Tech Forum

We have an assistant ward clerk who is responsible for scheduling temple recommend interviews, but is unable to view the "Temple Recommend Status" report on lds.org. He has rights to "View Temple Recommend" in MLS, but for some reason, he does not see the recommend status report option on lds.org. He does see the other reports. Is there something else we need to do to provide that access?

In this situation, the rights assigned in MLS does not matter. What does matter is that his calling has been properly entered into MLS using a Standardized Calling.

I'm not sure what callings have access to the Temple Recommend information on lds.org. Maybe someone else knows.

Typically I'd think it would be an Executive Secretary that does scheduling. Once you find out what callings have access to that report, you may want to consider either re-assigning tasks, or with the stake president's permission, change callings so that there's a better fit between the title held and the tasks assigned.

RussellHltn wrote:I'm not sure what callings have access to the Temple Recommend information on lds.org. Maybe someone else knows.

There are two places on lds.org that have temple recommend information that I know of: the leader portal and the Temple Entry System.

The leader portal access is described rather vaguely at Leader and Clerk Resources Help; it doesn't describe exactly what callings can see what.

The list of who has access to TES is on the wiki at Temple Entry System (TES). It doesn't include anyone (not even bishops) at the ward level.

swigginton wrote:We have an assistant ward clerk who is responsible for scheduling temple recommend interviews, but is unable to view the "Temple Recommend Status" report on lds.org. He has rights to "View Temple Recommend" in MLS, but for some reason, he does not see the recommend status report option on lds.org. He does see the other reports. Is there something else we need to do to provide that access?

Because the Temple Entry System (TES) is mainly used to activate recommends, only the stake will have access.

And while you are determining who has access to the report at lds.org you might consider that, for the most part, the temple expiration information is not going to change. A list from MLS may actually be the most practical method of keeping track, and he already has that access.

Since recommends are good for two years, the assistant ward clerk will know for some time in the future whose recommends are going to expire. The only real change to that list will be from any members who move into the ward with recommends that are near expiration. And even that information will be captured with a monthly updated list from MLS, since all recommends expire at the end of a given month.

Well, hopefully there will be a number of changes as people renew their recommends.

RussellHltn wrote:Well, hopefully there will be a number of changes as people renew their recommends.

That is certainly true. Of course, I would think they would update the list more often than every two years, and that would catch the new ones. [grin]

I'd think you'd need a very current list in order to avoid hearing "oh, we just renewed it last Sunday."

RussellHltn wrote:I'd think you'd need a very current list in order to avoid hearing "oh, we just renewed it last Sunday."

Maybe I am missing something. Is this assistant ward clerk just setting up interview appointments without any coordination with the bishopric to see who actually needs them?

And if he is not talking with the bishopric, even if the member just renewed it last Sunday, the clerk is still going to call them to set up an appointment and get the "we just did it" because the member will not have seen the stake presidency yet.

lajackson wrote:Maybe I am missing something. Is this assistant ward clerk just setting up interview appointments without any coordination with the bishopric to see who actually needs them?

And if he is not talking with the bishopric, even if the member just renewed it last Sunday, the clerk is still going to call them to set up an appointment and get the "we just did it" because the member will not have seen the stake presidency yet.

I think there is some confusion because ordinarily the executive secretary would set up such appointments (although as I understand it, since there can be no assistant executive secretary, if he needs help in his duties an assistant ward clerk can be assigned).

No matter who is assigned, he needs to see the most recent information MLS has about the status. Yes, there is an unrecorded gap inherent in MLS between the recorded expiration and the time the stake records a renewal after the stake interview. But that gap is just inherent in the process. It obtains in desktop MLS, as well as the online system. The offline coordination you mention has to occur no matter who does the job -- assistant clerk or executive secretary.

The poster's particular problem is that in desktop MLS, bishops have the flexibility to assign privileges according to local needs. Thus, because he has been assigned to assist the executive secretary in this task, this assistant clerk has been given appropriate privileges in desktop MLS. But in the online system this flexibility has not been given to local priesthood leaders. Privileges are hard-wired to callings and cannot be changed by bishops or their adminstrators. This lack of flexibility for local priesthood leaders is not limited to the temple-recommend issue.

lajackson wrote:Is this assistant ward clerk just setting up interview appointments without any coordination with the bishopric to see who actually needs them?

Good point.