Standard position list

I think in the past that I have accessed a list in MLS that displays all the standard positions recognized at the ward level. While I see the "Custom position" review I do not see a list of all the standard positions.

I am especially puzzled that: seminary teacher, Family History Director, and Single Adult Representative seem to NOT be standard positions and have no close standard position equivalents.

Thanks for any input.

Barry

I finally found my own answer in the Clerk wiki on how to access the entire Standard Position list.

1. In MLS, go to Organizations > Custom Positions Review.
2. Pick any custom position in the list and click its Find nearest match link.
3. In the dialog that appears, click the Show All button.

On the 3 omitted callings, it occurs to me that reason for not finding a seminary teacher must be that it is a stake calling, maybe the same is true of family history center directors since all family history centers actually belong to the stake. I question that ours was called like that however.

I am still puzzled that I could not find Single Adult Representative. Unlike Young Single Adult, it appears that Single Adult is not even an MLS category of calling though it does identify members that are single adults. There seem to be no calling at any level for this group, just members of the stake that can be assigned to oversee the group as part of their other stake callings?

Two remaining questions: Our seminary teachers (3) and our FHC Director only show up in MLS with the ward custom positions for those callings. Should I delete those custom callings and ask the stake clerk to assign these members to the corresponding stake calling. After he does that should I then give them an "out of unit calling" ? I am a little unclear on how "out of unit calling" works.

Thanks for helping me sort this out.

You should ask your stake clerk to assign them in Stake MLS. When that happens, the calling(s) will flow to your Ward MLS appropriately - you should not have to set up an additional calling. I have 1 of our 2 Seminary teachers where the Stake has not yet given them the calling in Stake MLS.

I keep them in custom callings until the Stake does their part, then delete the custom calling. That way, I avoid complaints from the Bishopric that the "Members without callings" list is innaccurate. The Members and their Callings list (I use a custom version) helps spot the duplicates.

barryhill wrote:I am still puzzled that I could not find Single Adult Representative. Unlike Young Single Adult, it appears that Single Adult is not even an MLS category of calling though it does identify members that are single adults. There seem to be no calling at any level for this group, just members of the stake that can be assigned to oversee the group as part of their other stake callings?

MLS reflects the positions provided in the Handbook. There is no mention of a single adult representative that I could find in Handbook 2 (16.1 & Chart of Callings). The stake single adult committee does include several single adults - but there is no calling required for those single adults sitting on that committee nor for them to represent any stake unit.

There is a calling for young single adults to the stake young single adult committee. Therefore there is a position in MLS.

I did not check Handbook 1 since I do not have a copy on hand and do not have access to the on-line version.

barryhill wrote:Two remaining questions: Our seminary teachers (3) and our FHC Director only show up in MLS with the ward custom positions for those callings. Should I delete those custom callings and ask the stake clerk to assign these members to the corresponding stake calling. After he does that should I then give them an "out of unit calling" ? I am a little unclear on how "out of unit calling" works.

Check the stake directory before contacting the stake clerk. The callings may already be listed there.

You can add any stake callings for members of your ward at Organizations > Other Callings, "Out of Unit Callings" tab. Typically they will come from stake MLS. Manually adding postions not on the standard postions list there will be custom positions.

Positions in ward MLS at the Out of Unit Callings tab provide a location for those positions to be available for reports.

davesudweeks wrote:You should ask your stake clerk to assign them in Stake MLS. When that happens, the calling(s) will flow to your Ward MLS appropriately - you should not have to set up an additional calling.

Thanks, I sent the stake clerk an email to that effect.

You can add any stake callings for members of your ward at Organizations > Other Callings, "Out of Unit Callings" tab. Typically they will come from stake MLS. Manually adding postions not on the standard postions list there will be custom positions. Positions in ward MLS at the Out of Unit Callings tab provide a location for those positions to be available for reports.

That is kind of how I thought the "Out of Unit" callings section was to be used but I think I just read in the MLS help that it is for individuals serving in your unit when their membership is actually in another unit. At any rate, I just asked the stake clerk to enter the seminary teachers and when he does that should resolve the issue.

Also, you are dead on about the Single Adult reps. To my surprise there is no such position at either the stake or ward level in the handbooks.

barryhill wrote:That is kind of how I thought the "Out of Unit" callings section was to be used but I think I just read in the MLS help that it is for individuals serving in your unit when their membership is actually in another unit.

There are two out-of-unit situations. The first is for the unit in which the membership records reside. The second is for the unit in which the member has been called to serve but their membership records do not reside.

The "Out of Unit" tab of Organizations > Other Callings is for the first situation for the home unit to track members serving out of the unit. This would include those serving in stake callings as well as those serving in another unit or another stake.

For the second situation MLS provides a method for that out-of-unit member to be added to the leadership roles when their records are in another unit. The second situation is what MLS help was referencing.

JD,

Thanks for the clarification. I still am not sure it is clear to me however. If the Stake President, and his counselor, are members of our ward (which they are), is there any reason for me to list them under "out of unit" if the stake clerk has them in MLS with the appropriate stake position? The stake position shows up in the ward MLS so I see no point in the "out of unit" assignment in this situation. We have a total of about 11 members of our ward serving stake callings and all of them show up in MLS with that calling except for 3 seminary teachers and a FHC Directory which should be corrected soon. I have none of these in "Out of Unit". I do temporarily have the seminary teachers and FHC Director in ward custom positions.

Am I missing something?

barryhill wrote:I still am not sure it is clear to me however. If the Stake President, and his counselor, are members of our ward (which they are), is there any reason for me to list them under "out of unit" if the stake clerk has them in MLS with the appropriate stake position?

It should not be necessary since stake MLS should provide that information to your ward MLS.

barryhill wrote:The stake position shows up in the ward MLS so I see no point in the "out of unit" assignment in this situation.

That is correct.

barryhill wrote:We have a total of about 11 members of our ward serving stake callings and all of them show up in MLS with that calling except for 3 seminary teachers and a FHC Directory which should be corrected soon. I have none of these in "Out of Unit". I do temporarily have the seminary teachers and FHC Director in ward custom positions.

If those missing positions have been entered into stake MLS they will eventually show in ward MLS. It can take up to 48 hours from the stake MLS send\receive and a send\receive at the ward MLS for newly entered positions to show in ward MLS.

jdlessley wrote:If those missing positions have been entered into stake MLS they will eventually show in ward MLS. It can take up to 48 hours from the stake MLS send\receive and a send\receive at the ward MLS for newly entered positions to show in ward MLS.

And, barryhill, at that time they will show with the same calling twice in your Ward MLS - once with the Standard Stake-assigned calling (that you cannot delete) and once with the Ward-assigned Custom calling (that can be deleted to clean things up).

barryhill wrote:JD,

Thanks for the clarification. I still am not sure it is clear to me however. If the Stake President, and his counselor, are members of our ward (which they are), is there any reason for me to list them under "out of unit" if the stake clerk has them in MLS with the appropriate stake position? The stake position shows up in the ward MLS so I see no point in the "out of unit" assignment in this situation. We have a total of about 11 members of our ward serving stake callings and all of them show up in MLS with that calling except for 3 seminary teachers and a FHC Directory which should be corrected soon. I have none of these in "Out of Unit". I do temporarily have the seminary teachers and FHC Director in ward custom positions.

Am I missing something?

The main use would be if someone were serving in another unit (not your stake) outside your ward. YSA Bishop for example.

Got it, perfectly clear. Even with my experience, it seems I learn more every day (or relearn something I forgot) . This site and all of you are a big part of that.

Thanks to all for the discussion.