Baptism information

Discuss questions around local unit policies for membership (creating records, transferring records, etc.) This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
forresthickman
Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2014 4:09 pm

Baptism information

#1

Post by forresthickman »

i noticed when i look someone up online on LDS.org (from home), it doesn't show any information of the baptism except for the persons name, and their birthdate. am i able to view who baptized the person on MLS?
eblood66
Senior Member
Posts: 3907
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Baptism information

#2

Post by eblood66 »

Until about a year or slightly more, the person who performed a baptism was not recorded in the main CHQ databases. It was only recorded in MLS and that information would be lost once the member moved out of the ward.

If the person performing the baptism doesn't show up online then they were probably baptized more than a year or two ago. MLS will only show that information if they were in your unit when they were baptized and haven't moved out and back in since. If they have changed units since they were baptized then the information is not available.
forresthickman
Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2014 4:09 pm

Re: Baptism information

#3

Post by forresthickman »

thank you
jonesrk
Church Employee
Church Employee
Posts: 2361
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:12 am
Location: South Jordan, UT, USA

Re: Baptism information

#4

Post by jonesrk »

eblood66 wrote:Until about a year or slightly more, the person who performed a baptism was not recorded in the main CHQ databases. It was only recorded in MLS and that information would be lost once the member moved out of the ward.

If the person performing the baptism doesn't show up online then they were probably baptized more than a year or two ago. MLS will only show that information if they were in your unit when they were baptized and haven't moved out and back in since. If they have changed units since they were baptized then the information is not available.
There might have been a time when they weren't tracked, but my baptism shows who performed it and that was from several years ago. Both my parents and I have changed units a few times in between.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34417
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

Re: Baptism information

#5

Post by russellhltn »

jonesrk wrote:There might have been a time when they weren't tracked, but my baptism shows who performed it and that was from several years ago. Both my parents and I have changed units a few times in between.
I think I've had this discussion before. IIRC, it's not in CMIS, but it is in LCR. Once in LCR, it transfers to other wards just like HT/VT records. MLS has the information, but since CMIS didn't support it, there was no way for MLS to forward that information to other units.

I thought it odd that LCR was tracking something that the church explicitly stopped tracking years ago. I assumed MLS had it to assist in printing the Baptismal Certificate. Since it wasn't in CMIS, there was no way for MLS to forward that information to other units.
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.
eblood66
Senior Member
Posts: 3907
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Baptism information

#6

Post by eblood66 »

jonesrk wrote:There might have been a time when they weren't tracked, but my baptism shows who performed it and that was from several years ago. Both my parents and I have changed units a few times in between.
Interesting. I just looked at my record and it does show who baptized me (and my baptism was more than a few years ago). But I'm pretty sure that not too long ago it didn't (at least not in MLS). Looking over my ward as a whole, it looks like most of those over about 33 have it and those under 15 do as well but those in between do not.

I wonder if the older information was available in some archived data store and it was restored sometime in the last couple years.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34417
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

Re: Baptism information

#7

Post by russellhltn »

eblood66 wrote:Looking over my ward as a whole, it looks like most of those over about 33 have it and those under 15 do as well but those in between do not.
That sounds about right. Looking at the unit history in CDOL, the "great simplification" I talked about must have been between May 1981 and Oct 1993 (although I think it was closer to May 1983 and May 1986). The math doesn't look quite right for the 33 year old (baptized 33 years ago works better). But a "under 15" would have been baptized around 2011. It appears LCR went beta around 2010.
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.
eblood66
Senior Member
Posts: 3907
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Baptism information

#8

Post by eblood66 »

russellhltn wrote:The math doesn't look quite right for the 33 year old (baptized 33 years ago works better).
I was definitely looking at ages.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34417
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

Re: Baptism information

#9

Post by russellhltn »

eblood66 wrote:I was definitely looking at ages.
It would probably be better to look at the baptismal date. After all, a 33-year old convert could have been baptized last year. ;)
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.
eblood66
Senior Member
Posts: 3907
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:17 am
Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Baptism information

#10

Post by eblood66 »

russellhltn wrote:
eblood66 wrote:I was definitely looking at ages.
It would probably be better to look at the baptismal date. After all, a 33-year old convert could have been baptized last year. ;)
Except that I know each of the persons I looked at and know that they were born into the church (which is why I picked them to look at) :)

Looking at the baptism dates it looks like the line is somewhere around 92-93 but it isn't a hard line. I found a few in 92 with information and one in 93 but others in 92 without. But nothing after 93 until more recently.

It looks to me like a phased software/technology release. I don't know the exact dates of the original MIS release and placement of PCs into units. But I do know my father was working on the original MMS system for mission offices around that time. So if they were placing PCs in missions, it's probably around the time they put them in units as well.
Post Reply

Return to “Membership Help”