Mission Presidency Access

Is it possible for members of a mission presidency to access the directories of districts and branches that they supervise, even though they are not members of the units in question?

For example, can a mission presidency counselor who is a member of a stake access district and branch directories of districts and branches that are under the supervision of the mission presidency?

The presidency would have to be made an out-of-unit member of that mission.

RussellHltn wrote:The presidency would have to be made an out-of-unit member of that mission.

Mission offices don't use MLS, so this solution won't work.

The mission president, his counselors, the mission executive secretary, and the mission clerk can access membership information for member districts/mission branches (that report to the mission president directly) through Leader and Clerk Resources. Authentication to this website is driven by CDOL. The mission president will need to add you in CDOL (http://cdol.lds.org) as a counselor/exec. sec./clerk for you to gain this access. If he has any problems or questions, he should contact the Global Service Center at 1-855-537-4357 or Help@ldschurch.org.

Remember: This is only applicable to missions that have ecclesiastical responsibilities in supervising member districts/mission branches. Missions that have stakes/wards only within their mission boundaries will need to work with local stake presidents/bishops to get membership information.

(Source: I work in the Missionary Department IS Group)

The counselors in the mission presidency are in CDOL as described in the second response, but are still not able to access the branch directories. Is there a link that has to be activated or some other step we can do?

I don't know the answer, but want to clarify your response so hopefully wertdl can answer it properly. This is a pretty specialized situation and I suspect wertdl may be the best source of assistance (and if you don't hear from wertdl, contact the global service center...and if you're outside of US/Canada, that phone number isn't going to work for you unless you're calling from a phone with a US phone number).

Are you trying to access the members through Leader and Clerk Resources as mentioned in #3? Based on wertdl's response, my guess is that you won't have access to this information from lds.org/directory.

Although I believe wertdl can probably figure out who you are and where you're serving, just in case that's not so easy to find, I suggest you mention the country you're in. Privacy laws vary by country and I believe ecclesiastical authorities have access in all countries without member consent, but it's good to mention, just in case that's a factor somehow.

Thanks to everyone for the responses. Here are more specifics:

I am serving in the Hungary Budapest Mission. Hungary has one stake, two districts (under the direction of the mission president) and five "Mission" branches that are directly supervised by the mission president. One counselor is a member of a "Mission" branch and the other counselor is a member of the stake.

I initially thought that access to the desired information would be via the branch directories. Before posting this thread, I spoke with Global Services and received an answer that is basically the same as #2.

Now that I have read the earlier responses (and not being familiar with the Church computer systems) I am not sure whether I should be asking about branch directories, CDOL, or Leader and Clerk Resources. Can anyone clarify the relationship between these systems, direct me to the one that will provide the information, and tell us how to get into it?

I can call the U.S. using Skype if that is helpful.

I took a look at your mission in CDOL. I see the districts and branches you indicated and see that they are listed as belonging to the mission.

wertdl said they needed to be added "as a counselor/exec. sec./clerk for you to gain this access." Looking at the situation, I'm uncertain what this means. I would think that since the mission president and counselors appear as a "parent" to the other organizations that they would have access to all member records. However, wertdl mentioned callings that you would see in a ward or branch, not a mission. Does that mean you have to specifically add the president and counselors to each district/branch? I'm not certain, but maybe you could try adding them as a clerk in a branch or district and see if that gives access. I'd just try one counselor in one branch or district and see if it works before going to the trouble of doing more.

That's all I can think of right now. Hopefully wertdl will have more insight, but you might need to wait for the work week in the US to show up in a few days before getting feedback from wertdl.

gcarpent wrote:[The Mission] has one stake, two districts (under the direction of the mission president) and five "Mission" branches that are directly supervised by the mission president. One counselor is a member of a "Mission" branch and the other counselor is a member of the stake.

As a counselor in the mission presidency, you should be able to see information pertaining to the districts and branches over which the mission presides. According to wertdl, you will access this information at the LDS.org web site under Leader and Clerk Resources.

Information pertaining to the stake and its wards/branches will not normally be available to you, unless you are a member of that stake. As wertdl suggested, you will need to work with local stake presidents/bishops to get membership information. This should be easy for the counselor who is a member of the stake. He should already see much of the information for his ward and stake.

For the other counselor, it may be helpful to have one of the wards in the stake (perhaps the same one in which the other counselor resides, but it really makes no difference) enter him as an out of unit member in MLS. The ward clerk who does this will need to have the membership record number. This will allow him to see the information that the other counselor, who lives in the stake, also sees.

Then, you will have access to information about mission districts and branches by virtue of your calling as a counselor in the mission presidency, and you will have access to information about the stake and its wards/branches because you are either a member of the stake, or have been added in MLS as an out of unit member of the stake.

lajackson wrote:For the other counselor, it may be helpful to have one of the wards in the stake (perhaps the same one in which the other counselor resides, but it really makes no difference) enter him as an out of unit member in MLS. The ward clerk who does this will need to have the membership record number. This will allow him to see the information that the other counselor, who lives in the stake, also sees.

Note that he would also need to be listed with a standard calling in that unit in order to gain access to the lds.org directory for the stake. An out-of-unit record is not sufficient by itself.

gcarpent wrote:Now that I have read the earlier responses (and not being familiar with the Church computer systems) I am not sure whether I should be asking about branch directories, CDOL, or Leader and Clerk Resources. Can anyone clarify the relationship between these systems, direct me to the one that will provide the information, and tell us how to get into it?

Branch Directories - This is a resource that is normally open to all members to see their own directory. It lists all the members, contact information and callings. (although privacy settings do come into play for members.)

CDOL - Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders. It allows you to see the major callings and contact information not just for your area, but any church organization. It's useful when you need to contact a Stake President in a neighboring area.

Leader and Clerk Resources - this has some of the functionality of MLS, but is on-line. This area is being improved over time to add functionality.

wertdl wrote:Mission offices don't use MLS, so this solution won't work.

Is this true of all missions including the ones that function like a small Stake with Wards ( Mission with Branches )? Seems like they'd have to have something like MLS.

RussellHltn wrote:Is this true of all missions including the ones that function like a small Stake with Wards ( Mission with Branches )? Seems like they'd have to have something like MLS.

MLS is designed for wards and stakes, which in the world of a mission translate into branches and districts. So the mission office does not have MLS. But each member district would use MLS almost as a stake would.

gcarpent wrote:The counselors in the mission presidency are in CDOL as described in the second response, but are still not able to access the branch directories. Is there a link that has to be activated or some other step we can do?

It takes about 24-48 hours for everything to sync from CDOL to the other online resources.

mevans wrote:wertdl said they needed to be added "as a counselor/exec. sec./clerk for you to gain this access." Looking at the situation, I'm uncertain what this means. I would think that since the mission president and counselors appear as a "parent" to the other organizations that they would have access to all member records. However, wertdl mentioned callings that you would see in a ward or branch, not a mission. Does that mean you have to specifically add the president and counselors to each district/branch? I'm not certain, but maybe you could try adding them as a clerk in a branch or district and see if that gives access. I'd just try one counselor in one branch or district and see if it works before going to the trouble of doing more.

I was referring to callings specific to a mission in CDOL, not ward/branch callings. Each mission has a president, two counselors, an executive secretary (optional), a clerk (optional), and mission office staff (financial secretary, referral secretary, vehicle coordinator, and mission president's secretary).

The mission does not have to add each mission president/counselor to the child organizations. Because of the parent/child relationship, the mission presidency can see all membership information for the districts/branches that are listed under the mission. I hope that answers your question.