Some Thoughts on Change

There is a member of my family who, in the 1970s and early 80s, spent the better part of her 20s and 30s as a Single in the Church. Recently, she described to me the general layout of what the Singles Program was in those days. From what she told me, other than the current tool of email, little has changed.



I know another lady in the Church, around the same age, who after having given up on the Singles Program about fifteen years ago, recently came back only to see that very little had changed in the Program. She then told me that she actually saw many of the same people that she had seen fifteen years ago at the current activities!

After hearing this, my mind turned to the current reality of inactivity within the Singles population of the Church. Because these people leave, it is often difficult to know the real reasons why. Those of us who stay are left to assume why they left. Is it just because they lacked a testimony? Or did a sense of hopelessness in really ever meeting a spouse in the Church finally get the best of them? In other words, did some of these inactive members mistakenly believe that they had to make a choice between God and a relationship?

Whatever the reason(s) for their leaving, it is ironic that they appear to be the ones making the loudest statement on just how they feel about the way things are. Whatever they lost in leaving, it is also our loss. The Church lost part of its population, and the active Singles lost out on being able to meet these people, befriend them, or date them.
There is strength in unity, and the Singles are no exception. I wonder if we could retrieve some of these "would be" active members. We could start by striving to retain our "at risk" brothers and sisters in the Singles Program by 1) reaching out to them by improving the quality of the program, and then telling them about it. This means that we should 2) strive to willingly participate in creating and attending new and different types of activities. But to do this we 3) have to be willing to be honest about what works and what does not work in the Singles Program. I mean all of us: those in Singles leadership positions and those of us who are not.

I can personally attest that no one cares about whether you meet someone in the program more than you, yourself. If you want change, you have to make it. Others may follow and benefit. But to sit and wait for the Program to officially change itself, may be a very long wait. A very long wait indeed.

In fact, this is one of the main reasons that this weblog was created. We, as Singles, need to take a good hard look at what is working and what is not, so that we may be the change that we seek. So, I ask you dear reader, what is and what isn't working in the Singles Program of the Church? In your opinion, how can we make it better?