Ministering assignments

I would like to propose a change to ministering assignments process.

The current process is to make changes to the ministering assignments in real time or production, but they may not have been approved yet by the bishop. The other way is to make the updates outside the system, get approval, then enter them into the system. Lots of redundant work and we don’t get to take advantage of the checks in MLS.

Can a stage or proposed copy of ministering be added so that I can create a the ministering assignments in MLS and then let the bishop know it needs his approval. The bishop can then either approve or send back to RS or EQ with changes. Or the bishop can approve, which would cause the changes to get moved to production.

Regards,

Stanley Wulfenstein

What you propose has been requested before, and it is my understanding that it is being considered, although there is no official word on whether of when it might be implemented. It would require a major change to the ministering software. In the meantime, we only have the present capability where any change made to ministering assignments is immediately visible.

I am among those who would like to see this capability added. And you may always suggest this change through one of the Feedback links at the website.

Note that recording ministering assignments is no longer done in MLS, but rather in Leader and Clerk Resources (LCR) at LDS.org.

The software got a major overhaul August first. Are we sure that feature wasn't added in the overhaul?

I thought one of the reasons that HT/VT wasn't visible to the general membership in the past was due to the inability to stage the changes pending bishop's approval. But here we are with members able to see their assignments. Reviewing the directives on Ministering, "Elders quorum and Relief Society presidencies recommend ministering assignments to the bishop for his approval." So, approval is still in place.

russellhltn wrote:The software got a major overhaul August first. Are we sure that feature wasn't added in the overhaul?

Yes, there is an explicit note on the page where assignments are made indicating that changes are visible to other members immediately.

russellhltn wrote:I thought one of the reasons that HT/VT wasn't visible to the general membership in the past was due to the inability to stage the changes pending bishop's approval. But here we are with members able to see their assignments.

We did have indications that was the case. But HT/VT information was made available to members before the August overhaul. So obviously a decision was made that making it visible to members was more important than convenience of leaders in the assignment workflow.

+1 to having the ability to draft up assignments before making them official. This isn't much of a tool as it is a form to enter the information and see a report. Unfortunate that it isn't considering the actual process of determining assignments, getting approval and then publishing them to the members. We can hope this will come soon...otherwise, my crazy spreadsheet work will have to continue!

In the 4.4 Release, under New or Enhanced Functionality, it says that we can "Record Ministering interviews". Does this mean we can record that we held them, or does it mean I can make a brief overview of the conversation? If so, where is it found?

poblano wrote:IDoes this mean we can record that we held them,

Yes.