Out-of-Unit Membership Records

Discuss questions around local unit policies for membership (creating records, transferring records, etc.) This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
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sbradshaw
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Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#1

Post by sbradshaw »

Creating out-of-unit membership records is pretty common in YSA wards. With clerks constantly changing between semesters (and needing to be trained), I created a form to simplify the process of entering out-of-unit members... I attached it here as a PDF and a Word Document. Hopefully it will be useful to someone. Does anyone have any feedback/improvements?
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Out-of-Unit Membership Records.docx
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russellhltn
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#2

Post by russellhltn »

I'm surprised to see "RS Adviser". I didn't remember that as requiring a married person per the handbook. A YSA adviser couple perhaps, but I'm not sure as they are required when the entire ward is YSA. But that's probably a "leader's discretion" kind of thing.

Otherwise, it looks like a useful form - especially for a unit with major turnover every semester.
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jdlessley
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#3

Post by jdlessley »

An important note should be included for priesthood holders. "Note: In order to be added to a leadership position in MLS, priesthood ordinance information must be recorded on the record."

We have had clerks post in the forum with issues about not finding the name of the out of unit member for the priesthood office on the list of members. Once the priesthood information is recorded then a priesthood holder's name is on the list.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#4

Post by sbradshaw »

@russellhltn – In my stake, Relief Society Advisers are wives of bishopric members, high councilors, or other men serving in the stake. But you're right, it looks like it doesn't specify in the handbook – so it's probably just a stake precedent. I'll reword that...

I'm not sure if all wards have Relief Society Advisers, and I know some wards have out-of-unit clerks...

@jdlessley – that's a good note to include. My hope is that a clerk fills out as much as they can from the IOS by default when they're creating the record, but it doesn't always happen and that's a common problem.

Is there someone who could provide me with a list of what information on LDS.org tools is pulled from the home ward records and what is pulled from the out-of-unit record? I know that contact information is pulled from the home ward record, so entering it on the out-of-unit record isn't necessary. Are there other fields that are "overruled" by the home ward record?

Another note I might include is not to mark an out-of-unit record as "married" until their spouse's out-of-unit record is created. Otherwise it causes problems...
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#5

Post by eblood66 »

sbradshaw wrote:Is there someone who could provide me with a list of what information on LDS.org tools is pulled from the home ward records and what is pulled from the out-of-unit record? I know that contact information is pulled from the home ward record, so entering it on the out-of-unit record isn't necessary. Are there other fields that are "overruled" by the home ward record?
Actually none of the information from the out-of-unit record goes to lds.org at all. As far as lds.org is concerned, the out-of-unit record is actually just a way of entering a calling in MLS. It's the calling that gets sent to CDOL. CDOL in turn provides that calling information (and only the calling information) to the rest of lds.org. All the other information about the member comes from their membership record which can only be updated by the home ward. The out-of-unit record itself is completely local to MLS.
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#6

Post by sbradshaw »

OK, so would I be safe to specify that in all cases, all we need for creating an out-of-unit record is the person's name, gender, record number, baptism and confirmation dates, and priesthood ordination dates?
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#7

Post by russellhltn »

sbradshaw wrote:OK, so would I be safe to specify that in all cases, all we need for creating an out-of-unit record is the person's name, gender, record number, baptism and confirmation dates, and priesthood ordination dates?
Keep in mind, you'll probably want contact information so it will be there in any reports generated by MLS.
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#8

Post by jdlessley »

russellhltn wrote:Keep in mind, you'll probably want contact information so it will be there in any reports generated by MLS.
Which brings up a minor point of updating contact information for out of unit members/leaders. The out of unit member information in the service unit is not updated by changes made in the home unit MLS or in the online Directory. Out of unit members/leaders may be familiar with the ability to update contact information on the online Directory. But those updates will not flow back to the service unit MLS. This can be a point of confusion.
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#9

Post by sbradshaw »

I've updated the form for creating out-of-unit membership records based on feedback and suggestions I received here and a few other things I thought of. Here it is:
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Out-of-Unit Membership Records.docx
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russellhltn
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Re: Out-of-Unit Membership Records

#10

Post by russellhltn »

Looks good. I think you're a singes ward. From what I remember, student wards are allowed to have bishopric Counselors "from within" and don't have to use out-of-unit members. But that's an issue only for other wards wanting to follow your template.
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