Baptism never recorded

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
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vsilcox
New Member
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:50 am

Baptism never recorded

#1

Post by vsilcox »

I am the ward clerk in the Midvale 1st ward, Midvale Utah North Stake. I have a young member who is now 12 years old. I was not able to find any record of her baptism, however, her mother insists that she was baptized in Washington. After several months of detective work I was finally able to contact the ward in Washington where the baptism took place in 2009. Apparently the baptism was never recorded by that ward. They sent me pictures of her baptism and a partially filled out baptismal form signed by the Bishop showing the date of the baptism and confirmation. I hate to say it but it looks like they just filled this out and had the Bishop sign it. Since there is no record of the baptism, can I enter that baptism in MLS now or will this young lady need to be rebaptized? I tried to enter it but MLS wouldn't let me.
eblood66
Senior Member
Posts: 3907
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Baptism never recorded

#2

Post by eblood66 »

Handbook 1 16.1.10 has the specifics about what is required to verify an ordinance which wasn't recorded. Assuming you can verify the ordinance in one of the ways listed in that section then you should be able to record the ordinance in MLS. As long as they were 8 years old on their baptismal date it should let you record it a a child of record. If they were older than 8 at their baptism then you'll need to use the Convert Baptism option and confirm that the mission office didn't record the ordinance.
lajackson
Community Moderators
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Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Baptism never recorded

#3

Post by lajackson »

Also, check your dates and ages. If she is 12 today, she was not baptized in 2009. It could have been a typo in your post, but get the dates right, and then proceed.
vsilcox
New Member
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:50 am

Re: Baptism never recorded

#4

Post by vsilcox »

When I tried to do this as a child of record the only names that were listed are those who are currently 8 years old. I can see no way to type in her name. Not sure how to proceed with this?
drepouille
Senior Member
Posts: 2859
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:06 pm
Location: Plattsmouth, NE

Re: Baptism never recorded

#5

Post by drepouille »

If she is not already a child of record, couldn't you create a membership record for her, and then record the baptism?
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
eblood66
Senior Member
Posts: 3907
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Baptism never recorded

#6

Post by eblood66 »

vsilcox wrote:When I tried to do this as a child of record the only names that were listed are those who are currently 8 years old. I can see no way to type in her name. Not sure how to proceed with this?
If nothing else you should be able to open the individuals record, go to the Ordinances tab and select the Add Baptism and Confirmation link.
eblood66
Senior Member
Posts: 3907
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Baptism never recorded

#7

Post by eblood66 »

drepouille wrote:If she is not already a child of record, couldn't you create a membership record for her, and then record the baptism?
If she doesn't have a record yet then you have to use the Membership > Ordinances > Child without Record option. It won't let you create a record for a child over 8 without recording the baptism at the same time.
russellhltn
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Re: Baptism never recorded

#8

Post by russellhltn »

Worst comes to worse, you may have to contact Local Unit Support to create and record the baptism. I know MLS has safeguards that block clerks from recording baptisms that should be recorded by missions.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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