Tithing Settlement: Attendees

[jamesmoyes]

I am led to believe that counselor in the bishopric as well as a clerk must be present at tithing settlement. The bishopric counselor to receive funds, if any, that are donated at tithing settlement, and a clerk to ensure that IOS data is updated if erroneous.

I am seeking clarification due to the fact that I was told by one of the, very well intentioned, counselors in the bishopric that I, the Financial Clerk, did not need to be in attendance. I am ok with this but want to ensure that we are doing it correctly.

[russellhltn]

Handbook 1: 14.6.2 says that it's either two members of the bishopric, or member of the bishopric and a clerk.

As long as someone can run off the IOS, I think that's all that's needed. Corrections can be noted for fixing at a later time. I think it's more important for someone to have Finance rights to handle and updates and changes.

As a practical matter, it's may not be a good idea to depend on the bishop and a councilor - I think there would be great temptation to have the councilor try and process it alone. If someone else was there, the bishop could leave that much sooner.

[aebrown]

Handbook 1: 14.6.2 says that it's either two members of the bishopric, or member of the bishopric and a clerk.

That section doesn't say anything about who needs to be at tithing settlement -- it's talking about who counts the donations.

The actual section about Tithing Settlement (HB1: 14.4.1) only mentions the bishop as a required participant. There's a note that a bishopric member or clerk could review the IOS with the member, but that's clearly not required at tithing settlement (although an annual review of the IOS is required, and it makes a lot of sense to do it at tithing settlement).

It can be helpful for a bishopric member to be present to receive donations, but in our ward it's worked out just fine for the bishop to receive donations and then hand them over to a counselor at the end of the block of interviews. It's certainly not required for a counselor to be present.

As long as someone can run off the IOS, I think that's all that's needed. Corrections can be noted for fixing at a later time.

In our ward, we have printed out the IOSs ahead of time for the members scheduled to come during a particular block of time; so any clerk or bishopric member is in a position to review those with the members as they come in.

I think it's more important for someone to have Finance rights to handle and updates and changes.

I agree, and we make sure that the ward clerk or financial clerk is present. They're the ones best in a position to help with donor account name problems (misspellings, merges, linking to membership records), donations connected to the wrong donor, donations that may seem to be missing, etc.

But if a bishopric counselor were able to help with those issues, he could fill that role as well.

As a practical matter, it's may not be a good idea to depend on the bishop and a councilor - I think there would be great temptation to have the councilor try and process it alone.

There is zero temptation for a counselor to process donations alone -- that's so clearly against the rules that it would never cross anyone's mind (at least not in our ward).

If someone else was there, the bishop could leave that much sooner.

We do try to make sure the bishop can leave as soon as he finishes the last interview. So a bishopric counselor and clerk are assigned to count the donation batch -- we never plan on the bishop doing that. The counselor may or may not be present during the whole block of interview time, but he will certainly be there by the end.