Baptism and Confirmation Records

Fellow Clerks:

I have recently undertaken a records audit for my ward unit. I have found that the vast majority of the records for the ward members -- including myself and my family -- do not include the name of the person who officiated in the respective member's baptism and confirmation. As the church is fairly fastidious regarding record keeping, this seemed odd to me.

The online LCR tools make this fairly easy to update, but I was curious as to why this was the case for my ward unit. Is this also the case for other clerks and their wards? Was this information not recorded previously? Or was this information lost at some point when moving the data online?

Thank you in advance for any insights as to why this is the case, or any recommendations as to how to efficiently complete these records.

Situation normal (and NOT fouled up).

At one time the church did record the "by whom" for all the ordinance work - including the name of the proxy for temple work. But sometime in the 1980's after doing a process review, it was found that there was no gospel purpose to that information, and it was no longer recorded. (This was the same time the mag-stripe readers were removed from the temple. Their primary purpose was to automate the recording of who did the proxy work for each name. Since that was no longer being done, the equipment was no longer needed.)

The "by whom" blanks remained on the Baptismal Certificate, and MLS allowed the information to be inputted to print the certificate, but since it wasn't transferred to CHQ, that information was lost when the record was moved out.

Now that function has been moved to LCR. Apparently, it's no longer lost on a move-out, but I don't think it's a part of the member's record. It's just "miscellaneous" information hanging around in LCR.

So, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not worth the effort which could be directed to more productive things.

If you're looking for suggestions, it would be to make sure all the less-active singles are really single. And that there are no member who have moved away and no one has any idea where they are.

Thank you! I really appreciate the response. I was worried about the daunting task of re-collecting that information.

Yes, there are many great ways to spend time cleaning up records. Thank you for the suggestions!

If you have any information in your clerk's office about who performed any Melchizedek Priesthood ordinations, the Church is interested in gathering and recording that information if it was not recorded. I would not expend any great effort looking for it. I would just be aware of that need if you happen to run across any historical forms or records during a clerk's office tidying up effort.

russellhltn wrote: Now that function has been moved to LCR. Apparently, it's no longer lost on a move-out, but I don't think it's a part of the member's record. It's just "miscellaneous" information hanging around in LCR.

It is stored with a members record now and that is why it isn't lost on a move-out. And it is actually required now to enter the baptism.

jonesrk wrote:It is stored with a members record now and that is why it isn't lost on a move-out. And it is actually required now to enter the baptism.

The exception to that rule appears to be the recording of convert baptisms at the mission offices. After they create the membership record, I have to figure out how to identify those who performed the baptism and confirmation. If a missionary did it, I have to get his MRN from either him or the mission office. I need that information mainly for the certificate, and LCR now requires it.

does anyone knows how to re create a baptism and confirmation record... we have this member who was baptized many years ago(20 + years ago) at age 9 and they have all the information and we have written testimonies of witnesses.. i get stuck with this pop up message .....A person who is age nine or older is considered a convert. Membership records for converts are normally created by missions. To avoid creating a duplicate record, please do not create this record until you have checked with the mission office.

I assume you have tried to look up the member by name and birth date on LCR (Move Records In: https://www.lds.org/mls/mbr/records/request/find-member
I think your only way forward is to send a message through MLS to membership support, and give them all the information you have. They may ask you to mail all your documentation to them.

BroRomz wrote:does anyone knows how to re create a baptism and confirmation record... we have this member who was baptized many years ago(20 + years ago) at age 9 and they have all the information and we have written testimonies of witnesses.. i get stuck with this pop up message .....A person who is age nine or older is considered a convert. Membership records for converts are normally created by missions. To avoid creating a duplicate record, please do not create this record until you have checked with the mission office.

In this case, you don't need to check with the mission office since it was long ago. As drepouille indicated you should make sure there isn't already a record by trying to request the record. But assuming that comes up empty you should still bee able to create the record. That popup should ask if you want to continue. Just answer Yes and you should be able to enter the rest of the information and create the record.

In regards to Baptism and Confirmation records, I have a member who came up during my membership audit as having been ordained to the priesthood (office of Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood), but he does not have a Baptism or Confirmation date. Is there a way to find the member's original Baptism and Confirmation Form so that I can enter that information on his record? I will contact the member as well, but I suspect he won't recall that information.

You need to read and follow the instructions in Handbook 1 Section 16.1.10 for what to do if an ordinance is invalid.

There is a young lady who was baptized when she was eight. It was never recorded by their clerk. Father baptized her and confirmed her. There is no record that the young lady was baptized, or that the ordinance was performed. Suggestions?

flambert wrote:There is a young lady who was baptized when she was eight. It was never recorded by their clerk. Father baptized her and confirmed her. There is no record that the young lady was baptized, or that the ordinance was performed. Suggestions?

The answer is found in Handbook 1: 16.1.10.

Hello, My name is Rene' Rodriguez and I was baptized [in] 1997 by . . . (my uncle) and he also confirmed me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the same day. How do I go about getting a copy of these records for my file? Can you help?

renerodriguez89 wrote:How do I go about getting a copy of these records for my file?

Your ward clerk will be able to help you with these things.

We recently had a convert baptism. It looks like the missionaries created a new member record for the individual, but we actually had a record for the individual. How should I reconcile the duplicate records?

If the record you had was for a child of record that did not get baptized until after 9 years of age then Contact the Global Service Department (GSD) to have them merge the two records. If you created a record thinking you should create the record and then found out the missionaries followed normal procedures then cancel/delete the record you created. However, if there were donations made using the record you created then consult with the GSD to merge the records just as you would for the child of record situation.