Related Video: Love Advice From A Rabbi

Dana Epstein, the young adult director of the Jewish Community Association of Austin, says that there's no one thing that can help singles meet someone who shares their faith, particularly if they are not very orthodox in their religious practice. So their best bet is to get involved in the religious community's social network.

Epstein once met a woman at a Hanukkah party hosted by YAD, a social networking organization that Epstein's group runs. They fell into a fast friendship, and Epstein quickly decided she wanted to set her new friend up on a date with a colleague.

The next time the staff gathered for a Shabbat dinner, Epstein invited her friend and made the introduction. The two met, dated for two years, and married last May.

"It was through YAD, but also through friends, and through Shabbat – all those connections helped them find the person they would end up marrying," said Epstein.

The importance of community involvement is heightened for Muslim singles, whose prospects are complicated by the fact that their faith prohibits dating situations in which men and women are alone together. This leaves many American-born Muslim singles feeling caught between the traditional, arranged-marriage culture of their parents, and the cultural boundary-less-ness of single life in America.

"The mosques and Islamic organizations in America have not done a great job of filling that void," said Asma Hasan, 33, a single Muslim living in Denver. Hasan, who is working on a book about Muslim dating, says that there are some emerging opportunities for Muslims who are progressive in their faith, but who want to meet and marry a fellow Muslim: the Islamic Society of North America has hosted Muslim speed-dating events, and a growing website, Naseeb.com, is a popular new social network for young American Muslims.

But by and large, Hasan, who grew up expecting to have her parents arrange her marriage, is discouraged by the scarcity of venues for young, progressive Muslims to meet. "I feel like the community has let me down," she said.

Churches, even evangelical churches, can also leave singles feeling left out in the cold. According to Candice Watters, author of Get Married: What Women Can Do to Help it Happen and host of the website helpgetmarried.com, many churches underestimate the role they can have in connecting singles, instead encouraging them to "embrace the adventures" of their single life.

When she was in her mid-20s, Watters said, this message suddenly felt irrelevant. She turned her thoughts—and prayers—toward marriage, and with the guidance of trusted marriage mentors from her church, began dating her best friend, whom she subsequently married and had 3 children with.