Provident Living Specialist

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
drepouille
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Provident Living Specialist

#1

Post by drepouille »

Our new stake Relief Society President has recently "called" a stake Provident Living Specialist (who was already serving as the stake Food Storage Specialist).

I can't find a standard calling of Provident Living Specialist. Is there a similar standard calling by this name, or by another name? I have heard of a Welfare Specialist, but I can't find that listed as a standard calling, either.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
eblood66
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#2

Post by eblood66 »

drepouille wrote:Our new stake Relief Society President has recently "called" a stake Provident Living Specialist (who was already serving as the stake Food Storage Specialist).

I can't find a standard calling of Provident Living Specialist. Is there a similar standard calling by this name, or by another name? I have heard of a Welfare Specialist, but I can't find that listed as a standard calling, either.
We have one of those at the ward level. I don't know of any standard calling. We just use a custom calling.
drepouille
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#3

Post by drepouille »

I find it interesting that "Self-Reliance Specialist" is a standard calling under Employment and Welfare, while there is no standard calling for "Provident Living Specialist" under Relief Society.

I wonder if there is any connection.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
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sbradshaw
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#4

Post by sbradshaw »

What does a Provident Living Specialist do? Is it similar to a Welfare Specialist?
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aebrown
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#5

Post by aebrown »

sbradshaw wrote:What does a Provident Living Specialist do? Is it similar to a Welfare Specialist?
Our stake and many of the stakes in our area have provident living specialists at the stake and ward level. These are Relief Society custom callings, since (as has been noted in this topic) there is no such standard calling. The dry-pack cannery colocated with our local bishop's storehouse assumes that every stake has such an organization and depends on it for communication to stakes. Provident living specialists help RS sisters with everything related to provident living, including food storage, financial preparedness, etc.

But regardless of the these traditional roles in some areas, the fact remains that there is no such calling in the handbooks. The bishopric may call ward welfare specialists and the stake presidency may call stake welfare specialists. Such specialists may help MP and RS leaders with a variety of welfare issues, but it's clear that they are not part of the actual MP or RS organizations. So it makes sense that such callings will be listed under Employment and Welfare, and not under Relief Society.

Of course, Relief Society leaders have broad authority to organize committees, with committee leaders and members working on issues such as "welfare" and "emergency preparedness" as described in HB2, Section 9.2.5. So there's nothing wrong with calling provident living specialists within RS, but it's not surprising that it's not a standard calling.
drepouille
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#6

Post by drepouille »

What does a Self-Reliance Specialist do?

When our Home Storage Center announced last year that dry-pack canneries across the nation would be shut down, and only prepackaged items would be sold, our stake changed the stake food storage specialist into a provident living specialist. Some unit leaders are asking whether they should be called self-reliance specialists instead.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
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sbradshaw
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#7

Post by sbradshaw »

I haven't seen Self-Reliance Specialist either – is that a standard calling on the ward or stake level? I think I must have missed it the last time I updated my list of standard MLS callings...
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#8

Post by scgallafent »

sbradshaw wrote:I haven't seen Self-Reliance Specialist either – is that a standard calling on the ward or stake level? I think I must have missed it the last time I updated my list of standard MLS callings...
It is a standard calling that was added fairly recently. There are three versions of the calling: Stake Self-Reliance Specialist, District Self-Reliance Specialist, and Self-Reliance Specialist. The first two are obviously stake and district positions; the latter is for wards and branches. In all cases, the position is listed under "Employment and Welfare."

Reminder: Changes in the standard position list do not necessarily correlate with MLS releases. Positions may be added or removed between releases.
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#9

Post by sbradshaw »

Thanks! Is there a numbering system for position updates we can follow to keep track of when there are updates? (Saying things like "standard positions as of MLS 3.7.1" is handy because it ties it to a time period that people recognize, even though it's not completely clear...)

Does the CDOL version increment with position changes? I.e. if someone were to say "standard positions as of CDOL Version 3.3.5"
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Re: Provident Living Specialist

#10

Post by scgallafent »

No, there is not any kind of numbering system for position updates. Position changes are sometimes tied to an MLS or CDOL release because of functionality changes, but that is not a requirement. Many times, positions are added or removed when direction comes from the appropriate council, which can happen at any time.

The positions are maintained in a database table just like other data. The only thing you could tie a list to would be a date, similar to a ward directory as of July 29, 2014.
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