Yesterday, the LDS church announced that they are redefining “Young Single Adults” as it applies to unmarried members of the church. Previously, Young Single Adults (YSA) were unmarried members of the church who are 18-30 years old. They’ve now upped that to include those up to 35 years old. Being in a Single Adult (SA) ward, this change will affect my ward dynamics. Overall, I think it’s a good change, and I’ll explain why.
A Quick Explanation of the Change
First, this change was effective immediately, meaning yesterday. That doesn’t mean every ward is going to change right now, but I anticipate most YSA wards will make the adjustment over the next few months.
One thing that I know concerned some people was that there is huge age difference between an 18-year-old and a 35-year-old. While there might be places where these two people would be in the same ward, the announcement said in areas with enough YSA, the area leaders could make adjustments so YSA wards would be 18-25 and 26-35. Single Adult wards would be people 36-45. Essentially, there would be three age groups of unmarried adult wards, grouped by about a 9-year range.
According to the news release, Institute will also be divided along the lines of the younger YSA and older YSA groups. This means people will get an extra five years of Institute.
Why I Think Dividing Single Adults Like This is a Good Idea
First, my ward feels way too big. I’ve complained about that repeatedly. There are just too many people. Yes, I’m a bit whiney about it. I just prefer smaller wards. You can get to know people better in smaller groups. I know some people love the huge ward. I’m not one of those people.
On a less selfish note, though, I think the age divisions make sense. While some people felt at home in a YSA ward even past the previous cut-off age, I know there are a lot of people who started feeling old and uncomfortable in the ward before they even reached 31. For me, I started feeling old and really out of place at about 28 or 29.
Adjusting the age range and then dividing the group into two groups just makes more sense. I feel like it will eliminate at least some of the “I’m way older than you, and we’re in the same dating pool” awkwardness. Of course, the adjusted age range may cause even more issues in areas where there is a YSA ward but there aren’t enough people to form two separate YSA wards. I feel like in most areas where there are enough people to form a YSA ward, though, at the very least, they should be able to split into branches if they need to, especially with more people now in the group.
I definitely do not anticipate there being an issue forming younger and older Young Single Adult wards in my area. Our stake currently includes seven YSA wards and an SA ward. Even with just 30 people from each ward (and I would assume that number is probably closer to 50+ per ward), that would be 240 people, definitely enough to form an Older Young Single Adult ward, probably multiple wards.
Where People Might be Unhappy With the New YSA Definition
No one wants to feel like they’re going backward in life. When a Single Adult ward was formed in my area, I remember feeling like I was going backward. I’d been going to a family ward for almost 9 years at that point. I’d thought I was putting my singles ward days behind me. From this experience, I know how hard it can be to feel like you’re taking a step back in life. I anticipate some people in the 31-35 age range struggling to accept that they are YSA again.
I’ll admit it. If the change applied to me, I don’t think I’d take it well. Going back to a SA ward after attending a family ward for so long was hard enough.
This makes me think back to 2018 when high priest quorums and elders quorums were combined. After this change happened, a brother in our ward told my family about how excited he was when he became a high priest (probably 30 years before this) because he knew then that he’d never have to be the Elders Quorum President again. He said it was a difficult calling with many people unwilling to help. Guess what happened once the change took place. Yep, he was put in as Elders Quorum President.
Ultimately, when we feel like we’re being asked to go backward in our spiritual journey, often we are just holding onto pride. Titles, whether they have to do with age, marital status, a calling within the church, or something else, are simply titles. They don’t define us.
Where I See This Going
Over the last few years, there have been several policy changes within the church. Elders Quorum and High Priest Quorums became one, and most people don’t think much of it. Three-hour church became two-hour church. People had their doubts about how well it would work. Now, I think many of us can’t imagine going back to the longer church. The missionary age was lowered. Now, these things that felt a bit strange at first feel normal. A few years from now, having Young Single Adults cover a larger range will just feel normal.
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