2021 Recording Attendance Guidelines

There is a bulletin to stake presidents, bishops and clerks today regarding recording attendance, including class attendance, retroactive to January 1, however the software as of today will only allow recording class attendance back to January 17. If the priesthood and organization secretaries or presidencies don't move on this by this coming Sunday, that date will probably roll off then as well. I don't see that the bulletin was sent to any priesthood or organization presidencies or secretaries, so the bulletin will have to be shared with them locally.

If you click "View More" on an individual in the "Class And Quorum Attendance" list, it allows you to record attendance for that person back to October (3 months). There isn't a way to record that attendance from the full list that I could find, though...

Seems like very time consuming that way though. There should be an arrow to move the dates forward and back, in an ideal world anyway. Of course in an ideal world, things would be rolled out after notices and instructions are given too. Guess we are still in the telestial world of software and documentation.

There is no view more option on LCR, only on the app. And as an aside, the look back is 4 months, not 3.

This is what I see in Leader and Clerk Resources – maybe the View More option is hidden on a smaller screen?

I sit corrected. With my old eyes have the resolution set best for viewing and did not show until I changed same. Thank you.

This morning the spindles on my Liahona no longer point to the class and quorum attendance menu item.

LCR still still shows it though, for now anyway.

The letter received yesterday mentions Member Tools app having the functionality for attendance. I know another thread mentions the functionality in beta. I do not see it in the current version of Android Member tools. Anyone else seeing the mobile apps yet? I don't want to send out instructions until the apps are ready to go. (To be clear, I'm referring to class/quorum attendance and not sacrament meeting attendance.)

chriswoodut wrote:The letter received yesterday mentions Member Tools app having the functionality for attendance. I know another thread mentions the functionality in beta. I do not see it in the current version of Android Member tools. Anyone else seeing the mobile apps yet? I don't want to send out instructions until the apps are ready to go.

I’m using Member Tools on an iPad. In the the Reports section there is the option to record Sacrament meetings, but no option yet to record the other classes mentioned in the letter.

chriswoodut wrote:I do not see it in the current version of Android Member tools.

Android version 4.3.0-(101659.41) has the capability under Reports. This is not showing as a beta version, but I am on the beta program.

lajackson wrote:

chriswoodut wrote:I do not see it in the current version of Android Member tools.

Android version 4.3.0-(101659.41) has the capability under Reports. This is not showing as a beta version, but I am on the beta program.

I have that version installed but do not have the menu option (letter says it should be called "Class and Quorum Attendance"). I'm a ward clerk.

chriswoodut wrote:I'm a ward clerk.

I am an elders quorum secretary (among other things). I wonder if that makes a difference?
And yes, it is called Class and Quorum Attendance.

lajackson wrote:

chriswoodut wrote:I'm a ward clerk.

I am an elders quorum secretary (among other things). I wonder if that makes a difference?
And yes, it is called Class and Quorum Attendance.

My wife is the RS secretary and does not see it either.

chriswoodut wrote:My wife is the RS secretary and does not see it either.

She should see it, and probably you should as well. You might send feedback through the Help menu in the app. I expect they would probably suggest you delete the app, reboot your phone(s), and then install the app again, but they may have a simpler solution that might work.

lajackson wrote: I expect they would probably suggest you delete the app, reboot your phone(s), and then install the app again, but they may have a simpler solution that might work.

Signing out of the app and signing back in should work.

jdlessley wrote:

lajackson wrote: I expect they would probably suggest you delete the app, reboot your phone(s), and then install the app again, but they may have a simpler solution that might work.

Signing out of the app and signing back in should work.

That worked. It will be a bit annoying to get everyone that needs to use this feature to do that but at least it works.

chriswoodut wrote:

jdlessley wrote:

lajackson wrote: I expect they would probably suggest you delete the app, reboot your phone(s), and then install the app again, but they may have a simpler solution that might work.

Signing out of the app and signing back in should work.

That worked. It will be a bit annoying to get everyone that needs to use this feature to do that but at least it works.

It would be nice if the adult leaders in the YW/YM would show up on the attendance list under those orgs so they can be counted.

chriswoodut wrote:It would be nice if the adult leaders in the YW/YM would show up on the attendance list under those orgs so they can be counted.

I have mixed feelings about that based on the availability of adult leaders for youth organizations attending their assigned adult organization meetings. The instructions in the quarterly report were to accommodate a pre-pandemic situation where the adult leaders could not physically attend their adult organization meetings due to meeting schedule conflicts. That is not necessarily the situation during the pandemic virtual meeting situations. It could be, but it is not necessarily the rule. I do agree that an adult organization member list could/should identify those adult members who do have callings in youth organizations to help the adult organization leadership in ensuring those members are considered, and possibly counted, should their unit have virtual meetings concurrently with youth organizations. In our area the virtual meetings for youth and adults do not run concurrently and therefore the adult leaders with callings in youth organizations have the opportunity to attend their adult organization virtual meetings.

jdlessley wrote:

chriswoodut wrote:It would be nice if the adult leaders in the YW/YM would show up on the attendance list under those orgs so they can be counted.

I have mixed feelings about that based on the availability of adult leaders for youth organizations attending their assigned adult organization meetings. The instructions in the quarterly report were to accommodate a pre-pandemic situation where the adult leaders could not physically attend their adult organization meetings due to meeting schedule conflicts. That is not necessarily the situation during the pandemic virtual meeting situations. It could be, but it is not necessarily the rule. I do agree that an adult organization member list could/should identify those adult members who do have callings in youth organizations to help the adult organization leadership in ensuring those members are considered, and possibly counted, should their unit have virtual meetings concurrently with youth organizations. In our area the virtual meetings for youth and adults do not run concurrently and therefore the adult leaders with callings in youth organizations have the opportunity to attend their adult organization virtual meetings.

In our ward, we have the meetings at the same time. The RS secretary has to keep track of which adult women have a calling in the YW so she can try to track their attendance in another organization. That's always error prone.

With the way that it has been programmed, everything seems to be simply a view of a person's attendance and not separate attendance lists for each org. E.g. the sunday school and the RS are ultimately marking the same person's attendance -- just on different weeks. It would be simple enough to add an "adult leader" view for the YW and if it is "checked" by the YW organization or the RS organization, the same attendance date gets marked.

chriswoodut wrote:With the way that it has been programmed, everything seems to be simply a view of a person's attendance and not separate attendance lists for each org.

In Member Tools bishopric members and clerks with membership edit permissions see either an unfiltered list or a filtered list by organization. In the unfiltered list as well as the filtered lists the Sunday School class and the organization class/quorum for which a member should attend is shown. LCR also has an unfiltered list as well as filtered lists for bishopric members and clerks. But unlike Member Tools the lists only show names and nothing about the classes/quorums the member should attend. I assume that organization presidencies will only see the filtered list for their organization in both Member Tools and LCR. I don't yet know whether in Member Tools they see the the Sunday School class the member should attend.

jdlessley wrote:

chriswoodut wrote:With the way that it has been programmed, everything seems to be simply a view of a person's attendance and not separate attendance lists for each org.

In Member Tools bishopric members and clerks with membership edit permissions see either an unfiltered list or a filtered list by organization. In the unfiltered list as well as the filtered lists the Sunday School class and the organization class/quorum for which a member should attend is shown. LCR also has an unfiltered list as well as filtered lists for bishopric members and clerks. But unlike Member Tools the lists only show names and nothing about the classes/quorums the member should attend. I assume that organization presidencies will only see the filtered list for their organization in both Member Tools and LCR. I don't yet know whether in Member Tools they see the the Sunday School class the member should attend.

For my wife as RS secretary, in Member Tools it defaults to RS and she can't change it. When I said "not separate attendance lists", I meant that when the RS sees a person's name and dates, they see all weeks and not just the weeks the RS met. It's my understanding from comments here, that if the Sunday School marks a person attending that the RS will see those dates marked when they bring up the person's name in their "RS" view. Given that functionality, it's easy to program the same approach for adult leaders attendance to show up in the YM/YW views.

If we go back to 2019, how were adult leaders/teachers attending 2nd hour classes handled? Didn't the Adult SS attendance by default not include adults teaching or leading in Primary and Youth SS? And didn't RS/EQ attendance by default not include those teaching or leading in Primary/YW/YM?

I'm just thinking that the same underlying issue remains from before, and that if somebody is (commendably) wanting to also include adult leader/teacher attendance, it's done manually somehow. Or maybe I missed the point

BrianEdwards wrote:If we go back to 2019, how were adult leaders/teachers attending 2nd hour classes handled? Didn't the Adult SS attendance by default not include adults teaching or leading in Primary and Youth SS? And didn't RS/EQ attendance by default not include those teaching or leading in Primary/YW/YM?

I'm just thinking that the same underlying issue remains from before, and that if somebody is (commendably) wanting to also include adult leader/teacher attendance, it's done manually somehow. Or maybe I missed the point

The wording on the quarterly report indicates/indicated that the RS/EQ needed to keep track of which people have a calling that does not allow them to attend -- if that's the case, then they count them as if they attended. It's always been a bit problematic as the secretary of each organization then has to know everyone's calling and track changes (ugh).

This new approach is much better and necessary because of the alternating schedule. When we went to only having RS/EQ two weeks a month, and if one of those weeks gets clobbered by stake conference/area conference/general conference, it can really swing the attendance numbers such that budgeting using the reported numbers is hard. Adding the SS into the mix now solves that numerical problem.

Handbook 33.5.1.1 reads:
"Attendance at...Relief Society meetings is recorded by the...Relief Society secretary.
Attendance at Young Women classes is recorded by class secretaries and compiled by the Young Women secretary.
Attendance at Primary is recorded by the teachers and compiled by the Primary secretary."

Does the Relief Society secretary record the attendance of the sisters serving in Primary and YW?
Or does the Primary and YW secretaries enter attendance for the RS sisters serving in Primary and YW?

kawhite wrote:Handbook 33.5.1.1 reads:
"Attendance at...Relief Society meetings is recorded by the...Relief Society secretary.
Attendance at Young Women classes is recorded by class secretaries and compiled by the Young Women secretary.
Attendance at Primary is recorded by the teachers and compiled by the Primary secretary."

Does the Relief Society secretary record the attendance of the sisters serving in Primary and YW?
Or does the Primary and YW secretaries enter attendance for the RS sisters serving in Primary and YW?

The Primary presidency and YW presidency do not have access to mark the adults serving in their organizations as attending. It's lame. Ditto for YM leaders. To make it more manual, our YW youth secretaries of each class mark a google doc for attendance that the YW presidency secretary (an adult) uses to enter the youth attendance into LCR and then she forwards the adult attendance to the RS Secretary to enter in LCR the adults attending YW.

We don't have the other orgs cooperating at that level yet so for the quarterly report I, as ward clerk, end up just looking at adults with callings in Primary, YM, etc, and marking them as attending simply because they have a calling outside of the EQ/RS.

chriswoodut wrote:I, as ward clerk, end up just looking at adults with callings in Primary, YM, etc, and marking them as attending simply because they have a calling outside of the EQ/RS.

That is how I do it with the online elders quorum attendance list. Ditto with stake callings, full time missionaries, etc.

What is the general guideline to mark a member in the weekly Class and Quorum attendance? Does this include mutual activities, quorum activities outside of the church, etc?

cchang wrote:What is the general guideline to mark a member in the weekly Class and Quorum attendance? Does this include mutual activities, quorum activities outside of the church, etc?

The Class and Quorum Attendance report is to record class and quorum attendance at meetings normally held on Sunday. The report feeds data into the Quarterly Report. Note the dates on the report for attendance marking are only Sundays.

Sorry if this has been answered already. It has to do with class attendance recordkeeping in a modified Sunday meeting schedule. Due to Covid, our ward only holds Elders Quorum meetings (combined with Relief Society meetings) every other week, with Sunday School occurring on the off weeks.

What is the current policy (if there is one) regarding how we should record Quorum attendance? Should we only take EQ attendance on those 2 Sundays each month when quorum meetings are held? Or should we record the attendance of quorum members who attend on the Sundays when it's actually Sunday School, and count it as quorum meeting attendance?

EQ, RS and SS attendance should all be recorded. It is all one big attendance pool, and does not show what quorum or class was attended.

Sunday School should be recording SS attendance, but if they don't for some reason, there is no reason you cannot do it for them for the EQ members. Likewise RS should be recording RS attendance. Don't think you can help them there as the names probably won't show for EQ leaders or secretary to mark attendance of RS members.

Thanks, Gary. To make sure I understand: When the EQ secretary is taking EQ attendance, which he will report on the EQ attendance roll in Clerk/Leader Tools, he will only be putting a check on the names of the quorum members who attend on the Sundays when there are actual EQ meetings (in our case, the combined EQ/RS meetings that occur biweekly). Correct?

So when we look at the EQ attendance roll, an Elder who attends CHURCH every Sunday will only have 2 checks by his name each month, whereas for the Sunday School roll, his name would also have every other Sunday checked, since those were the only Sundays when he COULD attend those respective meetings. Is that how it should be?

I know that for the Quarterly Report, the Ward Clerk only needs to know how many members attended any given meeting at least once in the last month of the quarter, but my question has to do with the quorum's attendance roll (and, by extension, the Sunday School and Relief Society's attendance rolls). Thanks for any added clarification if it is needed.

nrajeff wrote: So when we look at the EQ attendance roll, an Elder who attends CHURCH every Sunday will only have 2 checks by his name each month, whereas for the Sunday School roll, his name would also have every other Sunday checked, since those were the only Sundays when he COULD attend those respective meetings. Is that how it should be?

The roll system is shared so both the EQ and SS will see each other's entry and could technically change them. If you're looking at your own name for example, you will see which "weeks" you attended and not really which "classes". It is "week" based and not "class" based because the system really doesn't know which weeks are EQ and which are SS. Go and experiment with it and you will see what we mean.

chriswoodut wrote:The roll system is shared so both the EQ and SS will see each other's entry and could technically change them.

Instead of thinking of it as EQ roll or SS roll, think of it as "second hour roll". EQ/RS/SS is all "second hour".

nrajeff wrote:Sorry if this has been answered already. It has to do with class attendance recordkeeping in a modified Sunday meeting schedule. Due to Covid, our ward only holds Elders Quorum meetings (combined with Relief Society meetings) every other week, with Sunday School occurring on the off weeks.

If I'm understanding this correctly, this is the normal Sunday meeting schedule. Before 2019, there were three meetings on Sundays: sacrament meeting first hour, Sunday School second hour, and EQ/RS/YW/YM third hour. Starting in January 2019, the meeting block was changed to two hours, so sacrament meeting and only one class is held each week. Sunday School should be held on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, and Relief Society and Elders Quorum should be held on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. Therefore, when you record class and quorum attendance, each week only has a single checkbox – because only one class is held each week.

Russell wrote:

Instead of thinking of it as EQ roll or SS roll, think of it as "second hour roll". EQ/RS/SS is all "second hour".

I will try to think of that way. I am used to the old way of taking roll, where, each class had its list of class members, and you would check the box for any member who was present in that specific class on that day.

Sam wrote:

If I'm understanding this correctly, this is the normal Sunday meeting schedule. Before 2019, there were three meetings on Sundays: sacrament meeting first hour, Sunday School second hour, and EQ/RS/YW/YM third hour. Starting in January 2019, the meeting block was changed to two hours, so sacrament meeting and only one class is held each week. Sunday School should be held on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, and Relief Society and Elders Quorum should be held on the 2nd and 4th Sundays.

Yes, you are correct, I had forgotten that this is the pattern for most of the Church. The deviation from that here is that my ward has been doing some "beta"-type experimenting with hybrid schedules that are both in-person and on Zoom. We have the EQ and RS meet together on the 2nd and 4th, and therefore on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, it's basically the same crowd who is there for Gospel Doctrine class as well.

Therefore, when you record class and quorum attendance, each week only has a single checkbox – because only one class is held each week.

Yes. I think a lot of my problem was that I can still call up the individual attendance roll for the EQ. It only lists EQ members, so I thought I should only mark the Elders as present on that roll on Sundays when we are actually holding EQ meetings. On the other Sundays, I assumed the SS secretary would be noting those Elders as attending SS. That way, the SS presidency would know who is (and isn't) attending SS, and the same for the EQ presidency, which I am a counselor (and also secretary) in.

It just seemed weird to be counting people as having attended EQ when they'd actually attended Sunday School. But I now "see the light," thanks to the explanations y'all have given.

One thought: If the SS secretary and I will basically be doing redundant roll-taking half of each month, maybe I can take a break from roll-taking, and enjoy the Sunday School lessons on those Sundays, since he will be putting the Elders' names into the "2nd Hour Roll" for me.

nrajeff wrote:I think a lot of my problem was that I can still call up the individual attendance roll for the EQ. It only lists EQ members, so I thought I should only mark the Elders as present on that roll on Sundays when we are actually holding EQ meetings.

I agree, the fact that it only lists elders quorum members, but also shows Sunday School weeks, was confusing to me as well, especially the first couple of times.

Glad I wasn't the only confused one. Thanks for helping me feel less embarrassed.

One benefit of this "shared roll" experience, is that for example an EQ President could easily see the weekly 2nd hour attendance for his quorum members. If there's a member who isn't attending EQ class but is always attending SS class, it might indicate an issue (does he not like the EQ President? ). A bit more seriously, for Adult leaders who are concerned about certain youth, it's helpful to quickly see how frequently they attend second hour classes, regardless of whether it's SS/YW/YM, instead of having to check separate rolls.

But yes, from the perspective you shared, it definitely is a bit wonky in some aspects.

Good point, Brian. Thanks.

Hi there.
I am having an issue with young men's leaders and Sunday school leadership not being able to access reports and class attendance either on the church website or the LDS tools app. The SS presidency was able to access it until about two weeks ago. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chad

chad.black wrote: I am having an issue with young men's leaders and Sunday school leadership not being able to access reports and class attendance

The Sunday School presidency should have access. The presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood is the bishopric, and they also should have access.

lajackson wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 10:21 pm

chad.black wrote: I am having an issue with young men's leaders and Sunday school leadership not being able to access reports and class attendance

The Sunday School presidency should have access. The presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood is the bishopric, and they also should have access.

I was a ward clerk and now I'm a teacher's quorum specialist. I have access to the attendance for the Aaronic priesthood in the LDS tools app and in LCR. I think this is a change from what was initially rolled out.

I think this is a change from what was initially rolled out.

OK, I'm glad you confirmed that. I recently looked at the Access Table, and was a bit confused because it indeed indicated that Advisers and other sorts of "non-Presidency" members now have access to the attendance rolls, which I don't believe was originally the case.
I know we all wish we'd get some kind of more official heads-up about changes to who can and cannot enter attendance (the LCR blurb seems to mention just a subset of who now has access), since now further questions will continue about whether Primary Teachers eventually will also have access. And whether youth class/quorum presidency members will have access. Nobody likes to have to say "well, just keep checking, maybe at some point you'll be able to do it", but that's all we can do for now

BrianEdwards wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 8:11 am Nobody likes to have to say "well, just keep checking, maybe at some point you'll be able to do it", but that's all we can do for now

Release Notes would be really helpful, which they used to do. It seems they've gone to rolling changes and not big forklift upgrades but a page somewhere listing things that changed would be nice.

Do you record the attendance of non-members who attend Priesthood quorum classes and organizations such as primary, RS, and YW?

MelvilleMercado wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 9:02 pm Do you record the attendance of non-members who attend Priesthood quorum classes and organizations such as primary, RS, and YW?

No. For second hour meetings you only record attendance for those for whom you have membership records.

For sacrament meeting you record everyone present, member or not. That is the only exception.

MelvilleMercado wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 9:02 pm Do you record the attendance of non-members who attend Priesthood quorum classes and organizations such as primary, RS, and YW?

If you're passing around an attendance sheet, you might add them to make them feed included. But for sacrament meeting, there's no way to record attendance of anyone who is not a member of the ward.

russellhltn wrote:

MelvilleMercado wrote: Do you record the attendance of non-members who attend Priesthood quorum classes and organizations such as primary, RS, and YW?

But for sacrament meeting, there's no way to record attendance of anyone who is not a member of the ward.

Although you do not record them by name, you do count everyone present at sacrament meeting.

For the other second hour meetings, it is a good idea to include visitors if you pass around an attendance sheet, but you will only record the members of your ward when you update the online report.

sunday school attendance

Rodsterleo wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:40 am sunday school attendance

If this were a question and I were to assume you were asking how to do it, the answer would be the same way as RS, EQ, YM, YW, and Primary. Record attendance for the members of your ward or branch.

Record attendance for the members of your ward or branch.

Additionally, although you'll see every Sunday listed when you go to the attendance reports, you only need to worry about entering attendance for the Sundays you have Sunday School classes. The other organizations will take care of the Sundays they have second-hour classes.

Hoping someone can help me out, attendance for EQ is recorded in tools app for this quarter. Tools app has been synced but no EQ numbers show up on the quarterly report in LCR. What am I missing?

kimballbud wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:39 am Hoping someone can help me out, attendance for EQ is recorded in tools app for this quarter. Tools app has been synced but no EQ numbers show up on the quarterly report in LCR. What am I missing?

A few months ago when I still did the quarterly report, I noticed that it took 10+ minutes for the attendance entries to get updated on the report. You may just need to check later.

kimballbud wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:39 am Hoping someone can help me out, attendance for EQ is recorded in tools app for this quarter. Tools app has been synced but no EQ numbers show up on the quarterly report in LCR. What am I missing?

Did you click the button at the top of the quarterly report page to import attendance data?

kimballbud wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:39 am Hoping someone can help me out, attendance for EQ is recorded in tools app for this quarter. Tools app has been synced but no EQ numbers show up on the quarterly report in LCR. What am I missing?

They changed the process slightly this time. The attendance numbers for second hour don't automatically sync to the quarterly report. If you want to pull them in that is an option in LCR on the quarterly report page (as scgallafent said).

scgallafent wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:46 am Did you click the button at the top of the quarterly report page to import attendance data?

It is not obvious but the user must first click the Edit button. Now the Update Attendance button will be accessible.

jdlessley wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:26 pm

scgallafent wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:46 am Did you click the button at the top of the quarterly report page to import attendance data?

It is not obvious but the user must first click the Edit button. Now the Update Attendance button will be accessible.

Awesome, thanks everyone I’m Logged in to the LCR on desktop, then reports tab-> quarterly report and just not seeing an edit button or update attendance option. Also not seeing it on the class and quorum attendance page either if that is where I was supposed to look. I’m one of two EQ secretaries for the ward. Is updating attendance something only the clerk can do?

Only a ward clerk, membership clerk, ward executive secretary or bishopric member can edit the quarterly report. Normally it would be a clerk responsibility. EQ secretaries can see the quarterly report, but they do not have edit access.

Question for somebody who knows: would be be correct to say that Best Practice for a ward clerk would be to always import attendance data when submitting the Quarterly Report, even if they already did it a few days prior? I'm thinking that often an organization may update attendance without letting the clerk know, and if the clerk previously imported the data, the report wouldn't have this new information. If the report auto-pulled the current data from the past quarter this wouldn't be necessary, but it seems like maybe now the clerk should/could take this additional step to sync any late-arriving attendance info.
I haven't interacted with the report generation, so perhaps I've missed something.

BrianEdwards wrote: Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:55 am Question for somebody who knows: would be be correct to say that Best Practice for a ward clerk would be to always import attendance data when submitting the Quarterly Report, even if they already did it a few days prior? I'm thinking that often an organization may update attendance without letting the clerk know, and if the clerk previously imported the data, the report wouldn't have this new information. If the report auto-pulled the current data from the past quarter this wouldn't be necessary, but it seems like maybe now the clerk should/could take this additional step to sync any late-arriving attendance info.
I haven't interacted with the report generation, so perhaps I've missed something.

I would import the data again right before submitting the report.

Last quarter, the data was automatically updated when an organization leader made a change. That was changed this quarter for several reasons.