Stake MLS access
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 5:33 am
I know some of these topics have been mentioned before, but no action seems to have been forthcoming in response. Can mls please be changed at the stake level to allow stake leaders to be able to fulfil their responsibilities according to the church handbook of instructions without having to drive to each building and log onto each ward's computer individually, especially if remote access is discouraged or disallowed.
My two main examples are the monitoring of missionary contributions and the recording of Melchizedek priesthood ordinations.
Stake is responsible for monitoring missionary contributions and ensuring that serving missionaries' families are current in their contributions. However, we cannot see the details of any donations or the balances or ward missionary subaccounts from the stake computer. So the only way to do this is to physically drive to every building every month, which is a terrific waste of time and resources. Consequently, this very frequently gets overlooked in favour of some other task that is a more efficient use of time, and the stake's ward missionary fund account soon has a negative balance with no information available on the cause.
Similarly, recording Melchizedek priesthood ordinations are a stake responsibility according to the church handbook of instructions. Certainly the ordination paperwork and certificates have to be signed by the stake president. So why do we have to log on to a ward computer to record these ordinances. I can understand that you don't want stake being able to change any membership details at will, but these specific details are a stake responsibility, and it wastes a lot of time travelling to every building in the stake after every conference to record every ordination. Worse still, there is confusion about whose responsibility it is, and some wards look after it and others don't, which has resulted in the past in ordinances not being recorded because everyone assumes the other person will do it. If the direction in the handbook is clear (and it is), why do the official church programs not follow this direction?
I know this has been discussed at length in the past, but it was some time in the past (years), and it does not appear that anything has been done to bring the official church programs into line with official church policy.
My two main examples are the monitoring of missionary contributions and the recording of Melchizedek priesthood ordinations.
Stake is responsible for monitoring missionary contributions and ensuring that serving missionaries' families are current in their contributions. However, we cannot see the details of any donations or the balances or ward missionary subaccounts from the stake computer. So the only way to do this is to physically drive to every building every month, which is a terrific waste of time and resources. Consequently, this very frequently gets overlooked in favour of some other task that is a more efficient use of time, and the stake's ward missionary fund account soon has a negative balance with no information available on the cause.
Similarly, recording Melchizedek priesthood ordinations are a stake responsibility according to the church handbook of instructions. Certainly the ordination paperwork and certificates have to be signed by the stake president. So why do we have to log on to a ward computer to record these ordinances. I can understand that you don't want stake being able to change any membership details at will, but these specific details are a stake responsibility, and it wastes a lot of time travelling to every building in the stake after every conference to record every ordination. Worse still, there is confusion about whose responsibility it is, and some wards look after it and others don't, which has resulted in the past in ordinances not being recorded because everyone assumes the other person will do it. If the direction in the handbook is clear (and it is), why do the official church programs not follow this direction?
I know this has been discussed at length in the past, but it was some time in the past (years), and it does not appear that anything has been done to bring the official church programs into line with official church policy.