Single Nonstudents Return to Home Wards

Under a new program initiated in mid-August at the request of the First Presidency, nonstudents who have been attending the student branches at the University of Utah have returned to their home wards.

The three branches of the student stakes which had served the nonstudents were discontinued.

Because only a limited number of single nonstudents in the Salt Lake Valley could be served by these branches, the First Presidency felt it best to eliminate them and expand other Church programs.

“Their spiritual and social needs will now be served in home wards and stakes. The Melchizedek Priesthood MIA has been especially assigned to assist in meeting these needs,” said Elder James E. Faust, managing director of the Melchizedek Priesthood MIA and an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve.

In the new Melchizedek Priesthood program, these single members of the Church will assume the major responsibility for planning programs that meet their needs.

These programs may include special sessions of Relief Society, Sunday School, and home evening groups.

Stakes with sufficient single members not living at home may be granted approval to organize special branches with the approval of the First Presidency. To date, three Salt Lake City stakes—Emigration, Ensign, and University West—have organized such branches.