Tech Forum

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask and I admit I have almost zero knowledge of church systems - so please be patient with me!

I was talking with my Bishop recently on the drop in temple attendance in our area and how it might be possible to reverse. It would be interesting to be able to focus efforts on supporting those who attend the temple to encourage more frequent visits plus another effort on those who don't attend. For those who don't attend if would be great to segment them based on recommend status. Also, for those who do have recommends we'd like know when they expire as to encourage them to renew when the time comes.

Is there something like this available? If not, is the underlying data available? Basically, I'm looking at this from the perspective of a standard CRM approach that traditional companies use. But in order to launch a "campaign" surrounding temple activity the underlying data would need to be available. If this isn't available is there any objection to collecting this from the members themselves (unofficially, securely stored and opt-in only) to power such a system?

Thanks!

I think you have access to the temple recommend status and expiration dates in MLS. It's just a matter of creating the reports.

I don't think you have access to any information about attendance except by asking the members to self-report.

Yes, that is correct. Over the past many years, the Church has had many different methods of monitoring Temple attendance from asking your name and what ward you are in, to, when computers first started being used, scanning the back of the recommend, to having the members report each time they went, to the appropriate Priesthood Leader, to now, we have been specifically directed NOT to ask members about their temple attendance. (Other that the Bishop, of course)

There are a number of reports set in MLS that can tell you the status of each recommend holder in the Ward. Your Ward Clerk should be able to access them. We use these reports to organize Temple trips and for the Executive Secretary to schedule Recommend Interviews.

RDKatz wrote:There are a number of reports set in MLS that can tell you the status of each recommend holder in the Ward. Your Ward Clerk should be able to access them. We use these reports to organize Temple trips and for the Executive Secretary to schedule Recommend Interviews.

MLS will provide a list of temple recommend holders with the dates they expire. This is very helpful in scheduling interviews. In fact, the list can be sorted to show recommends expiring this month, and in the next few months. If you decide to copy it into a spreadsheet, you can sort it in any direction you wish.

MLS will also provide a list of endowed members who do not hold a current recommend. This is very helpful for the bishopric and other leaders in determining who might best benefit from encouragement or activation efforts and might possibly qualify for a recommend in the future.

wcooke wrote:we have been specifically directed NOT to ask members about their temple attendance. (Other that the Bishop, of course)

Is that something in your local area or is this church-wide via a statement from SLC?

I was really hoping for a way to gain access to the temple attendance electronically - since people are now logged when they attend the data has to be somewhere.

Any suggestions on this specific point aside from a PIPEDA access request?

shanejs wrote:Is that something in your local area or is this church-wide via a statement from SLC?

The policy is in Book 1 of the current Church Handbook of Instructions (pg. 75), in which leaders are counselled not to set quotas or develop tracking systems. I have been advised that this direction also exists in the new handbook.

This question came up in our stake just recently. I would suggest that any stake president wishing clarification on this policy should discuss it with the member of the Seventy they report to.

Regarding recommend expiration, that information is available to bishops, clerks and stake presidencies in MLS and the new Leader and Clerk Tools on new.lds.org.

Best wishes in your efforts to shepherd your members to the Temple!

shanejs wrote:I was really hoping for a way to gain access to the temple attendance electronically - since people are now logged when they attend the data has to be somewhere.

This was discussed in a previous thread; see here. The conclusion was that, if that data is collected, it is not available to wards or stakes.