Annual ward history template?

I'm a new ward clerk working on my first annual history. The ward historian has asked all the auxiliaries to submit a small history so she can compile it into one. We have just started it and some of the leaders are already complaining.

I have read all the info on the church web site and understand what needs to be included. What I haven't found is a template of questions that could guide everyone through the process.


It is proposed.......(to use a church phrase)........that those on the forum submit thought provoking questions that we can compile into a template, to help each presidency contribute to the ward history.


Such as....


1. What activities did your quorum or group participate in that helped to introduce a non member to the gospel.

2. What activities did your quorum or group sponsor to help reactivate it's members.

3. Describe any service projects your group participated in and how they helped those involved.


I think if they had a place to start they could complete this without much complaining.

I think you'll find the Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories page very useful. One of the resources there is the Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories Guide. In that guide you'll find the "Priesthood and Auxiliary Report (template)" which includes questions to get people started.

I agree with this new ward clerk I have found myself in the same situation were I was called towards the middle of the year and not knowing that I had this responsibility and so when the Stake Clerk ask for your history it is difficult to make one up in a timely manor. And having a template that would be available to edit on line to your needs would be a big help. Thank you I really would appreciate your help.

Brother Toftdahl
Fullerton YSA

I have been called to be the Ward Historian. I don't know how to get started. Is there a template I can use?
Thank-you
Terri Aranich
taranich@aol.com

taranich@yahoo.com wrote:I have been called to be the Ward Historian.

Start here to see what is expected of the stake. These materials and guides also show examples of how a ward history is prepared. These are the best materials I have seen on the subject.

Where can I find a template for the Bishops signature and approval?
K. Foskey
Macon, GA Ward Historian

marykfoskey wrote:Where can I find a template for the Bishops signature and approval?
K. Foskey
Macon, GA Ward Historian

Our cover letter is provided each year by our Stake Clerk. In addition, he provides information on what our stake would like each unit to put in their ward history.

I write up the general ward information as the clerk - if the individual organizations choose to not provide anything for the ward history in a particular year, then so be it.

This is my first time as stake clerk putting together the annual history. I have some information from the previous stake clerk, however, I have from mid July of last year through the end of the year as the stake clerk.

We just had bishopric training last night and when I asked the bishops if they knew what went into an annual history, you could hear crickets. I know where some of the confusion is.

I am curious to see what the cover letter that the stake clerk provided. This could be beneficial for the units. The stake has decided to use the basic option for reporting. I'm into keeping things simple.

The link provided in one of the above posts takes you to the page where you can download both the cover sheet and the instructions. The cover sheet is for stakes and districts only. There is no cover sheet for wards or branches.

allendreher wrote:This is my first time as stake clerk putting together the annual history. I have some information from the previous stake clerk, however, I have from mid July of last year through the end of the year as the stake clerk.

We just had bishopric training last night and when I asked the bishops if they knew what went into an annual history, you could hear crickets. I know where some of the confusion is.

I am curious to see what the cover letter that the stake clerk provided. This could be beneficial for the units. The stake has decided to use the basic option for reporting. I'm into keeping things simple.

As the ward clerk, I write up a narrative on general ward activities. Things like; deaths, marriages, births, special meetings or temple trips, average sacrament meeting attendance, leadership changes during the year in the ward, boundary changes, etc., etc. My piece is usually 1-2 pages. I include a listing (2-column format) of all the organization leaders at the end of the past year. I ask each organization to provide something from their organization. Most are 1-2 paragraphs. This year our Primary president provided the entire text of the annual primary program (this year, the youth provided their own quotes instead of memorizing ones given to them so it is a special record). If an organization chooses to not provide anything, I don't worry about it, but the bishop reviews it before I submit to the stake.

This is what our Stake Clerk requested from each unit this year:
1. Cover sheet (this is the general "stakes and districts" one)
2. A brief narrative describing the year’s important events and developments. Include faith-building stories,
3. The unit’s calendar, and
4. The Officers Sustained forms read at ward and branch conferences.

Our ward's history for 2017 currently stands at 9 pages plus the calendar and cover sheet. RS did not provide any input this year so it may grow a little - the bishop is going to "encourage" them... The stake will insert the officers sustained form so we are not sending that to them.

I have several past ward histories in my files (have been a ward or branch clerk several times - it's a glorious calling for me) and could share them on an individual basis. If you want to pm me your e-mail address, I could send an example or two from past years.

Please Where can I find the Ward history cover sheet?

There is no cover sheet for wards and branches. Only for stakes and districts.

OdoomMK wrote:Please Where can I find the Ward history cover sheet?

You can ask your Stake Clerk if the Stake would like you to use the Stakes and Districts one (like ours does) or if he has another format he would prefer.

I'm going to join the chorus of asking for a template. Also a lot of the data that is asked in the basic report is already in the LCR.

dawolf wrote:I'm going to join the chorus of asking for a template.

Asking whom? This is a user-to-user support forum with no official Church presence. There are a few Church employees who participate, but we're not the ones that would decide to provide a template or design it.

If you really feel there needs to be a template beyond what is provided in the Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories guide, that request needs to go to your stake clerk and then he and your stake president can communicate that need to their presiding authorities.

I came to the forum looking for a template or requirements as well, even though this is my 2nd or 3rd go at the ward history. It looks like I'm doing what others are.

Here's what I include:
- Ward theme
- Deaths
- Births/adoptions
- Marriages (I try to include marriages of children of family members that aren't in the ward but I know I miss a lot)
- Activities / big calendar items like camps, conferences, etc
- Missionaries serving from our ward
- High level leadership list
- I ask each organization to include a summary of some of their bigger activities and ask for a couple photos if they have them. Honestly, the RS and YW provide pretty long histories with great photos.
- I include our ward newsletters that get delivered on fast sundays (that's like 80 pages worth of scanned docs). We may stop doing the newsletter since so much is online now but until then I'll include it.

For 2018, I'm going to add the following (based on what I read on this thread):
- Maybe Statistics that LCR won't have -- average sacrament meeting attendance
- Family history & temple work -- our ward usually has a project for something family history related. One year was indexing. This year is the great jail break of 2018 where our FH consultants are helping our ward "save a ward" on the other side by trying to get one name submitted from each person in our ward that is older than 12. They are so far ahead they're going to easily get it done but it takes a lot of visits to people's houses to get them setup on Family Search and help them find a name.

I will say I have a couple organizations (ok, the men) that are difficult to get something out of. If know anything about them I will put something in before considering it complete.

My document for 2017 is 109 pages; 30 pages from myself and the organizations (a lot of white space in there) and 79 pages are the newsletters. The newsletter really packs on the length.

Chris

davesudweeks wrote:

allendreher wrote:This is my first time as stake clerk putting together the annual history. I have some information from the previous stake clerk, however, I have from mid July of last year through the end of the year as the stake clerk.

We just had bishopric training last night and when I asked the bishops if they knew what went into an annual history, you could hear crickets. I know where some of the confusion is.

I am curious to see what the cover letter that the stake clerk provided. This could be beneficial for the units. The stake has decided to use the basic option for reporting. I'm into keeping things simple.

As the ward clerk, I write up a narrative on general ward activities. Things like; deaths, marriages, births, special meetings or temple trips, average sacrament meeting attendance, leadership changes during the year in the ward, boundary changes, etc., etc. My piece is usually 1-2 pages. I include a listing (2-column format) of all the organization leaders at the end of the past year. I ask each organization to provide something from their organization. Most are 1-2 paragraphs. This year our Primary president provided the entire text of the annual primary program (this year, the youth provided their own quotes instead of memorizing ones given to them so it is a special record). If an organization chooses to not provide anything, I don't worry about it, but the bishop reviews it before I submit to the stake.

This is what our Stake Clerk requested from each unit this year:
1. Cover sheet (this is the general "stakes and districts" one)
2. A brief narrative describing the year’s important events and developments. Include faith-building stories,
3. The unit’s calendar, and
4. The Officers Sustained forms read at ward and branch conferences.

Our ward's history for 2017 currently stands at 9 pages plus the calendar and cover sheet. RS did not provide any input this year so it may grow a little - the bishop is going to "encourage" them... The stake will insert the officers sustained form so we are not sending that to them.

I have several past ward histories in my files (have been a ward or branch clerk several times - it's a glorious calling for me) and could share them on an individual basis. If you want to pm me your e-mail address, I could send an example or two from past years.

davesudweeks...if there are examples you could send me, or any information to help me get started, I'm all ears (and eyes). I don't find a way to email or pm you? If you can post a way, I will gladly get back to you. I was sustained in November, and now am tasked with the Annual Ward histories! So overwhelmed!!!
Gail Cruz
Surprise,AZ
gcruz1221@gmail.com

gail1221 wrote:
davesudweeks...if there are examples you could send me, or any information to help me get started, I'm all ears (and eyes). I don't find a way to email or pm you? If you can post a way, I will gladly get back to you. I was sustained in November, and now am tasked with the Annual Ward histories! So overwhelmed!!!
Gail Cruz
Surprise,AZ

For next year, you may consider starting the history and then adding to it as you come across things. I do this and it works well when I see a wedding announcement, funeral, or we have a baby blessing -- then I just add it to the doc. When I get to the end of the year, I have less to do and I included things I probably wouldn't think about at the end of the year.

I find the organizations that also use this approach provide me with better histories. Those that don't do anything until I ask struggle. I have found this year that a couple orgs have posted pictures or announcements on our ward facebook page of activities which has let me add some info to the history.

This year I'm going to include the ward directory from LDS.org with the photos, if I can. I noticed the download pdf option wasn't working quite right the other day.

Our stake has me submit an electronic copy so I haven't been concerned about length. Therefore, I include photos and other things that really add to the length. Two photos can take up a page. We dropped our newsletter part way through the year and moved to electronic sacrament meeting programs and announcements so I won't include many newsletters this year.

Gail Cruz - I'll email a couple of them to you tonight.

For those who want a specific template: if the church wanted everyone to do it exactly the same, they could provide a form or template for everyone to follow. I think the Lord is OK with a bit of variation as each of us works to magnify our own calling our own way. Perhaps something about not being commanded in all things...

I think its great to share notes and examples, but each of us is an individual and differences are OK.

I'm on my fourth year doing a history, either for ward or stake RS. I think all of these ideas are great.

There actually is a template available. Here is the link: https://www.lds.org/callings/church-his ... rt-eng.pdf

This is very basic, and I think might leave out some interesting details. However, maybe this is enough? I just discovered this form a couple of days ago, AFTER I had already finished my history for 2018.

habutler wrote:I'm on my fourth year doing a history, either for ward or stake RS. I think all of these ideas are great.

There actually is a template available. Here is the link: https://www.lds.org/callings/church-his ... rt-eng.pdf

This is very basic, and I think might leave out some interesting details. However, maybe this is enough? I just discovered this form a couple of days ago, AFTER I had already finished my history for 2018.

That's a very different history than I do. I think if those are the church wants asnwered, I think a Bishop would likely choose a different person to do the history than me. Like... himself or a counselor.

chriswoodut wrote:That's a very different history than I do. I think if those are the church wants asnwered, I think a Bishop would likely choose a different person to do the history than me. Like... himself or a counselor.

I think those are actually quite good questions for auxiliary leaders to consider, but each unit is different and the answers would be quite different for different organizations. As the ward clerk, I see my role as providing the general statistical information for the year and compiling the organization responses to those questions into a single document. I review the individual organization portions for format and spelling, but leave them as submitted by the organization president otherwise. I have provided those suggested questions to our ward organizations, but if they don't use them I don't worry about it.

Compiling the ward history is also a good assignment for an assistant clerk or someone else who could use the experience.

I have been a stake or ward clerk for many years. I love how we are getting more “paperless” and can do so much online. I think it is time for our annual histories to go paperless. I imagine that there is a huge storage facility somewhere with years of records. We can save a lot of trees and save storage beginning now with a simple change to submit all future records online

kerrybird wrote:I have been a stake or ward clerk for many years. I love how we are getting more “paperless” and can do so much online. I think it is time for our annual histories to go paperless. I imagine that there is a huge storage facility somewhere with years of records. We can save a lot of trees and save storage beginning now with a simple change to submit all future records online

Annual histories can be submitted electronically. The instructions are in the "Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories" guide.

Can I suggest that the Sustaining of Officers form used in stake and ward conferences go paperless? We fill out the form online and it could be submitted to the Church Historical Department after conference, instead of saving a paper copy to mail in with the annual history. I am a big fan of submitting the annual history online, but haven’t tried it for the stake yet. Has any other stake clerk tried? How did you do it?

kerrybird wrote:Can I suggest that the Sustaining of Officers form used in stake and ward conferences go paperless? We fill out the form online and it could be submitted to the Church Historical Department after conference, instead of saving a paper copy to mail in with the annual history. I am a big fan of submitting the annual history online, but haven’t tried it for the stake yet. Has any other stake clerk tried? How did you do it?

The form is supposed to be included with the annual history. One option is to save the PDF file that is generated when you print the form from LCR and then include that with the history when it is submitted electronically. Our ward typically has ward conference in January, so the clerk emails himself a copy of the form so that he can find it twelve months later when working on the history.

I was aware of that option, but I get so much from the wards in paper form that it doesn’t work.
If I used Word, that would be an option. I also don’t have Adobe to do a huge PDF. The Church doesn’t pay for this software on the unit computers, either. So, I don’t know if very many are submitted electronically.
What I want is an app in LCR where I can add all of the photos and documents for my stake history. It could let me know when the alloted memory is reached.

kerrybird wrote:I was aware of that option, but I get so much from the wards in paper form that it doesn’t work.
If I used Word, that would be an option. I also don’t have Adobe to do a huge PDF. The Church doesn’t pay for this software on the unit computers, either. So, I don’t know if very many are submitted electronically.
What I want is an app in LCR where I can add all of the photos and documents for my stake history. It could let me know when the alloted memory is reached.

I use Google Docs to create the ward history. Then I export it as a PDF (google doc function) and email it to the stake. All free tools.

How would you get nine ward and four stake auxiliary reports into one document and keep it under 12 meg? I am willing to give it a try. What could I tell the ward clerks that would help them have it ready for next year?

kerrybird wrote:How would you get nine ward and four stake auxiliary reports into one document and keep it under 12 meg? I am willing to give it a try. What could I tell the ward clerks that would help them have it ready for next year?

What is the 12 meg limit from? Email limit? You can transfer via another method -- I'm not sure who you're transferring it to. My ward's history pdf for 2018 is 36 pages and is 8 meg due to the photos. In 2017 it was 13.5 meg and about that for 2016. For submission to HQ, I wouldn't think they would want the entire stake all in one PDF, would they? I would think they are storing them at the ward level rather than the stake level. Putting them all in one PDF would be a headache later for anyone wanting to access them.

EDIT:
You can use https://www.sendthisfile.com to securely transfer files up to 2gb and the receiver doesn't need to have an account to access it (just an email address).

The largest one I have submitted from our ward was 22 pages and 500k (but that included 12 calendar pages). Most are 8-10 pages and under 100K each. Our stake adds the annual ward sustaining sheet from ward conference so I don't include that. I don't do pics but have added a graph or two in the past. Most of the time it is just text in a word document that I save as .pdf to send to the stake. I don't know how our stake manages all the ones from the wards and stake auxiliaries but they do require them to be submitted to the stake clerk. I assume the stake sends them to church headquarters, but I don't know that for a fact.

Can you see the problem? When you have fourteen different reports coming in to the stake, how do you get it all into one document and send it in to the church?
An app in LCR would solve this problem and end the paper avalanche.

kerrybird wrote:Can you see the problem? When you have fourteen different reports coming in to the stake, how do you get it all into one document and send it in to the church?
An app in LCR would solve this problem and end the paper avalanche.

The church's development team is very small and work based on direction and priories that come from the Brethren. No one here, including our visiting employees, are decision-makers that can push that.

kerrybird wrote:Can you see the problem? When you have fourteen different reports coming in to the stake, how do you get it all into one document and send it in to the church?
An app in LCR would solve this problem and end the paper avalanche.

There are a couple of websites that let you upload individual documents and they bind them all together in a single .pdf that you can then download. You can upload multiple document types. I have used one of them before (can't remember the site offhand and the shortcut is on my home computer).

You need to review your documents for sensitive data first, but they work very well and are easy. The one I used claimed they only kept your original documents for a short time (I think 24 hrs) before they were automatically deleted.

Sounds interesting. I may not still be involved in this next year, but would like to see the whole process simplified for wards and stakes. The ideal method would be to have an app in LCR where ward clerks submit their documents to the stake for review, before it is submitted to the Historical Department. The annual Sustaining of Officers

Form could also be added at that point or submitted right after the meeting

I would like to speak with someone in that department about the whole process and how it could be simplified

kerrybird wrote:I would like to speak with someone in that department about the whole process and how it could be simplified

Your bishop or stake president would be able to discuss this with you and put you in touch with the Historical Department. However, I believe they work under the direction of their priesthood leaders, not ours.

This is a new calling for me and I haven't had any guidance. Am I supposed to write up every calling that's called?

susanspow wrote:This is a new calling for me and I haven't had any guidance. Am I supposed to write up every calling that's called?

I sent you a PM with my email address in it. Let me know where to send them and I'll send you a few examples from our ward.

susanspow wrote:This is a new calling for me and I haven't had any guidance. Am I supposed to write up every calling that's called?

I think you'll go crazy trying to track all of them. I'm the ward clerk and help track callings to try to keep LCR up to date and I often miss callings. The computer system doesn't even track callings over time. In other words, you can't see what callings a person has had in the past -- only the calling they have today.

I know some on here just take the sustaining list used for ward conference and include that. I don't even do that. I just list the presidents of each organization and if one changes, I note that.

As ward clerk, this normally falls to me - we have never had a ward historian called in the 20 years I have lived in this ward. If I have a good assistant clerk to assign the coordination to, I do that. Here is what I do:
- Ask each organization to provide information (1 paragraph to several pages, their choice) using the questions provided on the ward history template as a guideline. Some organizations provide something and some do not. I tell them in advance this is their opportunity to have a voice in the ward history and I won't do it for them.
- Write up the current ward organization list at the beginning and the end of the year (this can be printed from LCR at the beginning and end of the year for reference).
- List/describe any significant events (members who passed away the previous year, missionaries who served, local disasters that affected the ward, members serving in the military, children born, etc.)
- I do not include the sustaining list from ward conference as our stake instructs they will add it from their records - I would include that if they did not tell me to leave it out.
- Some years I have included the ward calendar, which adds 12 pages to the report.

If anyone wants to PM their email address to me, I would be happy to send some examples. They are certainly not perfect and not the same as others, but if you don't know even where to begin, they may give you some ideas.

I noticed that you omitted adding photos, which I think are an important part of the annual history. I am careful about adding photos of children, however, since you should ask parents for permission first. As a stake clerk, I recently sent out an email asking the wards to submit their history all online this year. I also want a printed copy to keep on file in the stake office.
I am hoping that the church will eventually come up with a form, similar to the one we use for stake conference. Then, we can submit it online and have it saved for future review

kerrybird wrote:I noticed that you omitted adding photos, which I think are an important part of the annual history. I am careful about adding photos of children, however, since you should ask parents for permission first. As a stake clerk, I recently sent out an email asking the wards to submit their history all online this year. I also want a printed copy to keep on file in the stake office.
I am hoping that the church will eventually come up with a form, similar to the one we use for stake conference. Then, we can submit it online and have it saved for future review

I second the photo idea. Since I submit our history electronically and length isn't a concern, I did a lot of photos last year. It has gotten really easy to include them and obtain them if the organization is using a private facebook group or similar tool. In fact, I've found it's easier to get photos than have somebody write something up (depending on the organization).

kerrybird wrote:I noticed that you omitted adding photos, which I think are an important part of the annual history. I am careful about adding photos of children, however, since you should ask parents for permission first. As a stake clerk, I recently sent out an email asking the wards to submit their history all online this year. I also want a printed copy to keep on file in the stake office.
I am hoping that the church will eventually come up with a form, similar to the one we use for stake conference. Then, we can submit it online and have it saved for future review

I don't add photos. Adding photos requires securing individual permission from each person in the photo (per church policy as I understand it), not just parental permission for the children. As ward clerk, I am not going to take the time to do that if I'm compiling the annual history in addition to my other clerk duties. If organizations submit photos with their information, I assume they have followed church policy and secured the appropriate permissions so I leave them in the organization's information that I add to the ward history. I have done graphs and charts in the past if I felt they would add to the clarity of the information. Graphics and photos tend to make the final document digitally large and since we are instructed to email it I have to keep file size in mind.

But as I have stated previously, there are hundreds of different ways to do an annual history and each unit should follow the direction from their stake on what is desired.

I started a stake Facebook page where members can post photos of events. I think this may help with the annual history, if I want to include some of them. I don’t know if you would still need to get permission to use photos if they are already in the public domain

Having members share photos on a stake or ward Facebook page is a great idea. We started a stake page a few months ago. Would you need permission to include photos from there, since they are already published in the public domain?

kerrybird wrote:Having members share photos on a stake or ward Facebook page is a great idea. We started a stake page a few months ago. Would you need permission to include photos from there, since they are already published in the public domain?

See item 6, here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/pag ... b-internet
I read this as "written consent" must be obtained from everyone who's photo will be posted online (even in a private facebook page).

If a member posts their own photo of themselves on a stake or ward facebook page, I would assume they are giving permission for that photo to be shared (at least on that page). However (for example), if a RS president posted a photo of the sisters attending a RS activity, did each sister give written permission for her photo to be posted to the facebook page? Does that automatically mean that they would be fine with their photo being included in a ward history that will be sent to SLC for historical archiving?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but believe caution is advised (especially in this day and age).

I would start at this page for instructions on how to prepare the annual history.

The annual Officers Sustained form is a part of the history. It is fine if the stake provides it. If the stake does not, the ward should include it as a part of the ward history. You do not normally need other calling and release information in the history.

Any photograph used in the history requires the completion of the Permission to Use Photographs form wherein the owner of the photograph lists everyone in the picture, certifies that he or she has obtained the rights or permission from them to be in the photo, and then signs over all rights to the photograph to the Church. The form is available at the link above and is the primary reason I do not use photographs in the history. If I took a photograph of members that I wanted to use in the history, I would not be able to sign the permission form because I would not have any evidence of permission from the members in the picture that I had obtained their rights to do so. This is different from the written consent described earlier in this thread for online photos, although that written consent would probably work for the photographer for the history, as well.

If information about anyone who is not a member of the Church is mentioned or picture used in a history, they must sign the Annual History Consent Form, also at the link above.

It might be time to change the policy on getting permission slips. I see a lot of photos online and in church magazines and the Church News of large groups of members and nonmembers. I doubt they have everyone sign a slip

kerrybird wrote:It might be time to change the policy on getting permission slips. I see a lot of photos online and in church magazines and the Church News of large groups of members and nonmembers. I doubt they have everyone sign a slip

The underlying issue is ward leaders unwittingly creating legal liability for the church. I'm sure Church News and Church magazines are handled by professionals who make sure any legal issues are dealt with. Issues that may be a little too nuanced to trust to members to understand and follow.

kerrybird wrote:I started a stake Facebook page where members can post photos of events. I think this may help with the annual history, if I want to include some of them. I don’t know if you would still need to get permission to use photos if they are already in the public domain

To make sure there's not confusion about terminology – "public domain" is not the same as "posted online." Public domain is a legal term for works that are no longer bound by copyright; in the United States, it usually means that the work was published 95 or more years ago (1924 is the current cut-off date) and the copyright is now expired. Putting something online does not make it public domain, unless the creator of the work, who owns all rights to the work, explicitly declares that they are putting the work in public domain and waiving their natural copyright. Alternatively, the person who took the photo can give permission for their work (photo in this case) to be used for specific purposes without waiving their copyright – which is more common.

Privacy laws have to be evaluated separately from copyright laws. The creator of the work (photographer, or organization that contracted the photographer) can grant copyright permission to use the work, but they can't grant full rights to use the work because of separate privacy laws that protect living people. Privacy laws in the United States have exceptions for photos taken in public places and at public events, which gives leeway for reporters. (Note that a Church activity is not necessarily a public event, even if a lot of people were invited.)

I agree that including photos involves some risk. Maybe adding a reference somewhere in the annual history to the stake or ward Facebook page would allow the reader a way to access photos without including them.
After serving nine years as a stake clerk, I appreciate all of the changes that have made reporting paperless and mobile friendly. I think it would be great to submit the annual history online, similar to the way we submit stake conference reports, with the ability to review previous years. This would also make it easier for the stake presidency to read it, instead of handing him a large folder of ward histories to review and sign.

kerrybird wrote:I agree that including photos involves some risk. Maybe adding a reference somewhere in the annual history to the stake or ward Facebook page would allow the reader a way to access photos without including them.

The lifetime of the annual history documents is likely to be longer than the lifetime of any web sites to which they would refer. Someone going back to that history ten, twenty, or fifty years from now would be disappointed at the loss of that information.

Really enjoyed reading all the comments. It is obvious to me that the Church has not gotten it down to a fine art of writing Church Histories yet. I think that the Church will develop an on line system of retaining Histories and refine what is important and what is recorded for interest. Annual History Specialist and Advisers should ask the question as to what purpose does this event need recording. Why - other than a commandment - do we have Histories. I don't think the church gives us specific examples because they do not want all histories to be exactly alike and thus those who are assigned the responsibility don't really know what is expected (even though the Church has given good advice on the Church website). If you can see several other histories who have have done a reasonable job then it becomes a lot easier to understand what is expected. To me it is a lot like writing a book. If you don't have any good or interesting examples it would take a lot of goes to make it to the top sellers list. For me I believe we should be looking at the Three Fold Purpose of the Church: The exaltation of God, The edification of the saints and The evangelization of the world and ask the question what did we do to obtain these three goals. Or you could attach your history to progress the Area's Goals for that year. Pictures and stores are great for sparking memories and promoting stronger testimonies or reminding us why we are members, but if Church History is for the purpose of helping us recognize our mistakes, improving performance and motivating us towards perfection then it becomes a totally different work.

Having said this I think that apathy has been shown on behalf of many (but not all) of those who have been called to do the task. I think we know about the past history of man because someone wrote it down or recorded it somehow. Memories of the past should serve as a guide to our future to assist us in becoming more successful in all we do. Memories help us to identify the good times and the bad. They help us to improve our performance and set goals to work towards.

Not to judge, but rather just an observation, is that many that are called as the historians do not see the need or understand the importance of a Ward/Stake History and are not invited to attend the Ward Councils where achieving Ward/Stake/Regional goals should be discussed. Having said all this, finding someone that would enjoy the calling would be hard mostly because these individuals are usually already in leadership roles. Thank goodness that the Lord is patient with us and any effort to obeying his commandments is appreciated and blessed.

The Good Sheppard Down Under

I use pictures in our history and don't try to get permission slips. I know there are plenty here that will disagree with me and quote the handbook. Nobody has ever said boo to me about the photos. Maybe they are stripping them out later. In my opinion, in the days of selfies and social media, if you let your picture get taken and posed for it, you've by default at least been aware that someone took the photo for some purpose.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone is deleting my photos.

chriswoodut wrote:I use pictures in our history and don't try to get permission slips. I know there are plenty here that will disagree with me and quote the handbook. Nobody has ever said boo to me about the photos.

Looking over Church History Guides: Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories, it says "If possible, obtain a signed Permission to Use Photographs form for every photograph or audiovisual production included in the annual history."

Taking a wild guess, but the lack of permission would probably mean the photos can't be made public until it's reasonably certain that everyone photographed is dead and/or the copyright has expired.

davesudweeks wrote:

allendreher wrote:This is my first time as stake clerk putting together the annual history. I have some information from the previous stake clerk, however, I have from mid July of last year through the end of the year as the stake clerk.

We just had bishopric training last night and when I asked the bishops if they knew what went into an annual history, you could hear crickets. I know where some of the confusion is.

I am curious to see what the cover letter that the stake clerk provided. This could be beneficial for the units. The stake has decided to use the basic option for reporting. I'm into keeping things simple.

As the ward clerk, I write up a narrative on general ward activities. Things like; deaths, marriages, births, special meetings or temple trips, average sacrament meeting attendance, leadership changes during the year in the ward, boundary changes, etc., etc. My piece is usually 1-2 pages. I include a listing (2-column format) of all the organization leaders at the end of the past year. I ask each organization to provide something from their organization. Most are 1-2 paragraphs. This year our Primary president provided the entire text of the annual primary program (this year, the youth provided their own quotes instead of memorizing ones given to them so it is a special record). If an organization chooses to not provide anything, I don't worry about it, but the bishop reviews it before I submit to the stake.

This is what our Stake Clerk requested from each unit this year:
1. Cover sheet (this is the general "stakes and districts" one)
2. A brief narrative describing the year’s important events and developments. Include faith-building stories,
3. The unit’s calendar, and
4. The Officers Sustained forms read at ward and branch conferences.

Our ward's history for 2017 currently stands at 9 pages plus the calendar and cover sheet. RS did not provide any input this year so it may grow a little - the bishop is going to "encourage" them... The stake will insert the officers sustained form so we are not sending that to them.

I have several past ward histories in my files (have been a ward or branch clerk several times - it's a glorious calling for me) and could share them on an individual basis. If you want to pm me your e-mail address, I could send an example or two from past years.

I would be grateful if you could send me an example of the ward history. thanks

johnmattinme wrote:I would be grateful if you could send me an example of the ward history. thanks

I sent you a pm.

Does anyone have a Ward History template that they can share?

jspalmer1 wrote:Does anyone have a Ward History template that they can share?

I can send you examples from some I have put together (I sent you a PM). Since every year is different, I didn't use a standardized template - I would begin each one from scratch. I would write about 1-2 pages of general ward events (births, leadership changes, missionaries, deaths, etc) from the clerk's perspective and ask each organization to provide something from their perspective. Some would provide write-ups that I would include and I didn't worry about any ward organization who didn't participate. I would send the request to the organization heads and then a single reminder a few weeks later.

I am not sure if you have seen the samples the church has on their website. Here is a link in case you haven’t seen them. I have never put together a history before so I was looking for some help as well. Maybe this will get you started:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/cal ... e?lang=eng

scottdavidanderson wrote:I am not sure if you have seen the samples the church has on their website. Here is a link in case you haven’t seen them. I have never put together a history before so I was looking for some help as well. Maybe this will get you started:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/cal ... e?lang=eng

This is a great suggestion. Examples were not available when I was first called as ward clerk so came up with my own format that I used over the years.

Would anyone feel comfortable sharing an example of a "good" ward history with me?

I was made ward clerk this past Sunday, the history is already overdue and the only other calling I've ever had in 15 years is EQ secretary. I asked our stake history person for a copy of the 2019 and she provided it and then told me it was inadequate and unacceptable and didn't meet the minimum requirements and that I need to have the 2020 one to her by the end of the month in an acceptable state. The 2019 one she sent, I'll agree, is not good... it's not even a few paragraphs.

ryanmercer wrote:Would anyone feel comfortable sharing an example of a "good" ward history with me?

I was made ward clerk this past Sunday, the history is already overdue and the only other calling I've ever had in 15 years is EQ secretary. I asked our stake history person for a copy of the 2019 and she provided it and then told me it was inadequate and unacceptable and didn't meet the minimum requirements and that I need to have the 2020 one to her by the end of the month in an acceptable state. The 2019 one she sent, I'll agree, is not good... it's not even a few paragraphs.

I sent you a PM. If you will send me your email address (to the address in the PM), I'll send you some examples I have done in past years. I won't guarantee they are "good enough" for your stake history person, but I never received any negative feedback from our stake on mine.

I hope you love the clerk calling as much as I did.

Dave Sudweeks
(artist formerly known as Elm Creek Ward Clerk)

Thanks, email inbound!

ryanmercer wrote:Thanks, email inbound!

Samples sent. Best of luck since you have a short suspense on this task.

I can not get into the ward history template. This is my first year of doing the ward history. I started doing it by month. So, instead of a calendar, I put the events under each month. example: ward, RS, Young men and women activities, births, deaths, etc. I took the ward conference sheet and wrote the important parts into that month's history. Is that ok? Do I need to do something different?

mekbh2 wrote:I can not get into the ward history template. This is my first year of doing the ward history. I started doing it by month. So, instead of a calendar, I put the events under each month. example: ward, RS, Young men and women activities, births, deaths, etc. I took the ward conference sheet and wrote the important parts into that month's history. Is that ok? Do I need to do something different?

I don't think there is a standard template. Every ward seems to do it differently in regards to what they include. For us, we have each organization submit their own history. Some orgs do a good job and some do almost nothing. I used to include all of our monthly newsletters but we've stopped doing those so my history has slimmed down a lot.

mekbh2 wrote:I can not get into the ward history template. This is my first year of doing the ward history. I started doing it by month. So, instead of a calendar, I put the events under each month. example: ward, RS, Young men and women activities, births, deaths, etc. I took the ward conference sheet and wrote the important parts into that month's history. Is that ok? Do I need to do something different?

There is no template that I'm aware of unless your stake has one they want you to use. I sent you a PM with my email address. If you want some examples of ones I have done in the past when I was ward clerk, I would be happy to share. Just let me know via email.

My wife is Stake Primary President and last year she did hers month-by-month (well, she assigned her secretary to compile it all). The stake liked it so much they asked all the stake organizations to follow her lead this year.

Dave Sudweeks

Hello everyone. My husband has been called as Ward History Specialist and even with the great examples provided on the LDS.org website, we are still a bit confused. By chance, would anyone be willing to share even just a snip-it of their ward history form/template/idea please?

PEONE09 wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 6:04 pm Hello everyone. My husband has been called as Ward History Specialist and even with the great examples provided on the LDS.org website, we are still a bit confused. By chance, would anyone be willing to share even just a snip-it of their ward history form/template/idea please?

I sent you a pm with my email address - send me an email and I'll reply with several examples I've done in past years.

I have an excellent one if you can send me you email I can return as it is fairly large with lots of explanations and guides.

JohnCalvinSheppard wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:00 pm I have an excellent one if you can send me you email I can return as it is fairly large with lots of explanations and guides.

Users don't have access to other user's email addresses, however, you can both now use the Private Message system on this forum.

Hello everyone,
I have just been called as ward clerk and my Bishop informed me that I need to create a ward history for 2021 asap. Is there a guide ot template that we can follow? I am assuming that I can put together a list of. Ward events for the past year, but are there any specific evemts that we need to include? Would Baptisms funerals, activities or trunk or treat be good examples? Any help is appreciated.

Oscar Cavazos
Mission 1st ward mission, TX

Review the Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories page. It has the forms, training materials, and sample annual histories.

As a former ward and stake clerk, I was frustrated that we were still using paper for the annual history. I was pushing for a simple online process ten years ago, if you look back at the beginning of this thread. Who else would like to have this added to LCR, so the flow from a ward organization leader, ward clerk, stake clerk and historic department is all completed online? Please share your input with your leaders, as those monitoring this forum aren’t in a position to make these changes. Good luck!

Please note that the old booklet "2014-05-00-stake-district-and-mission-annual-histories-eng.pdf" is rather dated, especially the Electronic Submissions section, which tells you to send a single file no larger than 12MB in size by email.

See the "Send Large Files (FileSend)" here for a more modern electronic submission method:
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org ... specialist

It provides a type of dropbox for stake clerks to upload their annual history.

KerryBird wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:50 pm As a former ward and stake clerk, I was frustrated that we were still using paper for the annual history. I was pushing for a simple online process ten years ago, if you look back at the beginning of this thread. Who else would like to have this added to LCR, so the flow from a ward organization leader, ward clerk, stake clerk and historic department is all completed online? Please share your input with your leaders, as those monitoring this forum aren’t in a position to make these changes. Good luck!

I was told a couple of years ago that the Church had started to work on a centralized system for Wards and Stakes Annual Histories with a standardized format. But then came the "C" thing and then Delta and then the "O" thing and since they are still with us not even a peep or a hint has been leaked. Those who are responsible for gathering Annual Histories should be aware of the difficulties involved in those at the front lines have in compiling these reports. We never get any feed back on how the Church Annual Histories World wide are doing as they must be just as stretched as we are for qualified resources that are capable of preforming at an above average standard. It would be nice to have a world wide forum where we can raise issues and have input into what the real issues on the "front lines" are.

Yes and not a word about ward and branch histories. I am the executive secretary in the Cache 1st Branch in Logan, Utah. I recently completed the history for last year, 2021, and now working on the current year. I probably have been including too much; the speakers and what they said, the testimony meeting comments and who said them and notes from the Elders meeting also. I would like to know what should be included.

franklinr wrote: Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:16 pmI would like to know what should be included.

See
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org ... -histories

Especially, see instructions for stakes and districts here:
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org ... ns-eng.pdf

See sample annual histories here:
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org ... rd-eng.pdf
and here:
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org ... ty-eng.pdf

Specific question regarding pictures and permissions. When I look at the current online references to Church Histories, my reading of what is there is slightly different than what many are telling me.

I see a difference between what documentation is required for member vs non-member permission for those who are in the pictures. Both the Basic and Comprehensive history examples have signed forms of the "Permission to Use Photographs", but do not include any "Annual History Consent Form". Looking at these examples, my understanding is that if all the pictures being included are of members, then all that is required for documentation is the signed "Permission to Use Photographs" form(s), one per each person who owns (i.e. who took) the picture. And for every member in a picture, all that's needed for documentation is the listing of their names, but nothing needs to be signed for members in the picture. However, if a non-member is included in a picture, we are to also then include the signed "Annual History Consent Form". No where is any signed proof requested of member-permission for pictures of them to be included.

1) Is this correct?
2) And if so, is there any way to get a specific response regarding what is "sufficient" to tell a member when you want to include their picture? There's people all throughout the spectrum. Some feel in today's age, agreeing to be in a picture is tacit approval that it likely will appear online. And some feel that it's sufficient when taking a picture to let everyone know it might end up in the history, while there's others who feel it's imperative to let each person individually know the extent of what might happen to the picture if it's included in the history (essentially, a verbal recitation of what's in the Annual History Consent Form).
3) In practice this seems to discourage including pictures of an entire large ward at an activity. Having pictures of the entire ward is a really cool historical reference, but if we're required to individually list each person in those pics, I expect most people won't want to bother and will just include pics of a couple of people max. Perhaps a requirement of our time, but it's too bad we can't do it.

For people telling you differently, ask them for a reference.

What I see:

When going to the annual history link above, there's forms for a copyright release from the photographer, and a permission form for a non-member to be included.

As far as using photographs on a website, the General Handbook and Use of Online Resources in Church Callings indicate:

When using images, videos, or personal information, consent from the content owner or the individuals involved is required. Consent may be obtained through a release form, a public announcement, a posted sign for a specific event, or written permission when needed. The country’s privacy laws should be followed.

I'm really puzzled by the "or" above. I'd think you'd need permission from the "content owner" (photographer) for copyright purposes and permission from the participants for privacy purposes. Both are legal requirements and neither is a replacement for the other.

I would love some samples of histories. I have been tasked to write the EQ history.

[email removed - this is a public forum]

If you go to the main page
Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories
there's a link to examples, both a simpler version and a more comprehensive history.

I would like to see the history report simplified like the other reports. The format of the membership council is an example. It could have a box with a word limit for each part. Also, a place to attach the ward conference form. Adding photos of events would be another section. I love how the software people are doing so much to eliminate paper forms. Let’s hope they focus on the ward history report and get it all online

Hello, my name is Lazarus.I am Ward historian for AHENEMA KOKOBEN WARD, Kumasi Ghana. How can I get access to the Annual history template?
Is there any active WhatsApp group where we can sometimes share ideas, and suggestions, and make a request ...?
Is there any training for us the new at the office of WARD HISTORIANS?
Reach me @ [email address removed]. Je vous remercie-I thank you all

Moderator edit: Posts on the Forum are publicly visible. Posting email addresses would allow the addresses to be harvested by spammers or worse.

Lazaruskomlan wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 1:25 pm Is there any training for us the new at the office of WARD HISTORIANS?

You might begin by speaking with your stake clerk or the person called by the stake to prepare that history. Your ward history will become a part of your stake history.

There is training and documentation examples on ChurchofJesusChrist.org at Serve > Callings > History. Or use the English language link https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/faq/church-history-specialist/stake-district-and-mission-annual-histories?lang=eng. The language can be changed to other languages by replacing the language identifier, 'lang=xxx' (xxx is the language identifier), at the last of the URL, In the English language link I provided the identifier is 'eng'.

Thanks .Merci beaucoup

I am a former ward and stake clerk. The annual history is one of the few paper reports still being used. Is anyone looking at changing to an online form, similar to what was created for membership council reports? It would save a lot of paper throughout the world and eliminate all of the storage of documents

KerryBird wrote: Sat Jun 17, 2023 8:38 am The annual history is one of the few paper reports still being used.

I have seen instructions for submitting stake histories electronically.

Our stake has been submitting our histories electronically for a number of years. I have submitted our ward histories for seven years to the stake in a PDF file and they combine that with the other wards in their electronic submission. The instructions, samples, forms, and training materials for the histories and the link for the stake electronic submission is found at the Stake, District, and Mission Annual Histories page.

I’m glad they made an online submission possible. It saves a lot of paper and the space to store it

If anyone would be so kind to please email me some Ward History samples, I would really appreciate it. Thanks [email address removed]

[Moderator edit: removed an email address]

Please use the Private Message feature of the forum rather than posting a personal email address. The forum is publicly visible, so email addresses could be harvested by spammers, scammers, and worse.

If anyone would be so kind to please email me some Ward History samples...

Two posts before yours, there was a link shared that has sample unit histories (a comprehensive version, and a basic version). I'd suggest you reference those for examples of what your unit might want to consider. If you desire something else, another option would be to contact your Stake Clerk, and ask if he can share a few recent histories either from your own unit, or other units in the Stake.