Out of Ward Member

Okay, Member Tools experts, help me out with this one. You folks are the best!!

We have a sister who attends our ward with the Stake President's approval. Our membership clerk has twice added her into our database, and twice her record has been removed somehow after 2-3 weeks. She currently has a stake calling, but doesn't have a calling in our ward right now. Is there something programmed into Member Tools that removes "Out of Ward Calling" members if they no longer hold an out of ward calling? If this is the case, what is the best method to use so that she stays in our database?? She lives in another city, wants her record in that city for ministering purposes, but meets with our ward. She often has a Relief Society calling with us, but just happens to not have a calling right now. We can't seem to keep her in our database so that she'll receive the communications that are sent to our other ward members. Help!!

dhollowell wrote:Our membership clerk has twice added her into our database, and twice her record has been removed somehow after 2-3 weeks.

It sounds as if your membership clerk is moving in her actual record, and then her home ward is requesting it back.

In the circumstances you describe, your clerk should add her as an out of unit member but not actually move her membership record into your unit.

To show up in Member Tools, she will also need to have a standard calling. I believe her take calling should work for that, but if it does not, you will have to give her a standard calling in your unit for her to show up in Tools.

dhollowell wrote:She lives in another city, wants her record in that city for ministering purposes, but meets with our ward.

In order for her to be ministered to, the other ward has to have her records. Out of unit members can hold callings, but can't minister or be ministered to.

Note, if she doesn't hold a calling in the ward, she may not show up in member tools. I'm not sure of the details on that.

dhollowell wrote:We have a sister who attends our ward with the Stake President's approval.

As I understand, keeping a member's records in a ward they do not reside in requires First Presidency approval. If First Presidency approval has not been granted, the other ward is correct in moving her record back into their ward according to church policy. Your stake president should know how to request First Presidency approval if he feels it is appropriate.

If First Presidency approval has been granted, the two bishops should discuss so her record will reside in the proper ward. If she is just attending temporarily for a special purpose the Stake President has approved, an out of unit record as previously described would be the proper way to go.

Thank you, folks! You never disappoint.

The sister attends our ward because she is divorced and she and her ex-husband live in the same ward. She's not comfortable attending the same ward as the him, and she once lived in our ward. So the Stake President gave her permission to attend here. If that requires First Presidency approval, I'll let the Stake President know to look into it. This arrangement started with the prior Stake President, so it may well have gotten proper approval.

Her record remains in her home ward and she was added into our database via an "Out of Unit" calling. The last time the clerk did this, I know her record remained for a week because she got some email messages from our ward that she wanted to receive. But sometime after that first week, her record was purged. I suspected that it purged because she didn't have a standard calling and you folks confirmed it. I'll talk to our bishop about extending a calling to her so her record information stays in our database. That way, we've got her record information and yet her home ward bishop can retain ecclesiastical responsibility for her.

Once again, thank you all for your expertise, and Merry Christmas!!

dhollowell wrote:Thank you, folks! You never disappoint.

The sister attends our ward because she is divorced and she and her ex-husband live in the same ward. She's not comfortable attending the same ward as the him, and she once lived in our ward. So the Stake President gave her permission to attend here. If that requires First Presidency approval, I'll let the Stake President know to look into it. This arrangement started with the prior Stake President, so it may well have gotten proper approval.

Her record remains in her home ward and she was added into our database via an "Out of Unit" calling. The last time the clerk did this, I know her record remained for a week because she got some email messages from our ward that she wanted to receive. But sometime after that first week, her record was purged. I suspected that it purged because she didn't have a standard calling and you folks confirmed it. I'll talk to our bishop about extending a calling to her so her record information stays in our database. That way, we've got her record information and yet her home ward bishop can retain ecclesiastical responsibility for her.

Once again, thank you all for your expertise, and Merry Christmas!!

We had a situation similar to this. We did not move the record, but the brother attended our ward while his soon-to-be ex-wife attended their home ward that meets in our same building. I don't believe anything gets "purged" automatically. Most likely the prior ward was unaware of the stake president instruction and simply moved it back knowing she was living in their boundaries. Callings don't keep records in a ward and lack of callings don't do the opposite. However, the lack of a standard calling may not allow an out-of-unit member to show in the Member Tools app.

We also have a situation where a divorced couple are still both in our ward so they can both be involved in their children's church experience. We have to be cognizant of the callings they receive to avoid friction, but it works pretty well. I mention this because the fact that a couple is divorcing does not, in and of itself, require them to attend separate wards - local circumstances would direct the proper course of action and if the stake president feels there is a valid reason to move a record, I think the First Presidency normally approves.

davesudweeks wrote:However, the lack of a standard calling may not allow an out-of-unit member to show in the Member Tools app.

Right. I do know there's some "weirdness" around out-of-unit members. You can get different results depending on where you look. (And who's looking.)

dhollowell wrote:Her record remains in her home ward and she was added into our database via an "Out of Unit" calling. The last time the clerk did this, I know her record remained for a week because she got some email messages from our ward that she wanted to receive. But sometime after that first week, her record was purged. I suspected that it purged because she didn't have a standard calling and you folks confirmed it.

Out-of-unit records are not purged if there isn't a calling for the member. If that was the case, it wouldn't work correctly for children of divorced parents who won't typically have a calling. Something else is going on.