Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

Discuss questions around local unit policies for membership (creating records, transferring records, etc.) This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
eblood66
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#11

Post by eblood66 »

mrclary wrote:I don't want to be antagonistic, but I disagree with both chriswoodut and eblood66.
When printing a certificate, it will reflect the ward in which the certificate is printed. While a baby blessing is not a saving ordinance, it is still presided over by priesthood authority, in particular the Bishop of the ward in which the blessing takes place. For this reason, it is only appropriate for this Bishop to sign the blessing certificate and therefore should be printed and signed in the ward in which the blessing takes place. See Handbook 1, section 16 and Handbook2, section 20.
I also don't want to be augmentative and ultimately It is up to the bishops and stake presidents involved to make a determination of how to proceed and I don't claim to any authority.

However, personally, I don't find anything in the handbook that addresses this situation. In fact, what the handbook does say (in Handbook 2, section 20.2.1) is that blessings are normally done in the ward where the parent's records are. My take is that out-of-unit blessings are overall discouraged anyway. LCR seems to be programmed accordingly.

As for which priesthood authority has the keys over the blessing, I don't know of anywhere it is addressed. However, for a baptism the home bishop is definitely the one with the keys. He is the one to do the interview and he is the one to sign the certificate. That is stated in the handbook (Handbook 1, section 16.1.3). A priesthood leader in the other unit does preside over the ordinance but the ordinance must be authorized by the home ward bishop. I think the same applies for a blessing. Parents cannot go to just any ward and ask for authorization to bless their child. They have to go to their home ward bishop. Without specific guidance otherwise, I think it reasonable to follow the same models as for other ordinances and have the home ward handle the paperwork and the home ward bishop sign the certificate.

At least, that's the recommendation I'd still make to my priesthood leaders but I'd leave it up to them to decide after giving them the information I know.
scgallafent
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#12

Post by scgallafent »

russellhltn wrote:
  • Again, I don't think it's possible for the sending ward to send the record directly into a household.
It is possible for a sending ward to move records directly into a household. When selecting records to be moved, one of the options is "Join to an existing household in the new ward or branch." When using that option, the clerk must provide information that identifies the new household. An address doesn't need to be provided since the household already has an address.
russellhltn
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#13

Post by russellhltn »

eblood66 wrote:A priesthood leader in the other unit does preside over the ordinance but the ordinance must be authorized by the home ward bishop. I think the same applies for a blessing. Parents cannot go to just any ward and ask for authorization to bless their child. They have to go to their home ward bishop.
In the case of an "away" blessing, I think some other factors come into play. The worthiness of the infant is not in question. The question is more about permission to be blessed (are they really the parents, or just foster?).

The other question that comes into play is who is doing the blessing? If it's going to be the grandfather (which may be the reason it's being done outside of the home unit), then we end up with a "joint" permissions issue that we wouldn't normally have.
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chriswoodut
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#14

Post by chriswoodut »

scgallafent wrote:
russellhltn wrote:
  • Again, I don't think it's possible for the sending ward to send the record directly into a household.
It is possible for a sending ward to move records directly into a household. When selecting records to be moved, one of the options is "Join to an existing household in the new ward or branch." When using that option, the clerk must provide information that identifies the new household. An address doesn't need to be provided since the household already has an address.
I just sent the child's record out today and did not see that option at all.
russellhltn
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#15

Post by russellhltn »

scgallafent wrote:It is possible for a sending ward to move records directly into a household.
I stand corrected. That's a nice feature.

I'll bet the YSA Student ward rejoiced on that one since they could send the kids back home.
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chriswoodut
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#16

Post by chriswoodut »

russellhltn wrote:
scgallafent wrote:It is possible for a sending ward to move records directly into a household.
I stand corrected. That's a nice feature.

I'll bet the YSA Student ward rejoiced on that one since they could send the kids back home.
When we receive YSA students back (which is frequent), they always show up as their own head of household. (for records not requested by us)
scgallafent
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#17

Post by scgallafent »

chriswoodut wrote:
scgallafent wrote:
russellhltn wrote:
  • Again, I don't think it's possible for the sending ward to send the record directly into a household.
It is possible for a sending ward to move records directly into a household.
I just sent the child's record out today and did not see that option at all.
I promise it's there.
Move records to existing household.png
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chriswoodut
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#18

Post by chriswoodut »

Ahh, you have to click it to see the option. The 'select head of household' is a bit misleading when the child is the only person in the house. A radio button would make more sense or text that indicates there's more than one option.
simataas
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#19

Post by simataas »

I appreciate all the knowledge passed on in this thread! I was able to create a record for a baby blessed today in our ward, print out a blessing certificate, and then move the baby out of the ward and into his father's household in their home ward. It all worked seamlessly.

Interestingly, LCR has recently changed to require a "Child of Record" form be uploaded to create the record and record the blessing. A "Baptism and Confirmation" form is similarly required for recording baptisms now; even for 8 year old members of record that are BIC and baptized in their home ward.
drepouille
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Re: Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

#20

Post by drepouille »

And this is where I jump all over the bishop and his counselors for not getting a signed form from a parent of the baby before they bless the baby and run out the door of the chapel for family photos and celebrations. I pinned a stack of blank forms to the bulletin board outside the bishop's office.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
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