Tech Forum

I am in the midst of performing the annual membership audits in our stake. Each year when I do this, I always end up not being able to give an authoritative answer as to which rights each calling should have in MLS. Normally, this is what I tell the clerks:

Bishop & Ward Clerk
- Full administrator rights

Quorum/Group/Auxiliary Leaders
- Organization

Bishopric Counselors
- Finance
- Recommends
- Organization
- No View/Edit Membership

Executive Secretary
- Recommends
- Organization
- No Finance; No View/Edit Membership

Assistant Ward Clerks
If cross trained/used on finance and membership:
- Organization
- View/Edit Membership
- Finance
- No Recommend view rights

If not cross trained/used:
- Membership clerk doesn't have Finance
- Finance clerk doesn't have View/Edit Membership

Much of my reasoning is based on being consistent with the Access Table for online clerk resources. Can anyone point me to an authoritative source on access rights, or give me some suggestions on why my method might need to be modified?

I know of only two authoritative statements in regards to MLS rights. Neither one gives a specific list like you've outlined but they do provide guidance.

The first is Handbook 1 13.6 which indicates membership records should only be given the bishop or a clerk. We can infer that only Bishops and clerks should have View/Edit Membership rights because these rights give access to the full membership record.

The second is from the MLS Help (or the RKATS site). It indicates that users should only be given the rights they need to perform their calling.

Your list seems consistent with these statements and is pretty much what we do in my ward.

Thanks for the feedback.

I had this same discussion with a ward clerk during his membership audit. He argued that the EQP and HPGL needed "edit membership" privileges, because they collect updated information during their visits to households. The clerk wants them to update the records with whatever they find.
I considered forcing him to remove those privileges, but I figured he would just change them back after I left. I also figured that the EQP and HPGL should be trusted to not mess things up.

drepouille wrote:I had this same discussion with a ward clerk during his membership audit. He argued that the EQP and HPGL needed "edit membership" privileges, because they collect updated information during their visits to households. The clerk wants them to update the records with whatever they find.
I considered forcing him to remove those privileges, but I figured he would just change them back after I left. I also figured that the EQP and HPGL should be trusted to not mess things up.

Not my stewardship, but I think you should strongly reconsider your approach. In my view, it is inappropriate for EQP and HPGL to be able to edit (and by extension view) membership records. If you are concerned about him changing them back, you should probably have a three person conversation about the policy with he and the bishop.

I agree with you. In this case, the ward clerk is about three times the new bishop's age, and has been a member of the church about 5 times longer than the bishop.

Still, that is a good idea.

drepouille wrote:I had this same discussion with a ward clerk during his membership audit. He argued that the EQP and HPGL needed "edit membership" privileges, because they collect updated information during their visits to households. The clerk wants them to update the records with whatever they find.

I'm not sure about the exact procedure of the audit, but I'd want the bishop to sign off on that.

Edit: I won't say the clerk's idea is without merit - just that the bishop should be part of the decision on how his unit is to be run.

drepouille wrote:I agree with you. In this case, the ward clerk is about three times the new bishop's age, and has been a member of the church about 5 times longer than the bishop.

That's a tough spot. Hopefully that age and experience will give him the wisdom to recognize his good bishop's keys.

drepouille wrote:I had this same discussion with a ward clerk during his membership audit. He argued that the EQP and HPGL needed "edit membership" privileges, because they collect updated information during their visits to households. The clerk wants them to update the records with whatever they find.
I considered forcing him to remove those privileges, but I figured he would just change them back after I left. I also figured that the EQP and HPGL should be trusted to not mess things up.

In order to start the conversion without causing problems just mark the audit question about MLS user rights no. Then a printout will appear that the bishop and the clerk must sign that goes to the stake. Hopefully this would cause the bishop to ask what the problem was then the floor would be all yours, with the backing of the handbook of instructions there should not be much problem.