Tech Forum

If I know without a shadow of doubt that a child of record was:

Interviewed by bishop
Gave authority for father to perform baptism, and
Confirmed a member of the church (and given the gift of the Holy Ghost)

Do I need the physical recommend signed by the bishop and the parent to record the ordinance in MLS? If so, what do I do with the recommend afterwards?

Thank you

I don't think you need it, but it's the most convenient way to collect the information you need to record the baptism.

CWatsonJr wrote:If I know without a shadow of doubt that a child of record was:

Interviewed by bishop
Gave authority for father to perform baptism, and
Confirmed a member of the church (and given the gift of the Holy Ghost)

Do I need the physical recommend signed by the bishop and the parent to record the ordinance in MLS? If so, what do I do with the recommend afterwards?

Thank you

Handbook 2 Section 20.3.11 makes it pretty clear that the bishop is supposed to fill out and sign the Baptism and Confirmation Record (note that it is called a record, not a recommend). The language does not make it optional. However, it doesn't make clear what to do if this didn't happen before the baptism is performed. The Bishop and Stake President are the ones who are responsible for interpreting what to do when the handbook isn't clear.

Personally, I'd go ahead and print a Record and have the bishop sign it just to be sure. I believe that the retention policy says that ordinance records should be filed and kept until after the next membership audit but I don't have access to that policy to verify that for certain.

Yes, the parent or legal guardian should sign it along with the bishop or branch president. Its typically a good practice to file the Baptism and Confirmation Records especially in the case where there is a single parent involved. If the other parent gets upset and decides to go after the church, you have a signed form filed away that gave authorization for the church to baptize the child.

We have a metal filing cabinet in our clerks office where we keep all the ordinance records, baptisms, priesthood confirmations, etc.