to a YSA or SA ward. Heck, when I reactivated and was thus YSA material I didn't go because I was preparing for a mission and dating wasn't on the agenda, nobody hasseled me about not going to the right ward. Of course that was an established ward, if they create a new YSA or SA ward and everyone opts to stay in their family wards that fails so that may be why it is being stressed so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 I can understand it in a University setting but I really can't understand it in our Stake. The SA and YSA have socials where they meet each other for socialising, they even organise their own little get-togethers in bunches of friends going skating or something like that. I'm really not sure what is going to happen regarding transport. It will be easy enough for the ones who live in that Ward boundary anyway, except they will be going to church at a different time and will not be able to eat with their family at home. For many people Sunday is the only time the whole family eats together. But I accept the explanation that this is the Church's way of breaking young adults away from their families in the hope of them starting new ones. It still saddens me though and I find it difficult to feel positive about the whole idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 It still saddens me though and I find it difficult to feel positive about the whole idea.I can understand, you get tons of people who feel the same way about ward splits and boundary changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted March 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Oh we've been through those too. We started out in one Ward then they changed the boundaries so without moving house we ended up in another Ward. Then that Ward split and we ended up in yet another. Then the Ward we split from shrank and our Ward was closed down with no warning and we were all told to go to the other Ward the following Sunday. Our Stake has also split and we have lost half the Wards we used to meet up with at Stake Conference ................... so yes, we've been through plenty of changes and adaptions but we've always been permitted as a family to attend the same Ward together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Well on Sunday our YSAs went off to their 'Singles Ward' which has turned out to be neither a Singles Ward nor not a Singles Ward!Let me explain:They have no Bishop - for Temple Recommends etc they will need to see the Bishop of their old Family Ward (who will not see them at any other time).The YSA from our Ward and one other Ward are basically attending a third Ward but within that Ward they will have their own Priesthood and Relief Society classes and their own Sunday School class (which they did have in their own Wards anyway). They will attend the Sacrament meeting of that other Ward apart from on Fast Sunday when they have their own Sacrament Meeting (not sure yet who will preside over that but the Stake President did last Sunday)So the YSA of one ward are effectively remaining in their own Ward whereas the other two Wards are losing their young adults who are basically being transferred out of their home Ward to another one.It may get more difficult in the winter months for them to travel up there as it can become quite snowbound between the two other Wards and that one.The other three Wards in our Stake are all based in the one chapel but meet at different times so for their YSA to join up is not quite so difficult as they will be going to the same building anyway - plus those 3 Wards (all on the Temple site) are much bigger so the YSA won't be missed so much as regards callings within the Ward.This Sunday we were without music in our Ward and that looks like being the case for the forseeable future as we have no-one but YSA who can play for us. Us older folks with rhuematicy fingers or befuddled brains can't master the complexities of organ or even piano music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 What you need is a player organ/piano. Actually it'd probably be funny to see the reaction on everyone's faces if you busted out a boom box for accompaniment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 I don't think that would be allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applepansy Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 I know that even when I've not understood the reasons, wherefores and whatnots of a new change in the church/stake/ward, If I'm obedient something good comes of it. I pray this will work out for your ward and the YSA involved. applepansy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Well the active YSA are being obedient and going. The less active/ semi-active YSA are at present not wanting to go to church because they do not feel comfortable being sent to another ward miles away. Our Ward will continue to struggle on with fewer personnel to fill the callings we already couldn't fill and we will sing without music and continue to be unable to obtain wheat because we have no-one to take the role of wheat co-ordinator. There are a few technical hitches such as the young SA lady who will be coming to our ward for the next two weeks with her younger siblings who are in our youth and primary because their parents will be on holiday and she needs to be with them, and the young mother who has two children in our primary but is technically a SA because she is divorced. She wants to be in the same ward as her children.I suppose you could say it's sorting out the wheat from the chaff but the wheat is getting weaker at the moment by being divided and struggling to cope.This is just a 'prototype experiment' so it may or may not be adapted permanently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 I don't think that would be allowed. I don't see why not, music is music doesn't matter if its from a piano or a pile of electronics. Leadership may balk at the idea of it for Sacrament but you could definitely get away with it for classes (As they are a lot less formal). Of course in the end there isn't anything wrong with A capella. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Of course in the end there isn't anything wrong with A capella.You haven't heard us lot trying to sing!We have ben told off in the past for using anything other than the designated piano or organ, apart from in Primary when we've used the church CDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowTheWhisp Posted June 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 The experiment is over. Our YSAs are back in their home wards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemidakota Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Years ago the church asks me and a few others who were regional reps for YA, should the church form single wards. Our answers were unambiguous- -NO! We would stop serving others and start serving ourselves. … Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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