Move Records without Address but know ward

Can you tell me how to move records to a new ward when the new ward name is known, but the family is building a house and does not know the house address yet?

duke.distefano wrote:Can you tell me how to move records to a new ward when the new ward name is known, but the family is building a house and does not know the house address yet?

I think you can leave the old address and enter the new ward name. There have been times when I have known the new address but the system doesn't know which ward it belongs to or it suggests the wrong ward. I believe in the drop down for the ward you want to send to that you can choose an 'other' option and then it gives you a field to type in the actual ward.

Someone probably has a better explanation than this. I can't get to those screens without actually going through the process of sending a record out so I'm going by memory.

If they don't know the address, I'd think they'd know the street or at least something about the location. A partial address is better than nothing.

As a former ward clerk for many years, it was very frustrating when another ward tossed a membership record into our ward without an address. Unless the member happens to show up at church, they were just dumping their problem on someone else to resolve. The ward has limited resources to find members without paying for a locating service - usually we would end up having to send the record to the Address Unknown file anyway.
I recommend one of two options:
1. Call the clerk if the ward that they think the member is moving to and discuss the location - perhaps that clerk would be able to find out the address locally and pull the record in. Most construction projects I am aware of in the US have addresses assigned to the lot before the home is built and there is often a temporary sign in front of the lot with the home address on it (for delivery of construction materials) so one could physically drive by the site and get the address.
2. Send the record to the address unknown file (because they truly don't know the address) and indicate in the information what they know about where they are moving to - the church has better resources to find the member than the ward has. The clerk could send an MLS message to membership support with the membership number and as much detail as they want to provide if needed.

davesudweeks wrote:As a former ward clerk for many years, it was very frustrating when another ward tossed a membership record into our ward without an address. Unless the member happens to show up at church, they were just dumping their problem on someone else to resolve. The ward has limited resources to find members without paying for a locating service - usually we would end up having to send the record to the Address Unknown file anyway.
I recommend one of two options:
1. Call the clerk if the ward that they think the member is moving to and discuss the location - perhaps that clerk would be able to find out the address locally and pull the record in. Most construction projects I am aware of in the US have addresses assigned to the lot before the home is built and there is often a temporary sign in front of the lot with the home address on it (for delivery of construction materials) so one could physically drive by the site and get the address.
2. Send the record to the address unknown file (because they truly don't know the address) and indicate in the information what they know about where they are moving to - the church has better resources to find the member than the ward has. The clerk could send an MLS message to membership support with the membership number and as much detail as they want to provide if needed.

Can you make a comment on the outgoing record to the unknown file in LCR? I haven't seen that option. I've often know what city they are in but not a street address.

You make a good point about contacting the other clerk -- I often will do so if I have info that is helpful or an explanation of why I'm doing it.

The record should be where the family currently lives. If they're building a house in a new area, but not yet living there, I'd recommend keeping their record where it is (that doesn't stop them from visiting the future ward, of course).

chriswoodut wrote:Can you make a comment on the outgoing record to the unknown file in LCR? I haven't seen that option. I've often know what city they are in but not a street address.

You make a good point about contacting the other clerk -- I often will do so if I have info that is helpful or an explanation of why I'm doing it.

I don't think there is a free text box available when moving a record to another unit. All they can do is flag the record for the new bishop to contact the prior bishop.
However, I think there was a free-text box for moving to address unknown (cannot recall for sure and my clerk experience is not going on over a year old so with changes in the technology may not be accurate any longer). Everyone is different, but when I was clerk, I was very happy to try to assist with an address location if there was a situation like the OP.

True story: once a member was moved into our ward and their address was the street address of the local airport (the airport is within our ward boundaries). It's possible bad information was given to the clerk who sent the record. We chuckled at it and then moved the member to address unknown because filling all the steps was quite easy...

davesudweeks wrote: True story: once a member was moved into our ward and their address was the street address of the local airport (the airport is within our ward boundaries). It's possible bad information was given to the clerk who sent the record. We chuckled at it and then moved the member to address unknown because filling all the steps was quite easy...

I've had situations where the address system that LCR implements chose our ward incorrectly. In that case, I have their correct address because the other clerk entered it and I then figure out where it should go by using the meetinghouse locator and backing into which ward it should be (sometimes with the help of google). Then transfer directly to that ward instead of the suggested ward that LCR thinks it should be (our ward). This seems to happen with brand new neighborhood developments that aren't on all the maps yet.

sbradshaw wrote:The record should be where the family currently lives. If they're building a house in a new area, but not yet living there, I'd recommend keeping their record where it is (that doesn't stop them from visiting the future ward, of course).

Exactly right. I was placed in the same position a year or two ago. The family was building a home in Ward A, but were moving from my ward into a rental in Ward B until they could move into their new home. They asked me to move their records into the ward where their new home would be.

I told them that decision is up to the stake president, after counseling with the two bishops. Ward clerk will follow the president's direction.

chriswoodut wrote:I've had situations where the address system that LCR implements chose our ward incorrectly. In that case, I have their correct address because the other clerk entered it and I then figure out where it should go by using the meetinghouse locator and backing into which ward it should be (sometimes with the help of google). Then transfer directly to that ward instead of the suggested ward that LCR thinks it should be (our ward). This seems to happen with brand new neighborhood developments that aren't on all the maps yet.

I prefer Google maps, but I sometimes I find Bing maps is updated before Google maps is. That can be helpful on occasion.

drepouille wrote:

sbradshaw wrote:The record should be where the family currently lives. If they're building a house in a new area, but not yet living there, I'd recommend keeping their record where it is (that doesn't stop them from visiting the future ward, of course).

Exactly right. I was placed in the same position a year or two ago. The family was building a home in Ward A, but were moving from my ward into a rental in Ward B until they could move into their new home. They asked me to move their records into the ward where their new home would be.

I told them that decision is up to the stake president, after counseling with the two bishops. Ward clerk will follow the president's direction.

If the situation is only 90 days for someone no longer living in our ward then we will hold onto records. This helps a lot with YSA kids that bounce around a bit. I don't know if the 90 day window is our stake's guidelines or HQ. We have a family right now that has sold their home in our ward and is waiting for their new home to be available so they are still attending our ward. The buffer seems to work for us. I'm guessing this is our stake's approach.

There's a three-month rule for members who will be returning to the ward. I don't see such a thing for transient moves as part of a permanent departure.

Even with active members who move, I know that Bishops absolutely love it when the former ward contacts them! (in addition to moving the records). And even more so for any special circumstances like yours. I'd suggest even before moving the records, the current Bishop or Clerk going into CDL and looking for the new Bishop's (and new Clerk's) contact info. Then send an email or text to the new Bishop (and new Clerk) and the family parents, connecting them.

This not only helps for a situation where a specific address isn't known, but also helps avoid members slipping through the cracks unintentionally.