Sacrament Meeting and Hymn Tracking forms

57 postsstarted by jbh001 69,017 viewsoriginal topic

Senior Member
#1
Over the years of service in various music callings and bishoprics, I have developed and refined some spreadsheets that track hymns and sacrament meeting items. I am attaching them as Excel spreadsheets (though I did most of the original work in Quattro Pro, if anyone wants those versions).

Some explanatory notes:
The purpose of the Sacrament Meeting Tracking form is to help the bishopric plan future sacrament meetings by being able to see at a glance (1) what Sundays they have to prepare for, and (2) who has done what recently so that we don't call on the STP's (same ten people) to speak and pray. At the end of the year, a completed version of this sheet is printed for quick reference and placed with the conducting sheets for that year sort of as an index.

Also in our unit we have a team of 4 choristers and 4 organists to share the load. That way each organist and chorister does a sacrament meeting only about once a month. This might not apply to your unit, so you may not need those columns.

The hymn tracking sheet is designed so that you can type in the hymn number, and the title fills itself in. I usually forward this spreadsheet to the ward music chairman so they can use it in selecting hymns.

In my prior unit, we had a Spanish sacrament meeting separate from the English sacrament meeting (we didn't have quite enough at that time to make a Spanish branch or even a dependent Spanish branch). The Spanish hymn tracking sheet is designed so that the English hymn number is entered into the first column, and then the Spanish hymn number and title fill themselves in in the remaining columns. Hymns that appear only in the Spanish hymnal (there are 15 of them) are numbered consecutively starting as English hymn number 401.
πŸ“Ž Sample.HymnTracking.xls (313.5 KiB)
πŸ“Ž Sample.HymnsHimnos.xls (263.5 KiB)
Member
#2
Cool spreadsheet! When I had the calling of ward music chairman, I also considered the meter and how interesting and challenging each part was. Altos & basses generally like to sing at least one hymn per sacrament meeting where the parts move some. It can also be helpful to be aware of easier alternate hymns for days when our best accompanists are not available. Also, some bishops prefer switching the closing hymn to one of our short ones when the meeting runs long.
Community Administrator
#3
scion wrote:Also, some bishops prefer switching the closing hymn to one of our short ones when the meeting runs long.
Something I'd like to see is a chart that shows the length of various hymns. Just something that gives the planner some ideas of how long it will take. The ending of Ward Conference is probably not the time for all verses of those long ones. :D
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Member
#4
The back cover of the hymn audio cassettes had times (some were rather slow). I presume that the DVD versions do, too. One bishopric that I had insisted that all verses be sung, but would readily switch hymns to end the meeting on time. Others cut verses by announcing which verses to sing at the pulpit. For the most part, the congregation really doesn't pay attention to such announcements, but get their cues from the chorister and accompanist. Sometimes either the accompanist or I did not catch the change, so we weren't on the same page. :D
Senior Member
#5
scion wrote:One bishopric that I had insisted that all verses be sung, but would readily switch hymns to end the meeting on time. Others cut verses by announcing which verses to sing at the pulpit.
The whole switching hymns at the last minute, especially mid-meeting, just rubs me the wrong way. It reeks of poor planning, poor instruction, and poor management, especially when it has become frequent practice instead of the rare exception. Most of the units I have been in outside of Utah would rarely consider doing such a thing primarily because the music talent is much more sparse. Your organist or pianist may have had to practice all week (or more) for the selected hymns, and to switch them at the last minute on such a person is just not right.

When I was Ward Music Director, if we sang more or less than the standard verses, I would let the organist play the introduction to the hymn, and then have them stop an wait while I quickly announced the verses (e.g. "We will sing all seven verses," or "We will sing verse one and two"}. That way almost everybody got the message, and there were fewer awkward surprises.

If speakers are regularly going over time, then the person presiding needs to kindly and gently intervene and regain control of the meeting. In one unit I was in, the bishop had learned that by instructing speakers to prepare a 10 to 12 minute talk we usually ended up with the meeting ending on time.

Many times we too frequently do not respect people's time by letting meetings run over time. I have reminded leaders that General Conference always begins on time and ends on time or earlier. If they can do it, they we can do it too with our sacrament meeting speakers, Sunday school lessons, and weekday activities.
Senior Member
#6
jbh001 wrote:The whole switching hymns at the last minute just rubs me the wrong way. It reeks of poor planning, poor instruction, and poor management, especially when it has become frequent practice instead of the rare exception. Most of the units I have been in outside of Utah would rarely consider doing such a thing primarily because the music talent is much more sparse. Your organist or pianist may have had to practice all week (or more) for the selected hymns, and to switch them at the last minute on such a person is just not right.
Well, not only that, but if the person selecting the hymns is really magnifying their calling, then they have prayerfully selected those specific hymns for that specific Sunday. They have the right to inspiration in that regard. Just read the introduction The Hymns and you'll catch the true spirit of why they are a part of our worship services.

Anyways, I digress...
Community Administrator
#7
Usually, when I see a hymn changed, it was because either the speaker requested it, or a more appropriate one was found. Either way, it was quite rare.
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Senior Member
#8
There used to be a CES Symposium presentation on the ldsces.org site that I have a hard copy of, that was one page, and it not only had the hymns categoriezed by the major topics you see on the contents page, but they also had it broken down, displayed via a table, by more specific topics within the broader categories. This one was fascinating, in that it showed you just how complete the present hymnbook is at present when it comes to finding the right hymn for the right topic pretty much on demand.

The document is now only available to CES people who have a login on ldsces.org, I think.

If any of you would like to see the list, let me know, I can type it in here, it's about 20 or so topics, can't remember if I counted the exact number.
Senior Member
#9
I would be interested in seeing it if it was it substantially different from the Topic index in the current hymnal.
New Member
#10
I have a similar spreadsheet to track our speakers and music. It's sometimes difficult not to pick the same people to speak in sacrament meetings over and over, especially in a branch or small ward. When we plan speakers, I sort the spreadsheet by speaker name and date. You'll notice High Council speakers have "(HC)" before their names and visitors from the stake have "(Stake)"; that's to get them all sorted together and delete them to shorten the list just to people in our unit. The same holds true for people who've moved away.

I also have a MS Word file that uses the mail merge feature to take the spreadsheet and format it for our sacrament meeting agenda. There's a separate Word file for fast and testimony meetings. We type the announcements in the Word files and then scroll through the data to the appropriate week to get the speakers, topics and hymns. It only prints one page, for the given date in the merge field (not a page for every day in the spreadsheet.)

If you view the files, it expects the spreadsheet to be on a floppy disk in your A: drive. I did that so I can take it home and fill in speakers or music rather than be forced to do it at church. Having the announcements typed out is much easier to read from the pulpit than handwritten notes.
πŸ“Ž Agenda for Sac Meeting.doc (34 KiB)
πŸ“Ž Agenda for F-n-T Meeting.doc (31.5 KiB)
πŸ“Ž Speakers and Music.xls (76 KiB)
Senior Member
#11
Does who blesses and passes the sacrament need to be recorded, tracked, or announced? Or is this just one of those traditions that got started on a whim and we do it simply because "that's the way we've always done it."

Our stake presidency specifically instructed all our units recently to stop dismissing/excusing those that blessed and passed the sacrament to return and sit with their families when sacrament was over. No thanks, no acknowledgments, no nothing, just continue on with the meeting. The priesthood simply gets up and returns to sit with their families when whoever is conducting stands up to the pulpit and begins announcing the rest of the meeting.

The reason? (1) There was no justification for it in the Handbook or other official sources (e.g. letter from the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, Presiding Bishopric, etc.), therefore (2) it was perpetuating a tradition/precedent that was started on somebody's whim, and most importantly (3) it was drawing attention to something and placing importance, significance, or emphasis on something that had no importance or significance, neither did it need attention or emphasis.
Community Moderators
#12
That's a tough one. As much as I (or others here) may have differing opinions, we are not in charge of your stake, nor entitled to the inspiration needed to run it.
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Community Administrator
#13
jbh001 wrote:Does who blesses and passes the sacrament need to be recorded, tracked, or announced?
I've never been in a ward that named them like that.
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New Member
#14
Mikerowaved wrote:That's a tough one. As much as I (or others here) may have differing opinions, we are not in charge of your stake, nor entitled to the inspiration needed to run it.

I have to agree with you. BTW my ward doesn't name the priesthood but we do thank them for their service in performing the sacrament.
Robert Ferguson
South Shore Ward, Plainview New York Stake
New Member
#15
jbh001 wrote:Does who blesses and passes the sacrament need to be recorded, tracked, or announced? Or is this just one of those traditions that got started on a whim and we do it simply because "that's the way we've always done it."
No, the names of who blesses and passes does not need to be recorded. We do not announce them. (That would be a little too rameumptum-like :eek:) That's the way both of my counselors were trained and have done it for years. I never fill it in, just them.

We don't assign people to give the opening and closing prayers until that morning, based on who's attending. That way we don't get stuck announcing Brother so-and-so will give the opening prayer and he's sick at home. The blank line for visitors is to be able to mention by name when someone from the stake is there, regardless of the auxiliary or calling.

The "2 1/2 Minute" speaker is generally a youth speaker but we also use that for newer converts or people who are "scared to death" of public speaking. They always have the option to say no but it's a good way to get someone accustomed to speaking in church. We say "2 1/2 Minutes" but it's usually always four or five minutes when they actually speak.

The clerk adds the attendance number after the meeting and files the agenda. Attendance on these forms is then used for the quarterly report and our general tracking.
Community Moderators
#16
jbh001 wrote:Our stake presidency specifically instructed all our units recently to stop dismissing/excusing those that blessed and passed the sacrament to return and sit with their families when sacrament was over. No thanks, no acknowledgments, no nothing, just continue on with the meeting.

The reason?
Actually, the reason was that a few years ago the area seventies came around to all of the stake presidents and relayed that instruction. However, I never did see it in a letter or other document from the Church, and it is apparent that the practice is back in vogue again. It is discouraged in our stake.
New Member
#17
There's been some great ideas and forms posted here. My Bishopric has been using a form for conducting that has really helped. After a year of conducting, I still get tunnel vision at the pulpit, so having the right form has been a lifesaver on numerous occasions.
Senior Member
#18
Check the wording of your priesthood ordination verbiage against the handbook. The part about "has been interviewed and been found worthy" is superfluous, not to mention unnecessary. The congregation should assume that the proper interviews and approvals have already taken place.

Besides, do you really want to be announcing someone's worthiness from the pulpit?

The verbiage we use in our unit is something like (from memory): "It is prosposed that John Doe receive the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained to the office of priest. Those in favor may manifest it. [Pause for vote.] Those opposed, if any, may also manifest it."

Or for a simple advancement: "It is proposed that John Doe be ordained to the office of teacher. Those in favor ..."
New Member
#19
Hi All,

I've been meaning to post my forms on our forum here, but just haven't had the time.

Well here is my form for our Bishopric. I tried to keep it simple and easy to fill in on a PC (or for those who have Mac's, on a Mac too) or paper. Let me know what you think and if I can improve anything on it too. I hope you find it helpful.

I've got a PDF version of it, because my Bishopric isn't as advanced on the PC as some, I've made it so we can print it out and fill it in with a pen.

I've also got a Word 2007 version for those who just want to play around with what I've started.

..::[ Kepz ]::.. :cool:
..::[ Kolisi Kepu ]::..
Joomla King
Community Administrator
#20
I looked at the PDF form. It looked fine, but I didn't see how I could fill it out with just Acrobat Reader.
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Member
#21
I ended up writing a random hymn selector for our ward music director. The hymn selection is weighted by the difficulty and familiarity of the hymns. About every 3 months or so, I run a new random selection and the ward music director looks over it and makes any changes she feels like should be made.

While its been easier to rely more on the technology than on the Spirit, its had the added advantage of choosing hymns that aren't as frequently used and has helped us use more of the hymn book than we've used in the past.
Community Moderators
#22
jbh001 wrote:Or is this just one of those traditions that got started on a whim and we do it simply because "that's the way we've always done it."
When you travel around a stake or visit other units outside it is interesting to notice "individual ways" of doing different things.

I once had to "clean up" a handfull of "odd" practises and it was an interesting experience. Instead of just stopping them I took the time to find out how they had started in the first place.

Some was because "that's the way we've always done it.", others because someone had memorised something from a manual 20 years ago and others were started with good intensions to solve a particular problem.

So as Mike says there can be good reasons for something being a certain way in a certain unit or maybe the leader has been too busy with more pressing issues.

The obvious danger of just doing things because "that's the way we've always done it." is that an inexperienced person could faithful continue a certain way only for someone in the future to say stop without due care.
jbh001 wrote:Many times we too frequently do not respect people's time by letting meetings run over time. I have reminded leaders that General Conference always begins on time and ends on time or earlier. If they can do it, they we can do it too with our sacrament meeting speakers, Sunday school lessons, and weekday activities.
I do agree on this one here.

I have usually used the train as an example. We can all make sure to be on the platform in time to board the train safely. Maybe that is because we KNOW the train will not wait for us.

Simple waiting to start a lesson, activity, meeting etc might be kind towards "repeat-offenders" arriving late but it is also lack of respect to those who arrived on time.

I used to pre-warn people I would start on time and then carried it out. To be honest it was a challenge for me too. Some changed instantly, others took a few more weeks as they realised we were serious. But the way in which it is handled is the key.

When it comes to finishing on time then a great deal of counselling/training could be done in the right spirit to help and aid those who are finding this a bit of a challenge but too often sorting things like this can be drowned amongst more pressing issues.

It just goes to show that the more people who serve more faithfully will ultimately lead to our leaders having the time and space to deal with all the small but equally important things.
kolisikepu wrote:Well here is my form for our Bishopric. I tried to keep it simple and easy to fill in on a PC (or for those who have Mac's, on a Mac too) or paper. Let me know what you think and if I can improve anything on it too. I hope you find it helpful.
I really like the "soft" and simple look of this, well done.
Senior Member
#23
RussellHltn wrote:I looked at the PDF form. It looked fine, but I didn't see how I could fill it out with just Acrobat Reader.
You're not supposed to be able to...
kolisikepu wrote:I've got a PDF version of it, because my Bishopric isn't as advanced on the PC as some, I've made it so we can print it out and fill it in with a pen.

(emphasis added)
Community Administrator
#24
mkmurray wrote:You're not supposed to be able to...
My reading comprehension strikes again. The "fill in on a PC" was for the Word version.
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#25
RussellHltn wrote:I looked at the PDF form. It looked fine, but I didn't see how I could fill it out with just Acrobat Reader.
I made the PDF so the my Bishopric can print it out without having it's original format messed up in Word, as it sometimes can with other opening it up on another pc.

Eventually, I'll create a pop up form for Word so that can enter the details and click on a button that will insert the details into the document and automatically print as well. I don't know though, how that will work on OpenOffice though as that is our standard on Ward PC's. I'll give it a go anyways and maybe install OpenOffice on my Notebook to try it.

Thank you alll for the comments. I like simple too and not too busy.... something I keep reminding my Bishopric, as they're always trying to do everything and make themselves busy. I tell them, if for any reason they are very busy, it should be because of the youth.
..::[ Kolisi Kepu ]::..
Joomla King
Community Administrator
#26
Ok, I changed the forms a bit. I converted the Word file to a .DOC so it can be opened in Office 2003 and Open Office. I also noticed the original was set for A4 size paper. I had to shrink things a bit to fit Letter sized used in the U.S. I also made the form a little more generic by taking the old ward name out of it.

I then made a PDF and made it a form. Since I used Acrobat 9, it may complain if you open it in older Readers, but it seems to work.
πŸ“Ž Ward Sacrament Agenda.doc (177.5 KiB)
πŸ“Ž Ward Sacrament Agenda.pdf (192.5 KiB)
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#27
RussellHltn wrote:Ok, I changed the forms a bit. I converted the Word file to a .DOC so it can be opened in Office 2003 and Open Office. I also noticed the original was set for A4 size paper. I had to shrink things a bit to fit Letter sized used in the U.S. I also made the form a little more generic by taking the old ward name out of it.

I then made a PDF and made it a form. Since I used Acrobat 9, it may complain if you open it in older Readers, but it seems to work.
You the man!! Thanks for that... now everyone can use it, ....as that was the intention. Cheers mate! ;)

I forgot that OpenOffice can't open *.docx, I'll keep that in mind "again" (haven't learnt that lesson as it always happens to me when opening my documents on the Ward pc) next time.
..::[ Kolisi Kepu ]::..
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Community Moderators
#28
kolisikepu wrote:I forgot that OpenOffice can't open *.docx ...
This used to be the case until Version 3 was released! ;)
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New Member
#29
Mikerowaved wrote:This used to be the case until Version 3 was released! ;)
Hmmm.... might have to do an update on our machine then. Cheers! :o
..::[ Kolisi Kepu ]::..
Joomla King
Senior Member
#30

Sacrament Meeting Tracking form

I updated my previous sacrament meeting tracking spreadsheet to OpenOffice format, and added a column to track sacrament meeting attendance. I also updated my English/Spanish hymn planner spreadsheet to OpenOffice format.

I am posting these versions in case anyone else would like to use them, or use them as a starting point for their own tracking forms.
πŸ“Ž Sample.HymnsHimnos.ods (46.65 KiB)
Member
#31
And if anyone is interested, I just finished an Access Database in Office 2007 that produces Sacrament meeting agendas and tracks speaking assignments. It doesn't, however, produce reports for which hymns have been sung or which people have prayed.

I can't shrink it down to a size that I can attach here, unfortunately, but if you want to play with it, send me a message with your e-mail address and I'll send it to you.
Community Administrator
#32
nutterb wrote:I can't shrink it down to a size that I can attach here, unfortunately,
Not even after you purge the data, do a "Compact and Repair" and Zip it?
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#33
RussellHltn wrote:Not even after you purge the data, do a "Compact and Repair" and Zip it?
After the Compact and Repair, zipping it brings it down to 916 Kb. I think the limit for a zip file on here is about 100 Kb. It probably has something to do with the table that has all of the hymns listed for look up.
Community Administrator
#34
Wow. That is small. I'll see what can be done.
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New Member
#35
:cool:Hi all
I am in Australia, I can see the benefit of your Spreadsheet , but I would like one that goes that bit more. I want a Spreadsheet or is it Excel that will enable one to fill in all of the Sacrament meetings content including callings, announcements, and other instruction for the person conducting the meeting. So that we can yes track the talks/hymns/prayers, but also have the page relate to a report that will print out each week in a program formate in order of how the meeting will run. So that one does not have to enter the data in to the tracker and then into the programme etc.
When I was at uni they touch on this method, but I have not needed to use it till now and can not remember how to do it or where to even start. I can not even remember the name of the technique but the figure eight on its side had something to do with it can anyone help me set this up as it would save time. to entre the dater and track it and print a programme report at the same time
Cheers, Warrick
New Member
#36

Sacrament names

Hi
I am a branch President

I only record the names to use with the YM to insure that the Presidents of those quorums are giving all the YM an opportunity to serve in relation to the sacrament. I also record those who prepare it for the same reason.

When serving as a Acting Bishop some years ago I do remember the letter saying that you should only excuse the β€œpriesthood” from the table but not thank them as you thank those that participated in the meeting at the end and that should do.

As it is youth that are often serving at the table and they can be new to the experience I have found that it is more reverent to request that they now return to the congregation for 2 reason so that it is orderly and not a rushed thought by YM. It also has been very helpful in stopping the practice of YM leaving the meeting strait after the Sacrament has been served and then having to indicate to the YM President to chase them up. At times Youth were telling their parents that they were instructed to go out side to perform duties, which was untrue. The practice of having them wait till instructed has proven to be effective in stopping them from leaving the chapel after serving at the table. I would also suggest that the people ushering though out the rest of the meeting not be those that serve on the sacrament table.

I would never announce their names and have never heard of it before and do not ever remember a letter suggesting to do that or even to stop doing it and therefore if it was on a Stake level instruction not to, then maybe it was because that was the only Stake doing it?

Cheers, Warrick
Community Administrator
#37
nutterb wrote:After the Compact and Repair, zipping it brings it down to 916 Kb. I think the limit for a zip file on here is about 100 Kb. It probably has something to do with the table that has all of the hymns listed for look up.
The limits have been expanded. The zip file will now post.
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Member
#38
Okay, this was created in Access 2007. It is password protected. The default password is 'clerk' (without the quotes). Feel free to send me feedback and suggestions and I might possibly get around to doing more work on it someday. But, as always, time is limited.

Also, if anyone is better with Access than I am, please feel free to make modifications and share.

PS. Thanks Russell! And thanks Mikerowaved for the offer to host it online before the attachment limits were expanded.


EDIT: See, already had to make one change. Thanks JD
πŸ“Ž Meeting Programs Empty.zip (888.82 KiB)
New Member
#39
I am on a mission and have been called into the Branch Presidency in a foreign country. Due to a lack of priesthood members and experienced leadership, everything is being done by one person, the Branch President. I am trying to assist him by setting up the Sacrament topics, Scriptural references for the talks, and corresponding hymns for future meetings, and I used to have such a spreadsheet when I served in a bishopric years ago, but I have lost it. Does anyone have a cross-referenced spreadsheet like this (topics/Scriptural references/hymns)?
#40
The "2/12 minute talk" term goes back to before the block when there were two 2 1/2 minute talks during Sunday School opening exercises, and in Sacrament Meeting, later in the day, there were one or two "youth speakers" who would usually be assigned a talk to last about 5 minutes. But, of course, that was when Sacrament Meeting lasted an hour and half.
#41
Also, in the olden days, there *were* records kept of who prayed, spoke, administered and passed the Sacrament. That was my first calling as a clerk in a ward mannnnnny years ago.
Member
#42
Here is a slightly tweaked and updated form of jbh001's Hymn tracker. 2013 date with a little bit of information compilation(more in the excel version) and error monitoring(office only) added. Everything should be in both versions but my spreadsheet skills weren't up to doing it quickly

HymnTracker.xls
(286 KiB) Downloaded 1028 times
HymnTracker.ods
(72.03 KiB) Downloaded 828 times
New Member
#43
We use 2 forms for Sacrament planning. Both are google drive spreadsheets so multiple users can access and update the same doc. Under the SHARE option, access should be private to only those with needed access.

One is a planning sheet with speakers and music. It lists the themes, speakers, topics, and music information. Access is given to the bishopric, Sunday bulletin editor and music people. Each can contribute for the planning of the meetings and info for the bulletin editor.https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... 2dXc#gid=5

The other list a tracking history of who has prayed or spoken in sacrament. This list, populated by MLS, is of ward members (those less active or not willing to participate removed) who can be called to pray or speak. Dates are added to the name after each meeting. Access is given to bishopric members only.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... xNkE#gid=0

Hope someone finds this as helpful as we have.
New Member
#44
I appreciate all the help from everyone with the sacrament meeting tracking forms. I have made a few additions that I'm sharing here in case it's as helpful to others as the above were to me.

The reason I'm posting this is the "Agenda" sheet, which takes data from the initial (ugly) spreadsheet and formats it in a way that can be printed for use on Sundays. This doc is shared with the bishopric, exec sec, ward music director (me), organist, choir director, assistant organist, and bulletin creator so that we all know what's happening all the time. Click on the tiny arrow in the upper left to pull in the data from any week on the chart. Hymn titles populate when the hymn nymber is entered in the column.

I've added a column for other date information that may or may not relate to music. For example, I had us sing We Thank Thee O God for A Prophet the week of President Monson's birthday. I note the Primary Presentation, etc, so that we don't schedule things on those dates. Also, we have columns for assistant director and organist. Asst. director in our unit is a child/youth who conducts opening and closing songs beside the regular director. Our Asst. organist doesn't know all the songs, so I note which one that person will play at the end to keep us all straight.

The doc also includes a hymn use counter stolen from here. I put in notes on the hymn data list for whether the song is difficult to conduct or whatever. Thanks for all those who wrote the code I copied to make those tabs.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

If I were the executive secretary, I'd create pretty sheets for displaying members' last speaking dates and prayers. I'm not the executive secretary, so I didn't write the time to write that tracking stuff. I created the "Agenda" tab with him in mind, but he's not used it yet. May not ever....

<WHINE>Seriously, Tech Types -- something like this ought to be a part of the online LDS Calendar. There's no sense in each unit re-inventing the wheel for these basic administrative tasks.</WHINE>
Member
#45
Jenny looking good. I will have to play with it when I have time to see if it works for us.
New Member
#46
un formato para hacer seguimiento a las Reuniones Sacramentales :D
New Member
#47
"The other list a tracking history of who has prayed or spoken in sacrament. This list, populated by MLS, is of ward members (those less active or not willing to participate removed) who can be called to pray or speak. Dates are added to the name after each meeting. Access is given to bishopric members only.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... xNkE#gid=0

Hope someone finds this as helpful as we have."

The tracking history of who has spoken and when is a great help. I am trying to put something together that can tell me how long it has been since a certain member has spoken or color code those who haven't spoken for 6, 12, 18 etc months.
New Member
#48
Time Savior!!!! Thank you so much. I adapted this to my own spread sheet. Never thought about V-look ups so this totally saved me a ton of time! I don't work with Excel a ton so I don't think of these things often...
Community Moderators
#49
I have been doing a hymns survey for the past year to find out what hymns are sung most in sacrament meetings. There are about 40 people (40 wards) who responded each week in 2015, and now I'm trying to gather together hymn tracking forms that wards used in 2015 to fill in the blanks and supplement what's been gathered so far, before I total up the final results. If you or anyone in your ward/stake has these lists, that'd be great if you could send them to me (samuel.h.bradshaw@gmail.com). I'll make sure to publish the final results.

I hope the information will help ward music leaders get an idea of what hymns people are familiar with and which ones are less known, and help them as they plan future sacrament meetings.
Samuel Bradshaw β€’ If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
New Member
#50
sbradshaw wrote:I have been doing a hymns survey for the past year to find out what hymns are sung most in sacrament meetings. There are about 40 people (40 wards) who responded each week in 2015, and now I'm trying to gather together hymn tracking forms that wards used in 2015 to fill in the blanks and supplement what's been gathered so far, before I total up the final results. If you or anyone in your ward/stake has these lists, that'd be great if you could send them to me (samuel.h.bradshaw@gmail.com). I'll make sure to publish the final results.

I hope the information will help ward music leaders get an idea of what hymns people are familiar with and which ones are less known, and help them as they plan future sacrament meetings.

Would love to see results when you are done.

Thanks.

-Dan Bollard
Sunset Ward Clerk
Las Vegas Nevada Warm Springs Stake
Community Moderators
#51
dbollard99 wrote:Would love to see results when you are done.
The results have been posted here:
http://singpraises.net/hymns/statistics

I'm actually about to start a second survey, and would love as many respondents as I can get, from as many places as possible. If anyone on this thread is reading this and is willing to participate, send me an email: samuel@singpraises.net.

Thanks for your interest!
Samuel Bradshaw β€’ If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
New Member
#52
jbh001 wrote:Over the years of service in various music callings and bishoprics, I have developed and refined some spreadsheets that track hymns and sacrament meeting items. I am attaching them as Excel spreadsheets (though I did most of the original work in Quattro Pro, if anyone wants those versions).

Some explanatory notes:
The purpose of the Sacrament Meeting Tracking form is to help the bishopric plan future sacrament meetings by being able to see at a glance (1) what Sundays they have to prepare for, and (2) who has done what recently so that we don't call on the STP's (same ten people) to speak and pray. At the end of the year, a completed version of this sheet is printed for quick reference and placed with the conducting sheets for that year sort of as an index.

Also in our unit we have a team of 4 choristers and 4 organists to share the load. That way each organist and chorister does a sacrament meeting only about once a month. This might not apply to your unit, so you may not need those columns.

The hymn tracking sheet is designed so that you can type in the hymn number, and the title fills itself in. I usually forward this spreadsheet to the ward music chairman so they can use it in selecting hymns.

In my prior unit, we had a Spanish sacrament meeting separate from the English sacrament meeting (we didn't have quite enough at that time to make a Spanish branch or even a dependent Spanish branch). The Spanish hymn tracking sheet is designed so that the English hymn number is entered into the first column, and then the Spanish hymn number and title fill themselves in in the remaining columns. Hymns that appear only in the Spanish hymnal (there are 15 of them) are numbered consecutively starting as English hymn number 401.
Thank you very much for creating this spreadsheet that correlates the English and Spanish hymns it will be very useful for my mission, I'll make sure to print it out and stick it in my Spanish hymn book!
New Member
#53
I just found this thread you posted 10 years ago and let me tell you, not all heroes wear capes.

Thank you for your contribution.
New Member
#54
How do l download this spreadsheet for planning and conducting sacrament meetings?
New Member
#55
mncedisigwebu wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:23 am How do l download this spreadsheet for planning and conducting sacrament meetings?
If you go to the original post (post #1), you can click and download the spreadsheets that the original poster posted. You were the 54th comment in this thread. The original poster posted a few documents, and several other people have also done the same. Just look for the documents in their posts.
New Member
#56
Has anything been updated more recently to form?
New Member
#57
I have this contribution for anyone who needs it.