Where is Ward Conference Report stored?

The historical clerk has requested a copy of the Ward Conference report but I do not know where to find it. Is it stored electronically in MLS? Does the Stake keep a copy of it?

mvwardclerk wrote:The historical clerk has requested a copy of the Ward Conference report but I do not know where to find it. Is it stored electronically in MLS? Does the Stake keep a copy of it?

If you refer to the List of Officers Sustained, the stake should have kept a copy of it. Or the ward might have saved it as a form in MLS, although those usually go away after 90 days.

The other option is to recreate it by calling up a new sustaining list and editing it to show what should have been there on the day of ward conference. You would need to get it right, and the historians will cringe. But it is a workaround if done carefully.

I am not aware of a "Ward Conference" report, so if you do not refer to the List of Officers Sustained, please clarify.

You are correct about the 'list of officers sustained report'. Thanks for the information. I will check with the stake clerk.

This is interesting. I had assumed that wards and branches would have to complete a form similar to the stake conference report. But I guess there is no such thing as a unit conference report.

drepouille wrote:This is interesting. I had assumed that wards and branches would have to complete a form similar to the stake conference report. But I guess there is no such thing as a unit conference report.

No, unless the stake president asks for something special. Other than the bishop and stake president normally speaking in sacrament meeting, he has pretty wide latitude in how he decides to run ward conferences.

I could be wrong, but the Officer's Sustained is always read during Ward Conference, isn't it? It always has been in my experience, but I cannot state if it is custom or policy. We always had to print 2 copies for the Stake and we always printed an extra copy to put with our annual ward history.

It is always read in Ward Conference - The handbook indicates this in the meetings section 18.2.5 - member of SP or HC presents it.

What is included in the Stake History is the Sustaining form.

In LCR, from the Reports Menu, Forms Group, select Officers Sustained.

After our ward conference this year, the List of Officers sustained form was returned to me with the instruction that it be kept with the ward history that should be submitted to the stake early next year.

When I was stake clerk, I advised all ward clerks to print four copies of the Officers Sustained list. One for the ward files. One for the stake files. One for the stake presidency to read during the first hour and lose. One for the high councilor to read during the third hour and lose. Never give anything to a bishop or stake president that you are not willing to lose in a black hole. We don't even trust our stake president to hold checks for deposit.

I email myself a copy the day of ward conference. Since we typically have our ward conference in January, that keeps it somewhere I can find it when I need it twelve months later.

scgallafent wrote:I email myself a copy the day of ward conference. Since we typically have our ward conference in January, that keeps it somewhere I can find it when I need it twelve months later.

Absolutely. I always suggest they save a PDF copy of it (after it has been updated by the bishopric just before Sacrament Meeting).

LOL. When I was Ward Clerk, I always printed 3 copies:
One for the Stake President, one for the High Counselor, one for the Ward Files (expecting to never see the stake copies again).
The stake usually gave us back one or both copies and told us to submit it with our Annual History.

I told the bishop where I filed it if he wanted to see it. I also advised him that if he lost the ward copy, it was on him...

The new guidelines in 2023 / 2024 for Ward History indicate that the person preparing the ward officers sustained must have each and every person's permission to include it in the history.

I am assuming since this is such a difficult thing to do, and there is not a permission slip to prove it, that placing the Ward people sustained in the Ward history should no longer be done?

gkdyer wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2024 10:43 am The new guidelines in 2023 / 2024 for Ward History indicate that the person preparing the ward officers sustained must have each and every person's permission to include it in the history.

I am assuming since this is such a difficult thing to do, and there is not a permission slip to prove it, that placing the Ward people sustained in the Ward history should no longer be done?

Link or citation please.

gkdyer wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2024 10:43 am The new guidelines in 2023 / 2024 for Ward History indicate that the person preparing the ward officers sustained must have each and every person's permission to include it in the history.

I am assuming since this is such a difficult thing to do, and there is not a permission slip to prove it, that placing the Ward people sustained in the Ward history should no longer be done?

The What Should I Leave Out? section of the Creating Stories page of the Unit History quick start guide states "The Unit History tool is not intended to store meeting minutes, quarterly reports, or similar records." But then again, the sustaining of unit officers could be a historical event for the unit and the reading of the Officers Sustained report during the unit conference a part of that event. In that same reference the second paragraph first sentence states; "Stories should not include someone’s personal information without that individual’s permission." It then goes on to list the types of personal information. Names with callings does not appear on that list.

Temper all this in consideration of local privacy laws to determine whether or not to include the officers sustained report information. The third paragraph of the same reference as above states; "Data privacy laws in many countries forbid using identifiable information of individuals (including their names) without first obtaining their consent." How that consent is obtained, I assume, would be part of your country privacy laws. Since I am not a lawyer, you should seek advice from competent legal authority.

At a macro level, the officers sustained report seems similar to other large-scale stories that are mentioned in the FAQ. Indeed, the FAQ encourages us to tag people to connect them to stories, when the members are part of a story for a "large organization". So there's two aspects to this: whether it's legally correct to include a name and associated church calling in a story, and then how to get permission from each member.

As stated, each country has unique laws governing this, so it's difficult to make any blanket statements beyond the fact that "names and callings" are not specifically mentioned in the FAQ as being "personal information". And if it's okay to include in your country, the manner for obtaining consent from each member included in the officers sustained report, would be exactly the same process as obtaining consent for tagging lots of members in a story for a "large organization".