Within the next week, the Church Educational System will be hosting a Date Night at each of its institutions: Brigham Young University, BYU–Idaho, BYU–Hawaii and Ensign College, even BYU–Pathway Worldwide and Institutes of Religion.
The impetus behind the first-of-its-kind event is to help “reset the culture of dating” in a “low-stakes, low-pressure way,” Elder Clark G. Gilbert, commissioner of Church Education, told the Church News.
Although each institution will be participating, the specifics of the event will be adapted to the needs of their unique communities. For example, while BYU, BYU–Idaho, Ensign College, and BYU–Hawaii will be hosting their Date Night on Wednesday, Jan. 31, some local institutes—which are planning their own events—will be kicking off their Date Night on Friday, Jan. 26.
Several of the Date Night events will include food, games, and the opportunity to associate or ask questions of university or institute leaders.
“We hope that more students within CES will get to know each other in more meaningful ways as they increase their efforts in dating,” Elder Gilbert said.
During a devotional broadcast last year, the Church’s second-most senior leader shared loving but direct counsel to young single Latter-day Saints regarding marriage and dating.
On Sunday, May 21, 2023, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency—sitting side by side with his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks—asked his young adult listeners to remember an important truth: “A loving Heavenly Father has a plan for His young adults, and part of that plan is marriage and children.”
You can read this full article and learn more about these upcoming events on Church News.