History, you mean in the present tense?

jeromer7 · #21

mkmurray wrote:If somebody does have a different idea or some new slant to add to the discussion, the please feel free.

This subject was resurrected to some degree in the MLS Support, Help, and Feedback > Visual Org Chart thread. Rather than continue the fork in that thread, I'll add my 2 cents here (with thanks to danpass for remembering this discussion and providing the link).

I do have a different slant on why a calling history would be helpful. When a stake president is filling out the form recommending a new bishop, he needs to supply past callings on the form for the recommended individual. Obviously, it would be touchy for the stake president to call up the member and ask about this history. If the member has been in the stake for awhile, the president probably has a good idea what the history is, but many times, the president just doesn't have that info. Depending on the reason for replacing the current bishop, it may be acceptable for the president to ask that bishop...who may or may not be able to help.

Anyway, it appears that CDOL is starting to keep a record of historical callings. My current stake president was serving as a bishop when called and his tenure in that bishop calling is recorded in CDOL for him. My own entry has no history, but I'm sure it's because the practice is fairly recent and I've been a stake clerk for a number of years now.

jonesrk · #22

JLRose wrote:Anyway, it appears that CDOL is starting to keep a record of historical callings. My current stake president was serving as a bishop when called and his tenure in that bishop calling is recorded in CDOL for him. My own entry has no history, but I'm sure it's because the practice is fairly recent and I've been a stake clerk for a number of years now.

CDOL has kept calling history for quite a while, but on the Stake/Ward level it has only tracked Stake Presidents and Councilors, Patriarchs and Bishop, with an occasional Stake Clerk and Executive Secretary. Then about 2 years ago we worked with MLS to send callings up and store them at church headquarters. As we did this the business decision was to only store current callings outside of those that had been previously tracked. Since then there has been some discussion around storing the historical callings. Currently there isn't a direction given, but I will give these threads back as additional feedback for those discussions.

jeromer7 · #23

ryan jones wrote:Currently there isn't a direction given, but I will give these threads back as additional feedback for those discussions.

Thanks. It is good to see that our feedback can be useful, whether accepted with resulting change, or not.

And I like CDOL as the vehicle as the access is resitricted to those who would be in need of such a history.

waynecooke · #24

It was mentioned about the history of one callings following members around. A few weeks ago, I sat down and tried to remember the callings I have had in the Church. To the best of my recollection I have had at least 30 different and distinct callings, and some more than one time (like clerk of some type four times).

That would be quite a list for every member of a ward for their entire life:eek:.

waynecooke · #25

Also, about type casting, the first time I was called as Financial Clerk, the Ward Clerk told the Bishop (This was several years ago) "I would like someone who can type and is not afraid of computers. I think Wayne would be a good choice". I stayed in that calling for six years.

After moving into another ward, and having another calling for a year and a half, the Bishop in that ward heard of my experience, and called me as FC. I am now on my third Bishop in this ward, and he has said that he will not release me as long as he is Bishop. So, five and a half so far and three more to go.

And my PB said that I was going to be a teacher. Oh well.

#26

wcooke wrote:And my PB said that I was going to be a teacher. Oh well.

Not to worry. With all of your experience, you will probably have lots of opportunities to teach ward clerks from the stake level at some point. [grin]

hirsp1 · #27

waynecooke wrote: I am now on my third Bishop in this ward, and he has said that he will not release me as long as he is Bishop. So, five and a half so far and three more to go.

And my PB said that I was going to be a teacher. Oh well.

Never underestimate the importance and value of a well trained clerk of any sort. They're worth their weight in Gold. Elder Perry has said that when a new branch is formed the most important person is the branch president (or Bishop). Second is the clerk.

A clerk can teach the bishop. A clerk can teach the priesthood leadership, the auxiliaries... Clerks sometimes forget the value of their callings and how important they are to a functioning ward or branch.

There are times when I do miss my time as a clerk...

ZoomJer · #28

You nailed it, Adrian:

AdrianLP-p40 wrote:What calling could you have had that the current membership clerk (even if in a new ward/branch) should not be allowed to see that you had it?

The clerk can see your phone number (unlisted or otherwise), record number, temple recommend status, etc. Why would knowing you were a primary teacher, usher, etc in the past be such a secret?