YSA Memberships - default to Regular or YSA ward?

I am a ward clerk in a regular ward that is also within the boundary of a Young Single Adult (YSA) ward. Since the big YSA ward & stake reorganization, my ward continues to receive membership records of Young Single Adults.

In early August (at the urging of my stake presidency, and with the concurrence of my bishop) I moved a number of memberships of YSA members to the YSA ward that covers our boundary. The memberships were promptly returned.

When the big YSA reorganization took place, our YSA members were told that their new ward was the YSA ward period. Now it seems that the YSA ward is being very selective about which memberships they accept.

Which ward is the default ward for a YSA member not living at home with their parents? Regular ward or YSA ward?
Are YSA memberships intended to be held in regular wards until the YSA member applies for and gains admission to the YSA ward?

Thanks,
Ron Tilby
Ward Clerk
Salt Lake City, Utah

I don't think there's any policy answer. I think the handbook indicates that the decision needs to be worked out between the leaders of the units as to what's best for the individual.

I think by default members belong to a conventional ward, but may choose (following the proper guidelines) to attend a specialty ward such as a singles or language ward.

Not all singles want to belong to a singles ward. Either they feel the atmosphere is too "meat market" or they want the callings that can only be found in family wards.

I'll also add that in my experience, not all singles are really single. But because they are inactive, their membership records haven't been updated to reflect the correct marital status.

The difficulty of course is the inactives. That will likely require a conversation between the leaders on how that's going to be handled.

My observation is that when you move a record out with an address but no ward specified, it will move by default into the resident ward associated with the address. I think this stems from what I observe when I try to locate a ward on maps.lds.org: when I search by address, the resident ward always shows as the default. All other types of wards (language, single adult, young single adult) are listed as "Other Wards".

I am currently a stake clerk in one of these new YSA stakes. My understanding is that, if the member lives with his/her parents and you are able to talk to the member, the decision on which ward to attend should be made following a conversation between the bishop, the individual and the individual's parents. If you are not able to talk to the individual or the individual is no longer living at home, then the records should be sent to the YSA ward.

There is no "applying for" admission to a YSA ward. Members can "opt out" back to their resident ward, but otherwise the YSA ward is the default ward for members 18-30. You may want to suggest your coordinating council request a refresher from Elder Clark on this.

As an aside, some SA wards do have "application" requirements. SA wards are for 31+. I don't agree, but nobody asked

rontilby wrote:When the big YSA reorganization took place, our YSA members were told that their new ward was the YSA ward period. Now it seems that the YSA ward is being very selective about which memberships they accept.

I'm also in the Salt Lake Valley, and that's not the message given to our stake president. Young Single Adults may choose which ward they attend -- either the residential ward or the YSA ward that their address is assigned to.

When you say that "the YSA ward is being very selective about which memberships they accept," is that because you spoke with a clerk or bishopric member of the YSA ward and you were told that, or are you just assuming that because the records came back? It's entirely possible that the records came back because the move-out information was not specific enough; it needs to specify the unit number for the YSA ward.

For our YSA ward, they are very happy to take whatever YSAs would like to attend. There is no application process -- if the records are moved to that ward and the YSA lives in the geographical area assigned to the YSA ward, then they are now a member of that ward.

Our YSA's records were all "pulled" from our traditional unit by the YSA ward, (unless transferred at a higher level by somebody....) except for those we had specifically requested stay in our ward. Several of them were actually married to non-member spouses, and weren't actually YSA's, and we had to pull them back...

RussellHltn wrote:I don't think there's any policy answer.

I thought I would follow-up with policies received at one of our organizational meetings during the transition. However, it appears many of these are also included in Handbook 1, 9.1.6 and 9.1.7.

We are issuing the attached new guidelines regarding young single adult stakes.

Guidelines for Young Single Adult Stakes, January 15, 2010

Purpose

Our principal desire for young single adults is to help them marry and establish eternal families. Each one should belong to an assigned Church unit and be accountable to and watched over by a caring bishop or branch president.

Young Single Adult Stakes

Where large numbers of young single adults reside in a concentrated area, usually near universities or colleges, one or more young single adult stakes may be organized. Generally a minimum of 1,500 active young single adult members is necessary to justify creating such a stake. When approved by the First Presidency on a stake-by-stake basis, current student stakes may become young single adult stakes, perhaps with adjusted boundaries.

A conventional stake with boundaries that overlap those of an approved young single adult stake will not normally have its own young single adult ward or branch. A young single adult unit that is in a conventional stake may become part of a young single adult stake if (1) its boundaries are within or adjacent to the young single adult stake and (2) the presidents of both stakes recommend the transfer.

Membership

Membership in a young single adult stake is limited to young single adults ages 18-30 who live within the stake boundaries, both students and non-students. Those living within the stake who do not live at home with their parents, both active and less active, will be considered members of the stake unless they advise the bishop of their young single adult ward that they are attending the conventional ward where they live. Those living with their parents may, in consultation with their parents, choose to become members of the conventional ward or the young single adult ward and stake where they live. Stake presidents may transfer the membership records of selected less active members living at home to the young single adult stake for fellowshipping. When these members become active, they may choose to attend either the young single adult unit or the conventional unit. Otherwise, membership records should reside in the ward the person attends.

Implementation

Young single adult units (branches, wards, or stakes) are created, divided, or consolidated using the procedures outlined in the Church Handbook of Instructions. Approval is given only by the First Presidency. The submission of requests under these guidelines will be directed by the Presidency of the Seventy, in cooperation with Area Seventies and stake presidents.

I'm the stake membership clerk in our Davis Co stake. I began what ended up being a long string on this topic a couple of months ago when this Wasatch Front YSA initiative was implemented. I mentioned that I had talked with our Quorum of Seventy ward member about his impressions of how and which YSA members were to be transferred to our new YSA ward. He said his impression was that the “default” (if there really is any) was to only transfer the records of those young people who agree to having their records transferred; and the default for inactive/less-active YSA members was to leave them in their home ward.


So I would strongly advise clerks and bishops to ONLY transfer the records of their YSA members to the YSA ward IF they have talked with the young person and have their concurrence. Otherwise, I won't blame the YSA wards for sending back the records of those who have no interest in associating with the YSA ward (and in many cases even records with invalid addresses and other membership info). But it's a shame that no clear guidance has been given by HQ in this regard to the Wasatch Front wards and stakes for this exciting and worthy YSA program.

jhigbee wrote:He said his impression was that the “default” (if there really is any) was to only transfer the records of those young people who agree to having their records transferred; and the default for inactive/less-active YSA members was to leave them in their home ward.

If GreenwoodKL has quoted the Guidelines correctly, that is not the default.

GreenwoodKL wrote:
Guidelines for Young Single Adult Stakes, January 15, 2010

Membership

. . . Those living within the stake who do not live at home with their parents, both active and less active, will be considered members of the stake unless they advise the bishop of their young single adult ward that they are attending the conventional ward where they live.

It appears, then, that if the young single adult is the head of household (i.e., not living with parents), the record will move to the YSA ward by default, and will then need to be moved back if he or she is not attending the YSA ward.

This may account for the record movement you have seen.