The Singles Ward (film series)

The Singles Ward film series consists of two low-budget Mormon comedies based on original characters, co-written by Kurt Hale and John Moyer. The overall premise centers around members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (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.

The Singles Ward
Official film series logo
Based on	Characters created by John E. Moyer
Starring	Will Swenson Kirby Heyborne Connie Young Erin Chambers Various actors
Distributed by	Halestorm Entertainment
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$500,000 (1 films)
Box office	$1,250,798 (1 films)

Films

Film	U.S. release date	Director	Screenwriter(s)	Story by	Producer(s)
The Singles Ward	January 30, 2002 (2002-01-30)	Kurt Hale	John Moyer & Kurt Hale	John Moyer	Dave Hunter
The Singles 2nd Ward	December 11, 2007 (2007-12-11)		Kurt Hale & John E. Moyer		Dave Hunter, George Dayton and Bryce W. Fillmore
The Real Life Singles Ward	March 1, 2011 (2011-03-01)	John E. Moyer			John E. Moyer, Mario DeAngelis and Brad Olsen

The Singles Ward (2002)

After faithfully serving a full-time mission, 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, 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, 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 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, 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 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 divorced 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 their pursuits at church.^[1]

Main cast and characters

List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.

• An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
•  ^C indicates a cameo role.
•  ^P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.

Character	Title
	The Singles Ward	The Singles 2nd Ward	The Real Life Singles Ward
Principal cast
Jonathan Jordan	Will Swenson
Cammie Giles-Jordan	Connie Young
Dalen Martin	Kirby Heyborne
Christine McClintock-Martin		Erin Chambers
Eldon Coates	Daryn Tufts
Hyrum	Michael Birkeland
DeVerl	Lincoln Hoppe
Zak Aldridge	Robert Swenson
Jenny		Lisa Higbee
Willard		Brad Johnson
Laura		Katherine Purdie
Kate		Kelly Hennessey
Scott "Skippy" Jessop			himself
Nathan Smith Jones			himself
Micah Lisonbee			himself
Supporting cast
Mrs. Martin	Michelle Gould	Liz Winter
Mr. Giles	Ron McBride
Brother Angel	Wally JoynerC
Emotional Ward Member	Jeremy HoopC
Sunbeam Teacher	Danny AingeC
Auto Mechanic	Shawn BradleyC
Brother Niner	Steve YoungC
Miniature Golfer	LaVell EdwardsC
Julie Stoffer	herselfPC
Thurl Bailey	himselfC
Gordon Jump	himselfC
Wes the Neighbor	Richard DutcherC
Mitch English	himselfC

Additional crew and production details

Film	Crew/Detail
	Composer	Cinematographer(s)	Editor(s)	Production companies	Distributing company	Running time
The Singles Ward	Cody Hale	Ryan Little	Wynn Hougaard	Halestorm Entertainment	Halestorm Distribution	1 hr 42 mins
The Singles 2nd Ward		Brandon Christensen	John Lyde			1 hr 27 mins
The Real Life Singles Ward	—	Mario DeAngelis, Brad Olsen & Kyle Raney	Mario DeAngelis, Brad Olsen & Zachary B. Marsh	Halestorm Entertainment, 4Ever Films		1 hr

Reception

For more details on the reception of each film, see the "Reception" section on each film's article.

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."^[2]

Box office and financial performance

Film	Box office gross			Box office ranking		Video sales gross	Worldwide total gross income	Budget	Worldwide total net income	Ref.
	North America	Other territories	World-wide	All time worldwide	North America
The Singles Ward	$1,250,798	—	$1,250,798	#8,369	#13,967	Figures not publicly available	>$1,250,798	$500,000	>$750,798	[3][4]
The Singles 2nd Ward	—	—	—	—	—	Figures not publicly available	>$0	Figures not publicly available	>$0	—
The Real Life Singles Ward	—	—	—	—	—	Figures not publicly available	>$0	Figures not publicly available	>$0	—
Totals	$1,250,798	$0	$1,250,798	x̅ 2,790	x̅ 4,656	>$0	>$1,250,798	>$500,000	≤$750,798

Critical response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes
The Singles Ward	50% (8 reviews)[5]
The Singles 2nd Ward	[to be determined][6]
The Real Life Singles Ward	—

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 and its Children's Songbook. 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
• "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