Blank ordinance "performed by"

Can anyone tell me why most of the older records have the name of who performed the ordination blank/missing?

abarrett wrote:Can anyone tell me why most of the older records have the name of who performed the ordination blank/missing?

It depends on what ordnance you are looking at. If it's a blessing, those are only recorded in the local MLS database and is lost when the record is sent to another unit.

If you're talking about priesthood ordination, there was a time period where SLC was not recording that.

BTW, since this is a separate question, I broke this off into a different thread.

But it's worth noting that Salt Lake is recording that information once again and has also asked that the missing ordainer information be filled in as much as possible.

The name of the person who ordained the member to an office in the priesthood is especially important, especially for Melchizedek ordinations, since without that name, there will be no priesthood line of authority.

From what I remember, at one point in the late 90's (I'm not too sure of the dates) it wasn't necessary to record on then MIS who performed the priesthood ordinances. It then was placed back into the system a short time later. We have a ton of these in my ward. Every tithing settlement I have to explain to many members what happened and then ask them who ordained them an elder and what priesthood that person had at the time. Most of the time it is their father, so it is easy to look up the birthdate or the membership record.

E&LDow wrote:The name of the person who ordained the member to an office in the priesthood is especially important, especially for Melchizedek ordinations, since without that name, there will be no priesthood line of authority.

Techncally, yes there will be a priesthood line of authority, it just won't be documented. The ordinations are still valid even if the complete line is not fully documented.

I am in the process of trying to get these blanks filled in for our stake. I have looked through the handbook and have not found any specific instructions for documenting who in fact performed the ordinance (except for the instructions when no ordination was recorded at all). I am trying to figure out whether it is appropriate to simply rely on the memory of the person receiving the ordination or whether there must be additional documentation or witnesses.

mlh78 wrote:I am in the process of trying to get these blanks filled in for our stake. I have looked through the handbook and have not found any specific instructions for documenting who in fact performed the ordinance (except for the instructions when no ordination was recorded at all). I am trying to figure out whether it is appropriate to simply rely on the memory of the person receiving the ordination or whether there must be additional documentation or witnesses.

While I don't speak for the Church, I intend to do the same thing. I will authorize this with my stake president, and seek guidance from the Church's Global Service Desk- MLS software support to fix any MLS issues if needed.

I personally assume a definite distinction between missing ordinances, and the missing names on priesthood ordinations this thread is discussing.

• Missing, or out of sequence ordinances or ordinations: In this case, I would follow the Handbook instructions exactly, seeking guidance from my local leaders, and requiring documentation and witnesses per Handbook 1. You may need to call the Global Service Desk to fix MLS records in these cases as well.
  
• Missing Names of who performed an ordination to MP: In this case, it is not a question of if, or when, but only who performed it. If it was a father, I'd fix it without hesitation. Other close family members probably can be easily fixed as well: just have them provide a full name, birthdate, and membership number, if possible.

If they only have a name, I'd wait for more information. If they are interested in obtaining their line of authority, I'm sure with enough searching, the information could be obtained by the member and perhaps with the help of the church's membership department. It would be better to start now, while memories are fresh, instead of years in the future when they ordain their sons and THEIR SONS want to know THEIR line of authority.