Aaronic Priesthood - Quorum Presidencies

About a year ago, we called the Deacon's Quorum Presidency and now a year later, they all have turned 14. Does the Deacon's Quorum Presidency automatically should be transferred and called to the Teacher's Quorum Presidency once they all turn 14? My guess the answer is, no, we would have to release them as the Deacon's Quorum and then call them into the Teacher's Quorum. Somehow this oversight was not caught in time. Whose responsibility is it to review to make sure these Quorum Presidencies are up to date and accurate as they age and progress through. Is it the Clerk's to review all callings are up to date and being discussed? Is it the YM President? Bishopric Presidencies that oversee the YM?

Somehow, the fault was pointed to the Clerk's responsibility that they may have incorrectly entered them into Deacon's Quorum when they should have been called into the Teacher's Quorum but I remember specifically a year ago they were called into the Deacon's Quorum and now a year later we are all left to wonder how this oversight had happened if they should have been called into the Teacher's Quorum based on their current age.

The bishop or an assigned counselor is responsible for calling and releasing Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidents (Handbook 2, section 19, chart). The clerk is responsible to keep ward records up to date, and making sure the bishop has timely access to the records he needs to fulfill his calling (which could include the callings and ages of youth). Other leaders, such as the Young Men president or quorum advisers, should also be in tune with the Aaronic Priesthood quorums. As president of the Aaronic Priesthood (Handbook 2, 8.3.1), the bishopric should know who the quorum presidencies are, and a logical time to extend a release would be when the bishopric interviews them to receive the office of teacher or priest.

Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies are a bishopric responsibility. It would be good to review Handbook 2, 8.3. I would pay particular attention to section 8.3.1, which discusses the responsibilities of the bishopric.

The bishopric, the ward clerk, and the ward young men presidency all have a part in making sure the Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies are properly organized and functioning.

As scgallafent and sbradshaw have said, it is the bishopric's responsibility to call and release and generally oversee the Aaronic Priesthood presidencies. However, actually recording the changes is generally a clerk responsibility. In an ideal world the bishopric would inform the clerk in a timely manner after a change is made. But in my experience it often slips their minds. So it behooves the clerk to actively check for changes. I would pay attention in bishopric meetings where such changes might be discussed and then follow up and ask if the change has been made lalter I would also periodically check the presidencies looking for members who have aged out or are about to age out or for presidencies that have been in for a long time (> 8-9 months) and ask the bishopric if there was a change that was missed. Often there was sometimes it also helped the bishopric remember that they needed to make a change.

Aaronic Priesthood presidency changes aren't sustained in Sacrament meeting but in one of my wards the bishopric felt it was appropriate to announce the change in Sacrament meeting the week after it was made. If this is done it also helps make sure that clerks know about changes so that they get recorded promptly.

scgallafent wrote:Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies are a bishopric responsibility. It would be good to review Handbook 2, 8.3. I would pay particular attention to section 8.3.1, which discusses the responsibilities of the bishopric.

The bishopric, the ward clerk, and the ward young men presidency all have a part in making sure the Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies are properly organized and functioning.

Thanks for the detailed explanation by both user comments. Even if the Clerk had entered it incorrectly while the Deacon’s Quorum President was 13 yrs old and 8 months at the time they were sustained and maybe should have entered them into the Teacher’s Quorum instead prior to them turning 14 (if that’s possible), this seems like a case of failure on multiple steps in the process. I’m not trying to throw anyone in particular as at fault here in this situation but this should have been reviewed and discussed to not cause an oversight. I feel like the Clerk was mistakenly being pointed to as at fault for maybe entering them into the incorrect Quorum Presidency originally...?

Is the system designed to catch these types of errors if you add a YM to a calling such as a Teacher’s Quorum President before they turn 14?

eblood66 wrote: But in my experience it often slips their minds. So it behooves the clerk to actively check for changes.

I'm not sure I'm in total agreement that the Clerk has to be actively checking for these types of changes. It seems like the Clerk would have to micromanage each of the auxiliary units to make sure the callings are all validated each and every week. So would it be the Clerk's responsibility to check for changes when a, let's say, the YM 2nd Counselor has been in their calling for 6+ years and bring it up? Or if a YM has progressed from a Deacon to a Teacher and should review this change with those appropriate?

cchang wrote:It seems like the Clerk would have to micromanage each of the auxiliary units to make sure the callings are all validated each and every week.

Callings in most organizations are sustained in sacrament meeting and usually discussed in bishopric meeting. Between the two you can usually be aware of all changes to make sure they are recorded. However, I usually did a review with each organization about once a year to make sure things were up to date.

But AP and YW presidencies are different since they aren't sustained in sacrament meeting and changes are easily made without the clerk knowing about it. The bishopric should be trained to let the clerk know but that doesn't mean the clerk can just be passive. It's still his responsibility to make sure the records are accurate.

cchang wrote:So would it be the Clerk's responsibility to check for changes when a, let's say, the YM 2nd Counselor has been in their calling for 6+ years and bring it up?

No. The point of checking if the presidency has been in for a while is not to tell the bishopric they should make a change. It's just a recognition that these presidencies change more frequently. If the presidency shows as being intact for that long then that's a sign that maybe a change was made and you just didn't hear about it. If after asking the bishopric they say there is no change then that's it.

cchang wrote:Or if a YM has progressed from a Deacon to a Teacher and should review this change with those appropriate?

I would definitely review the Action and Interview report periodically. If a YM showed as overdue for an ordination by a month or more and they were active, I would discretely check with the bishopric (usually during bishopric meeting). More often then not, the ordination had occurred and I just hadn't been given the information. If the bishop said no ordination had occurred, then that's all I needed to know.

Ultimately, the clerk is responsible for maintaining accurate records. The first line of defense is to enlist the bishopric to keep you informed. But they are imperfect like all of us so additional measures can help make sure everything gets updated appropriately.

cchang wrote:Is the system designed to catch these types of errors if you add a YM to a calling such as a Teacher’s Quorum President before they turn 14?

Yes, the system should catch this. The system will not let you record a calling of teachers quorum president unless the person is ordained a teacher and assigned to the teachers quorum. In order to be ordained a teacher, he would have to have turned 14.

cchang wrote:Somehow, the fault was pointed to the Clerk's responsibility that they may have incorrectly entered them into Deacon's Quorum when they should have been called into the Teacher's Quorum

Generally, LCR is quite strict in following the Handbook. Unless the Handbook says the Deacon's Quorum can be lead by a teacher, then it wouldn't allow the clerk to put Teachers into the Deacon's Quorum Presidency. It would also cut the other way in that the clerk wouldn't be able to record the calling or priesthood if it was done even one day before the member turns the required age.

The annual Membership Audit is a good place to start:
https://www.lds.org/mls/mbr/records/mbr-audit

And of course the Action and Interview List:
https://www.lds.org/mls/mbr/report/acti ... rview-list