''The Singles Ward'' film series consists of two low-budget

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

comedies Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

based on original characters, co-written by Kurt Hale and

John Moyer John Robert Moyer (born November 30, 1973) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the heavy metal band Disturbed. After the demise of his previous band, The Union Underground, Moyer took over for previous Disturbed bassist S ...

. The overall premise centers around members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) who are not yet married and their religious congregations, known as wards. The story details the humorous experiences for attendees in these congregations.

Films

''The Singles Ward'' (2002)

After faithfully serving a full-time

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

, then getting married, Jonathan Jordan finds himself divorced and once again attending one of the church's single-adult wards. As he attends a congregation specifically for unmarried adults, where the ultimate goal is

eternal marriage Celestial marriage, also called the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage, Eternal Marriage (synonymized after 1890), or Temple Marriage, is a doctrine that marriage can last forever in heaven that is taught in the Church of Jesus Christ o ...

, he quickly becomes disenchanted with the experience and stops going to church. As he copes with his experiences, he creates a standup routine lampooning the nature and lifestyle of being a member. His resistance to the church continues, until he falls for Cammie Giles, who is an active member at a local singles ward. Suddenly, Jordan finds church attendance more appealing, but he begins to question whether he is going for the right reasons or if it is just to impress his new girlfriend.

''The Singles 2nd Ward'' (2007)

Dalen Martin, a young professor at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, becomes engaged to his girlfriend Christine, who is an student attending the university and a recent convert to the LDS Church. As the couple prepares for their upcoming wedding, Christine's divorced parents arrive with their new partners for the occasion. The couple explores their relationship and preparations while attending the church's congregation of single adults. Dalen tries to create a lasting relationship with Christine's separated parents, who are critical of the religion, and assists his friend Jonathan with developing a feature film based on his

experiences Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involves a subj ...

in a Latter-day Saint singles ward. Together, Dalen and Christine build on their love and look forward to being married in a Latter-day Saint

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, although they must explain to her parents why they cannot attend their own daughter's marriage ceremony.

''The Real Life Singles Ward'' (2011)

Filmed in a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

style, the movie follows the real-world experiences of a few Latter-day Saints attending their singles-ward activities. Over the course of the production, the project examines the positives and negatives of dating, while exploring the young men's journey in trying to find their eternal companion. This occurs through various aspects of the process including engagement for someone who is

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d versus one who has never married. Each of the young men answer questions regarding their faith and their desires to grow closer to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

in their pursuits at church.

Main cast and characters

Additional crew and production details

Reception

In the book ''Religious Humor in Evangelical Christian and Mormon Culture'', Elisha McIntyre highlighted the proposal scene between Dalen and Christine, stating that it was "a delicate balance of the serious and humorous mode."

Box office and financial performance

Critical response

In other media

''The Singles Ward'' soundtrack

The soundtrack is a collection of Latter-day Saint artists performing songs from the LDS Church's

hymnbook A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christi ...

and its ''

Children's Songbook The ''Children's Songbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' is the official songbook for children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was first published in English in 1989. These songs are for the ...

''. The soundtrack album was released by Guapo Records. * "The Church of Jesus Christ"Magstatic * "Come, Come Ye Saints"Slender * "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today"Ponchillo * "Do What is Right"Mismash * "Popcorn Popping"

Rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

* "Book of Mormon Stories"Pipe Dream * "In Our Lovely Deseret"Mr. Fusion * "Keep the Commandments"Mighty Mahogany * "I Feel My Savior's Love"Mismash * "We Are All Enlisted"Magstatic * "Battle Hymn of the Republic" —Slender * "Let Us All Press On"Mr. Fusion * "When Grandpa Comes"Slender * "God Be With You Till We Meet Again"Jamen Brooks

References

External links

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Infants on Thrones podcast review of the movie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singles Ward, The 2002 films 2002 romantic comedy films Films shot in Utah Halestorm Entertainment films 2000s English-language films English-language romantic comedy films