Ward History, can I find out who held callings in the past?

I am a new ward clerk and have been assigned to write last year's ward history. I need to find out who held what callings during the last year. Is there a way to do this with MLS or the Clerk Resources on-line?

To a limited extent, you can see what callings a person has held prior - if they are still in your stake. But it's by person and not by calling. So it's more for confirming information.

What you can do is look at the sustaining dates. That way you can zero in on callings that have changed.

russellhltn wrote:To a limited extent, you can see what callings a person has held prior - if they are still in your stake.

How can I see callings a person has held prior?

Go into the CDOL, locate their current position, expand it, and there will be a link toward the left that says "Position Summary".

Note that by in large, only clerks, Bishopric, and Stake Presidency can access CDOL.

The information is also quite limited as I believe it only shows callings within the current stake and only goes back a limited number of years.

russellhltn wrote:The information is also quite limited as I believe it only shows callings within the current stake and only goes back a limited number of years.

It's even more limited than that. According to this post by the CDOL developer it only includes 'main page' positions (bishopric, clerk, executive secretary). Any others that show up are just because the clean up code occasionally fails.

A real history of all callings going back 5 years would be very helpful to the bishopric when thinking about making new assignments.

jjensen68 wrote:A real history of all callings going back 5 years would be very helpful to the bishopric when thinking about making new assignments.

There are pros and cons to this approach – if not careful, it could lead to the same people being picked for certain positions, preventing them from getting growth and experience in other areas; and it could keep other members from getting callings that would benefit them. You wouldn't want past callings to be used by a bishopric in a limiting way, like the "previous work experience" section of a resume is used by an employer. On the other hand, such a list, if used appropriately, could be used as a tool to facilitate revelation.