Remove Records

How does one remove records? I cannot find the information anywhere on the website no matter how hard I try.

veronica1984 wrote:How does one remove records? I cannot find the information anywhere on the website no matter how hard I try.

If you are asking about the process where a name is removed from the membership records of the Church, bishops use the instructions in Handbook 1, chapter 6.14.

If you are asking about the process where a clerk removes a duplicate record, or about other membership record processes, the clerk and bishop follow the instructions in Handbook 1, chapter 13.

Handbook 1 is available on the website to those priesthood leaders who are authorized to have it because of their current calling. Priesthood leaders, particularly bishops, are authorized to share information from Handbook 1 with members when needed. For example, if a member wished to have his or her name removed from the records of the Church, the bishop would explain the process to the member and assist him or her with the request.

Thank you!

Thanks for this direction. I'm also a ward clerk and had a similar question. I tried googling it, and almost everything that comes up is from members who have left the church and are antagonistic. Just a suggestion... it may be beneficial to outline the process of name removal somewhere that is accessible to the public. That way, members considering leaving the church can at least find webpage that won't lead them further away.

How do I remove records of unbaptized and over 18 years old.Tthey show up on tithing declaration and settlement reports but are not members and not requeired to pay tithing

boppercannon wrote:How do I remove records of unbaptized and over 18 years old.Tthey show up on tithing declaration and settlement reports but are not members and not requeired to pay tithing

The process is outlined in Handbook 1: 13.6.2. It requires the approval of the bishop and the stake president.

Because of unfortunate legal circumstance involving ward members I want my families information removed ed on the ward level - not from the church.
I currently have our records as "leadership only" but my our address and birthdays are still available.

How can I have all information (besides our names) be removed?

You can try to talk to the Stake President to have him talk with CHQ, but I'm unaware of any such option. As long as you are known to live in a certain area, your records will be in the ward that serves that area.

Edit: You can probably ask the local ward to remove your address and contact information from the records and to track that separately.

norajb wrote:I currently have our records as "leadership only" but my our address and birthdays are still available.

Birth dates are never shown to anyone other than leaders, generally only bishopric, clerks and the presidency of the auxiliary responsible for the person. If the visibility settings are set correctly then your address should only be available to leaders as well (although address may be visible to all auxiliary and priesthood presidencies).

However, if you are concerned about leaders having that information then russelhltn's information is accurate as far as I know.

The current policies and procedures for removing records are available in the General Handbook 32.14.9 https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... e_number88.

kenclem1 wrote:The current policies and procedures for removing records are available in the General Handbook 32.14.9 https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... e_number88.

Note, that is the procedure for leaving the church and canceling one's membership. I don't think that's what the prior posts were asking.

I recently was called to be the membership clerk in my Ward. Going through membership list I noticed members still on list that are no longer in our area. My goal is to purge our records to reflect our true numbers. I've try seacrching on the following sites like Intelius, PeopleWhiz, and Truth Finder. I have found some of them but there are few that this search mecca have no records. What should I do with these records? If you could please notify me when a reply is posted or email me at dpaquino@yahoo.com. Mahalo for your help.

dennispaulaquino wrote:Going through membership list I noticed members still on list that are no longer in our area. My goal is to purge our records to reflect our true numbers.

Somewhere should be a list of steps necessary to make sure they're not findable with ward resources. Once done, they can be moved to the "Address Unknown" file. While you can do some of the steps, I'd strongly suggest you enlist the help of the ward council, in particular the EQ and RS to see if anyone has any information.

Also, be advised that once sent out, they'll return in about 6 months. When that happens, ask the ward council again if there's any updates and if not, send them back out. Be sure to keep the notes from the first time so you're not driving yourself crazy when they come back.

russellhltn wrote:Somewhere should be a list of steps necessary to make sure they're not findable with ward resources.

If you start to move the records and indicate that the new address is unknown then it should show this list. It's also on this help center page: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/hel ... t?lang=eng

Note that it does not mention using online people finding sites. There is no mention of why but my guess is because they are often inaccurate. If you move records based on incorrect information from one of those sites you may just make headaches for another ward who will have even less information about the person than your ward does.

I've received a few membership records in error from other clerks who used questionable people-finding sites, such as familytreenow and others. So I just did my own research and forwarded the records appropriately. In a perfect world, the ward council would help by doing some of the legwork.

eblood66 wrote:Note that it does not mention using online people finding sites.

The church may well be doing that on their end.

But the resources Church Headquarters doesn't have is "boots on the ground" that can visit their residence, or knowing who their friends were in the ward. Those would be the things I'd focus on.

How do you remove a duplicate if there are two?

pboman wrote: Sun May 21, 2023 4:07 pm How do you remove a duplicate if there are two?

When there are duplicates the records are merged. The tool is found in LCR > Membership > Merge Duplicate Records. Using this tool does not automatically merge the records but is rather a request for headquarters to merge the records. For more information see Merge Duplicate Records
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