Permission to attend ward you don't live in

I seem to recall that permission from the First Presidency was required to have one's membership record kept in a ward in which you do not live. If so, how do we go about getting that permission? I'm the stake clerk and have been asked by the stake president to find out how to go about this on behalf of a member in our stake; we haven't been able to find an application form related to this. Does the member simply write a letter to the First Presidency and mail it in?

Thanks

From the General Handbook, 33.6:

Exceptions, which should be few, require the consent of the bishops and stake president(s) involved and the approval of the Office of the First Presidency. To request an exception, the stake president(s) sends a letter to the Office of the First Presidency for approval.

So, both bishops and both stake presidents (if the wards are in different stakes) should consult together, and it's the stake president(s) who need to send a letter to the Office of the First Presidency.

Somewhere in the dim recesses of my memory, I think there was something about an option in LCR for the stake president to do that.

I'd have the stake president check his LCR options before firing up the word processor.

The stake clerk may not have access. The best he could do is see if there's any hints in the LCR Access Table.

According to the Leader and Clerk Resources Access Table, there's an "Application to the First Presidency" tool that's available only to the stake president and the bishop (not counselors, clerks, or executive secretaries). The tool can be used for applications for sealing cancelations, for example – I'm not sure if it would be used for other requests, too, like this one. As russellhltn mentions, it's worth a try for the stake president to log in and see what he sees.

sbradshaw wrote:The ["Application to the First Presidency"] tool can be used for applications for sealing cancelations, for example – I'm not sure if it would be used for other requests, too, like this one.

This is not something that would require the use of an Application to the First Presidency. When the General Handbook says the stake president sends a letter to the First Presidency to make the request, it means he gets out the stake letterhead and types (or prints) up a letter requesting approval. No special form is required.

The request to the first presidency should be sent using LCR. See handbook 33.6.

cmwarner03 wrote: The request to the first presidency should be sent using LCR. See handbook 33.6.

Good catch, thank you. I suppose "send a letter" is missing from most places in the General Handbook now that automation is available. Makes sense.

Can anyone provide additional direction in the following situation:

A member is building a new house in Ward A, but they are temporarily living in Ward B while the house is being built.

At what point during the building process can or should the membership record be transferred into Ward A? Could an Out-of-Unit Membership Record (Handbook Section 33.6.5) be used to allow the member to attend Ward A and receive a calling during the construction process?

Thank you in advance for any help or insight. We live in an area with lots of new construction and a lot of members wish to move their records into our ward prior to their home being completed.

johnrlongii wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 12:14 am Can anyone provide additional direction in the following situation:

A member is building a new house in Ward A, but they are temporarily living in Ward B while the house is being built.

In situations like this, I like to carefully read the Handbook:

General Handbook 33.6 wrote: Membership records should be kept in the ward where the member lives. Exceptions, which should be rare, require the consent of the bishops and stake presidents involved. To request an exception, the stake president uses LCR to submit the request to the Office of the First Presidency.

General Handbook 33.6.4 wrote: Ward leaders, ministering brothers and sisters, and clerks obtain the new addresses of members as soon as they become aware that members intend to move out of the ward. The clerk moves the records to the new ward when the members actually move.
...
When a person moves from a ward for more than three months, a clerk moves the membership record to the new ward unless the member intends to return after leaving for temporary or seasonal employment or schooling that may last longer than three months.

Of course, there's always this:

General Handbook 0.4 wrote: If leaders have questions about information in this handbook or about issues it does not address, they counsel with their immediate presiding authority.

I would like to make a request to the Office of the First Presidency. I am a Stake President, and the handbook states I should make the request, but I do not know how to. Thank you for your help.
[email removed]

darrell.zaugg wrote: Thu Mar 10, 2022 7:58 am I would like to make a request to the Office of the First Presidency. I am a Stake President, and the handbook states I should make the request, but I do not know how to.

According to an old post: It's in LCR under Membership > Confidential

darrell.zaugg, if the reference provided by russellhltn works for you, could you confirm? My understanding is that for Bishops, this link only allows them to access requests regarding sealing cancellations or membership councils, but nothing is there for out-of-boundary applications (which makes sense since it's the SP and not Bishop who has stewardship for that). As seen in the thread, there's uncertainty whether this functionality is currently available for Stake Presidents in LCR. So if you can provide feedback, that would help clarify if it's actually there or not.

The email to use is this boundaryexception@churchofjesuschrist.org

no need to pull out letterhead and write a letter, who does that anymore?

When a stake president clicks on “Application to the First Presidency”, they receive the following message: “ Only bishops and branch presidents may initiate an application to the First Presidency”. It appears that there is no way in LCR to submit a request for someone to attend a unit they do not reside in through LCR.

[Moderator Note: Attachment deleted due to identifying information.]

mpeterson001 wrote: Sun Sep 25, 2022 12:16 pm It appears that there is no way in LCR to submit a request for someone to attend a unit they do not reside in through LCR.

Is the bishop where the membership record is held currently able to initiate the request? Both bishops and stake presidents have to approve it. The bishop would consent to it. Then his stake president would submit the exception request through LCR to the First Presidency.

I am the stake president. The bishop does not have an option to submit an application for a member to attend a different ward than the one they live in. Please see the screenshot from the bishop showing the options he can select from when submitting an application.

I would contact the Global Services Desk. General Handbook 33.6 makes it quite clear the Stake President is to use LCR to submit the request.

If it's not appearing in your screen, then LCR is not in compliance with the Handbook.

You could try using incognito/private mode in the browser as there has been a number of odd issues that will fix.

As killing said and per Global Services this morning, simply have the stake president send an email to boundaryexception@churchofjesuschrist.org with the member record(s), details, and recommendation.

Global Services said that there will be a "boundary exception" option in LCR, but doesn't appear to be live yet. So send email in the meantime.