Boundary Exceptions

So we have some members in our ward who don't live in our ward boundaries. We literally just requested their records. The husband grew up in our ward and his wife is a non-member. They are progressing toward baptism and the Temple. We requested their records because any attempts at working with their actual ward were unsuccessful by his father and our bishop.

I understand that there's some approvals that need to happen in order to make a boundary exception 'official'. I have scoured the manual and the forums with no results. Has anyone had experience with this?

robljamiesonjr wrote:I understand that there's some approvals that need to happen in order to make a boundary exception 'official'. I have scoured the manual and the forums with no results. Has anyone had experience with this?

It isn't really a "boundary exception"; it's a membership record exception to allow the records to be in a ward other than where the member lives. The policy is in Handbook 1, section 13.6, second paragraph. But be forewarned -- the approval process is rather daunting.

Ah, thank you.

aebrown wrote: -- the approval process is rather daunting.

Having been through this process I agree with that.

I just wanted to point out that even though the 'records' are in your ward (they shouldn't be), by policy, the bishop is not their ecclesiastical leader. Therefore, he should not issue them a temple recommend, etc. Non member baptisms are done by the mission, but would be complicated by the situation. By the way, the 'system' may let you do those things, but that would be violating policy. And the bishop of the ward they belong in cannot since they do not have the member's records.

My guess is the fact that he "grew up in our ward" will not be a good enough reason for the move.

Thanks for the input. I've simplified the situation for the sake of privacy and other reasons. We'll see what happens as we go down that road. Thanks again for your insight.

Sorry, but is there a template for this letter that should be sent to the First Presidency from the Stake President?

Not that I know of, but I'd suggest the following pattern:

That you want (Boundary exception).

The short version why.

The details.

That way the people reading it won't have to wade though an entire saga to figure what what's desired and why.

I wonder if those on the forum could help me on this policy. I have read 13.6 and see the requirement for Stake and First Presidency approval, but I recall recently reading somewhere (I think in the manuals) a statement that talks about how members may attend other wards and partake of the sacrament, go to classes, etc. but that the Bishop cannot give them callings, interview for temple recommends, advance them in the Priesthood . . .

Section 13.6 implies this in the first section, but I know I have read it more clearly somewhere else and hoped that someone here knew the reference?

Thanks!

silus99 wrote:but that the Bishop cannot give them callings, interview for temple recommends, advance them in the Priesthood . . .

Handbook 2: 19.1.1 has interesting verbiage:
"Leaders may extend a Church calling only after (1) a person’s membership record is on file in the ward and has been carefully reviewed by the bishop or (2) the bishop has contacted the member’s previous bishop to determine that the member is worthy for the calling and to verify that his or her membership record does not include an annotation or a comment about unresolved Church discipline."

One can debate what a "previous" bishop is, but I'm not sure how the last part would be fulfilled unless the records are still in that "previous" ward. I can understand the purpose of this in the old days when membership transactions were done via the post office, but not today when one can get a move-in within the hour. Seems to me that this could be interpreted as allowing someone to hold a calling in a ward other than where their membership records are. (Local leaders hold the keys to interpretation for their units.)

Handbook 1: 16.7.4 "Unusual Circumstances" specifically allows wards to ordain someone when they do not have the membership record. Although that may not apply if someone is still living at home and attends a different unit. It comes down to the definition of living away from home.

russellhltn wrote:

silus99 wrote:but that the Bishop cannot give them callings, interview for temple recommends, advance them in the Priesthood . . .

Handbook 2: 19.1.1 has interesting verbiage:
"Leaders may extend a Church calling only after (1) a person’s membership record is on file in the ward and has been carefully reviewed by the bishop or (2) the bishop has contacted the member’s previous bishop to determine that the member is worthy for the calling and to verify that his or her membership record does not include an annotation or a comment about unresolved Church discipline."

Yes, that option (2) is interesting. Clearly the bishop of a ward where a person may attend but where the records do not exist cannot issue a temple recommend or record any kind of ordinance, including priesthood ordinations. Those processes require the membership record to actually exist in the ward.

That wording in 19.1.1 clearly implies that someone might receive a calling in a ward without having their membership record in the ward. That raises a couple of questions:

• Is there a good reason why the records aren't in the ward? I suppose one possibility is that the person spends enough time in that ward (for example, he regularly spends month-long stretches in that ward because of business, but doesn't stay long enough to meet the 3-month guideline for moving records).
• How would you record the calling? In such a case, an out-of-unit membership record could be created in MLS, and the calling recorded.

The exception that allows someone not in the ward to have a calling is applicable to any out-of-unit member called to serve in another unit.

So how does this relate to flagging membership records. The Bishop or Ward Clerk can flag a membership record that will prevent it from being transferred out. If a membership record is flagged and the member then moves, the record stays in the Ward.

michaelcox wrote:So how does this relate to flagging membership records. The Bishop or Ward Clerk can flag a membership record that will prevent it from being transferred out. If a membership record is flagged and the member then moves, the record stays in the Ward.

Typically, records are flagged for a reason. Usually unresolved disciplinary action. If the member moves out, then things can be worked out between the bishops, the record unflagged, and the record moved.

I have a question about the boundaries? If I literally lived in the middle of my street I would go to my childhood ward. Would this be reason to be able to make my childhood ward my ward I could go to?

Athomas1234 wrote:I have a question about the boundaries? If I literally lived in the middle of my street I would go to my childhood ward. Would this be reason to be able to make my childhood ward my ward I could go to?

I don't know of any members who live in the middle of the street. It sounds kind of dangerous to me. [smile]

If the boundary goes down the middle of the street, the houses on one side of the street are in one ward and the houses in the other side of the street are in the other ward. The stake president would need to request an exception from the First Presidency to move the membership record into a ward across the street if it crosses a ward boundary.

Where you attend, of course, is a matter of agency. But if your membership record is not in the ward you attend, the bishop there will not be able to give you a calling, a temple recommend, or provide any of the other important blessings of the gospel to you. And that would be sad.

Is there a place to rent or a home for sale across the street? That would work, at least until the Church grows and the boundaries are changed again.

Lol. No there is a cornfield across the street. It's so close to the boundaries that my Bishop said he would do whatever was necessary to get me into the Ward. Thanks.

I have a concern, my daughter husband and grandchildren moved out of home and they voiced there concern that if they can't go to our ward then wouldn't go at all my wife said then we will go with them to other ward until they are comfortable would we then become inactive?

rjmjcfamily31 wrote:I have a concern, my daughter husband and grandchildren moved out of home and they voiced there concern that if they can't go to our ward then wouldn't go at all my wife said then we will go with them to other ward until they are comfortable would we then become inactive?

No. Just let your bishop know what you are doing. Hopefully, it will not take long to help your daughter and her family become comfortable in their new ward. You might even speak with their bishop, too, and let him know about the new family moving into his ward.