Nonmembers in Ward Directories
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2016 5:18 pm
I an a new Ward Mission Leader (and previous Assistant Ward Clerk for Membership). We are fortunate to have a goodly number of households. I do not know all of the Members in our Ward, especially those less active. The full time Elders and I frequently encounter situations that could be potentially embarrassing if we are unaware of the true 'Household' content, ex. single mother vs. married mother and non-member husband. I feel certain that other scenarios can be imagined by the reader. The Handbook is clear on who should included on the Member role. Even legal situations may not be shown on the Ward Directory, ex. un-blessed children over 9 years of age or a common law marriage recognized by the State. And does not the Bishop still have responsibility for the spiritual needs of people of other faiths living within the Ward boundaries?
The members of the Church could be aided in their fellow-shipping and being aware of missionary opportunities if the Ward Membership Directory were the Ward Directory with an expanded purpose and use by adding household members that are currently omitted in the Membership Directory. Of course, additional designations would be needed to avoid adding new potentials for embarrassment, ex. the husband of a household is shown on our current directory and attends our High Priest meetings. No priesthood indicator is given in the regular Directory. I now suspect that he is a non-member (an impossibility according to our Ward Clerk). Further, our current Directory includes in this household a person with no last name and no designation the surname; this person in not listed in the list of individual Members. I suspect this person also is not a member. At lease I know we need to follow-up on this household person. We recently baptized three children over age 9 years with inactive member parents; thankfully, Sunday School teachers and Relief Society brought them to the attention of the full time Elders. The Ward gave presents to the children, some of which were Members, of a particular household this past Christmas. A long-time Ward Member, labeling the gifts just before the gifts were being sorted geographically for delivery, alerted the gift purchasers that some of the children had not been included in the list, and expedited purchases avoided some bruised feelings. Caring members of the ward who become aware of these 'special' people now must keep their own augmented Directory. Until we have means to include these 'special' people in our Directory, we will try to cover them as Investigators and distribute appropriate information in Ward Council. malcolm@goodwinfamilyhistory.org
The members of the Church could be aided in their fellow-shipping and being aware of missionary opportunities if the Ward Membership Directory were the Ward Directory with an expanded purpose and use by adding household members that are currently omitted in the Membership Directory. Of course, additional designations would be needed to avoid adding new potentials for embarrassment, ex. the husband of a household is shown on our current directory and attends our High Priest meetings. No priesthood indicator is given in the regular Directory. I now suspect that he is a non-member (an impossibility according to our Ward Clerk). Further, our current Directory includes in this household a person with no last name and no designation the surname; this person in not listed in the list of individual Members. I suspect this person also is not a member. At lease I know we need to follow-up on this household person. We recently baptized three children over age 9 years with inactive member parents; thankfully, Sunday School teachers and Relief Society brought them to the attention of the full time Elders. The Ward gave presents to the children, some of which were Members, of a particular household this past Christmas. A long-time Ward Member, labeling the gifts just before the gifts were being sorted geographically for delivery, alerted the gift purchasers that some of the children had not been included in the list, and expedited purchases avoided some bruised feelings. Caring members of the ward who become aware of these 'special' people now must keep their own augmented Directory. Until we have means to include these 'special' people in our Directory, we will try to cover them as Investigators and distribute appropriate information in Ward Council. malcolm@goodwinfamilyhistory.org