Tech Forum

I was asked by a parent to create a membership record for a child who is older than 9 years old but has not been baptized. When I go to add the child as a Child of Record in MLS, I get a prompt that prevents me from creating the membership record for the child. The prompt states "The child is older than 9 years old and must be entered using the Convert Baptism option."

I then tried entering the information using the Convert Baptism option in MLS; however, that option would also not let me create the record because it requires information about a baptism and this child has not been baptized.

I was hoping to get some ideas on how I may be able to create this record. Otherwise, It appears that for now the window for creating a membership record for this child has passed and his membership record will have to be created upon baptism (assuming he gets baptized sometime). Thanks in advance.

That is correct. Once a child turns 9 years old and has not been baptized you cannot create a Child of Record membership record for them. The only way to create a membership record is if they are baptized.

In answer to the obvious follow-up question, no, there's no way to add a "non-member" to the family. The only way to have the child appear on the ward directory is to get baptized. CHQ might do something for someone who is has been determined as "not accountable", but I don't think that would apply in this case.

I have a similar situation. Parents are members. Adopted a young adult with mild intellectual disabilities along with moderate cognitive disabilities and severe emotional disabilities. Parents are wanting their newly adopted young adult listed under their household but want to give more time to get to know their adoptee before determining “not accountable” or proceeding with baptism. The parents would also like to have their adoptee given a name and blessing. Any suggestions how to handle this? ~~~~

SgCarr wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:38 pm Parents are wanting their newly adopted young adult listed under their household but want to give more time to get to know their adoptee before determining “not accountable” or proceeding with baptism.

You can always call support, but I'm not aware of any options until the parents come up with a decision.

You can always ask the bishop to run it up the line of presiding authority. Maybe there's some generic option for the stake president under application to first presidency.