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I suspect this is a big mistake. What are your thoughts? I haven’t seen this as an official churchwide policy announcement. Is it something that’s happening everywhere or is it a local decision? In answer to the question, I see where the thought is coming from – if the point is to have one Sunday School class every other week (remember the class for people the missionaries are working with and new members is officially being eliminated) then it makes sense that everybody would be in that one class. I see the benefit, but I also understand why there are YSA SS classes to begin with. In the end I gotta say I support elimination if only in the interest of simplification and deprogrammizing.
I thought every ward was going to every other week SS that rotates with PH/RS…? In that regard, both family and singles wards are changing in January. I’ve always found it odd that singles wards tend to put a lot more emphasis on SS classes, but perhaps that’s because we have more free time due to no spouse or children. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
DC, some wards with a large enough contingent of YSA have a separate class for theYSA. If I’m understanding correctly, Sam is talking about those classes being discontinued. I can see why this would be difficult for some Young Single Adults. That being said, wards and individuals have explicit permission to meet as groups after church on Sundays as needed or desired. I guarantee that the YSA wards at BYU schools will have additional after church activities and I don’t see any reason other YSA wards can’t. The downside is that it will probably come down to the energy level of local leadership. Roadrunner wrote:
I can see why this would be difficult for some Young Single Adults. That being said, wards and individuals have explicit permission to meet as groups after church on Sundays as needed or desired. I guarantee that the YSA wards at BYU schools will have additional after church activities and I don’t see any reason other YSA wards can’t. The downside is that it will probably come down to the energy level of local leadership.
Indeed BYU wards already have additional outside the block activities. Many of them have what’s called “ward prayer” meetings usually on Sunday evenings. And they are also organized into home evening groups. And I believe the idea of “break the fast” or “linger longer” luncheons originated in BYU wards.
My own stake has a YSA branch at one of the universities. None of the other wards/branches have a separate YSA SS mostly because there just aren’t enough YSA in any of them. The YSA branch did have two SS classes, though – one sort of “standard” one and one where they could go a bit more in depth. I hope they keep both. (They just got a new BP and I think he’d be inclined to keep it unless he’s directed not to.)
We discussed this in ward council at my request… it’s churchwide. DJ, oh I see. I guess I’ve always been in areas with a large enough YSA population to warrant a separate ward. In my metro area, we’re still keeping SS classes, just every other week that alternates with PH/RS. Unless I misunderstood the announcement…?
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I could see this actually being a good thing. In LDS culture, singles are pretty marginalized, with the HUGE focus on families. With anything YSA related is primarily meant to group them together and get them paired off. But I am hoping with this change in policy, people will start to realize there is nothing wrong with being single, nor should anyone rush to tie the knot with “any worthy member”. Quote:But I am hoping with this change in policy, people will start to realize there is nothing wrong with being single, nor should anyone rush to tie the knot with “any worthy member”.
On all these changes I am so looking forward to cultural change potential in them. One of the most messed up things, IMO, is how much we get into each others space. We spend forever sizing up everyone else and passing judgement. Whether it’s how many piercings or how often you attend the temple.
I am hoping the top team really sticks and reiterates the ideas of individual and family, and inches us miles away from Ensign Cover looks and messages.
dande48 wrote:
I could see this actually being a good thing. In LDS culture, singles are pretty marginalized, with the HUGE focus on families. With anything YSA related is primarily meant to group them together and get them paired off. But I am hoping with this change in policy, people will start to realize there is nothing wrong with being single, nor should anyone rush to tie the knot with “any worthy member”.
YSA is something I do get sentimental about. I used to go before I became inactive and when I came back I was too old. It is certainly one thing I regret missing in my years of inactivity. It would have improved my quality of life.
To be fair it’s not just a match & hatch thing, it was fun because we avoided some of the more boring stuff at church. The activities were sometimes a little juvenile, but I have fond memories of them, and I made friendships in a way which I struggle to in other contexts.
Quote:people will start to realize there is nothing wrong with being single
Yes and no. On a serious note, I live on my own, and whenever I become ill these days I get very concerned about what might happen to me. I could die in here or get injured and no one would know or help me until it’s too late. It’s a scary thought. It’s at times like that I am alarmed by my isolation.
But as I say elsewhere a friend is undergoing a divorce. I really prefer being single to having a bad marriage. But that said I’d prefer a good marriage to single life (no marriage is perfect or smooth, I know that)
I find it sad that at 30 you get put on the shelf. Many people outside the church, including my parents married later than that.
I have mixed feelings about children. I despise what is happening to the world.
When I was in YSA, I did get pressed by a girl I wasn’t interested in. Very difficult to turn her down in a nice way. We didn’t date and I did like her as a person, but I didn’t want to say no in any way which would hurt her.
An update on this. I attend every ward council so get to see what happens behind the scenes. Original plan was to hold an unofficial 3rd hour YSA meeting.
But at last ward council, it was suggested that YSA in second hour can continue. I approved and made my personal support for this clear. There was some talk of combining this with Gospel Principles.
SamBee wrote:
An update on this. I attend every ward council so get to see what happens behind the scenes.Original plan was to hold an unofficial 3rd hour YSA meeting.
But at last ward council, it was suggested that YSA in second hour can continue. I approved and made my personal support for this clear.
There was some talk of combining this with Gospel Principles.
(emphasis added)
How can you do that if Gospel Principles expressly no longer exists?
DarkJedi wrote:
SamBee wrote:
An update on this. I attend every ward council so get to see what happens behind the scenes.Original plan was to hold an unofficial 3rd hour YSA meeting.
But at last ward council, it was suggested that YSA in second hour can continue. I approved and made my personal support for this clear.
There was some talk of combining this with Gospel Principles.
(emphasis added)
How can you do that if Gospel Principles expressly no longer exists?
This is my own phrasing. I think someone referred to the investigators’ class.
SamBee wrote:
DarkJedi wrote:
SamBee wrote:
An update on this. I attend every ward council so get to see what happens behind the scenes.Original plan was to hold an unofficial 3rd hour YSA meeting.
But at last ward council, it was suggested that YSA in second hour can continue. I approved and made my personal support for this clear.
There was some talk of combining this with Gospel Principles.
(emphasis added)
How can you do that if Gospel Principles expressly no longer exists?
This is my own phrasing. I think someone referred to the investigators’ class.
Yeah, Gospel Principles, Gospel Essentials, investigator class, whatever it was called went away. There’s only Gospel Doctrine now. I don’t think there’s any new rule about having only one GD class, so it does seem like the YSA GD class could continue as before. In my son’s BYU ward they do have two GD classes and that’s more of a class size and space consideration where multiple wards are meeting in the same place and overlapping – there just is not one room other than the chapel big enough to hold the whole ward, and the chapel is being used by another ward. As an aside, they’re simply assigned alphabetically in their ward (like A-M go to class 1, N-Z go to class 2).
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