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Convert Child of Record (converts under 8)

Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 10:39 am
by pantherjad-p40
We recently had an entire family join the church in our ward. Both parents and one child were baptized. The other two children are under age 8. However, while we received records for the three baptized converts, the two underage children do not show up as children of record (and thus as members of the household; especially for purposes of primary rosters etc.). However, they do show up as children of their parents in the detailed "children" portion of the parents' record.

My question is this: do I create a new child of record? If so, how do I link that to the pseudo record that already exists showing them as children of one of the members? Does this matter?

On a similar note, we had a nearly identical situation two months ago (yes the missionary work is going VERY well here!) where another (in this case, overage youth's) parents join the church but didn't feel the child was ready for baptism yet. In this case, the record of the child (as shown as a child of a member, NOT a child of record or member of the household) was misspelled. I could not correct it because all the fields showing data were grayed out. Also, as expected, I couldn't create a new child of record anyway because the individual was over 9. How do I correct the spelling? Also, what happens to this pseudo record once this person is baptized? Also, now you have a child in a household who is active in the church and will likely be baptized within a year and yet, he doesn't show up on primary rosters!? (Really!!????)

I see this as a really big flaw and problem. I can understand generally the church wanting people over age 8 to have to commit to baptism before being a "member." But what of households that join the church and it takes the kids a year or so to become ready for baptism? (I think that seems appropriate since they are only a child who may not understand things as quickly as an adult). Why can't we create children of record up to age 12 or something? This would be great for ministering to part member families. I would think the church would favor erring on the side of MORE records rather than less as it increases the number of people you can minister to.

Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 12:47 pm
by russellhltn
Sorry, I don't have time to give step by step, but I can give a general overview of what I'd suggest.

Children show up in two areas. One is as an individual. Another as a listing on the parent's record.

In the first case, create a Child of Record membership record. That can be done in MLS. I'm unsure of the linking, I'd have to look into that more.

In the second case, I'd suggest creating a Nonmember Record. Because you can't enter the birth date, you'll have to manually assign them to the classes. However, being a non-member, they'll still have limitations placed on them.

As for the last statement, we're not in it for the numbers. Baptism is a necessary and significant step in salvation. I'm sure there are policy and doctrinal reasons behind the restrictions we find. The significance of baptism needs to be more significant then just a date field on the membership record. We welcome visitors, but until they are baptized, they will be visitors.

Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 2:33 pm
by aebrown
pantherjad wrote:In this case, the record of the child (as shown as a child of a member, NOT a child of record or member of the household) was misspelled. I could not correct it because all the fields showing data were grayed out. Also, as expected, I couldn't create a new child of record anyway because the individual was over 9. How do I correct the spelling?
You can correct the spelling using a Special request.