New Meetinghouse Locator on LDS.org - Beta Release

[russellhltn]

I'm not sure about elsewhere, but in my area the Bishop's phone numbers are published in the white pages along with the ward's phone number.

To answer your question, my suggestion would be to call clerk support and see what can be done. If I had to guess, it may come from some stake paperwork.

[jdlessley]

Does anyone know the source for the bishop's primary and alternative phone numbers in the meetinghouse locator?

As a new bishop I've found that my wife and children are starting to pick up crank calls with inappropriate language on our home phone. I'm not sure if the map is where my phone number is being found, but I'd like to replace my home phone with another number.

I've got to admit that when I learned that my home phone was openly published on the Internet that I wasn't all that pleased.

After doing some quick checking it appears that the primary phone number provided in the meetinghouse locator is the telephone number entered into the ward web site as the office phone. This number can be changed by the ward web site administrator. Most units put the bishop's office telephone number there. The alternate phone number appears to be the ward bishop's home phone number. If that is correct then it is most likely the telephone number entered in MLS for the bishop's household.

I agree - your home telephone number should not be published on the internet without your permission. By posting on the forum this will be brought to the attention of those at Church headquarters who can make the changes necessary to get your home telephone number removed from the meetinghouse locator. I cannot tell you how long it will take for them to correct the situation. But because it involves disclosure of privacy information it should get priority attention.

[aebrown]

After doing some quick checking it appears that the primary phone number provided in the meetinghouse locator is the telephone number entered into the ward web site as the office phone. This number can be changed by the ward web site administrator. Most units put the bishop's office telephone number there. The alternate phone number appears to be the ward bishop's home phone number. If that is correct then it is most likely the telephone number entered in MLS for the bishop's household.

These theories are plausible, but I don't think either one is correct.

The primary phone number is indeed the ward office number, but I don't think it comes from the local unit web site for one big reason: not all stakes participate in the LUWS program. Rather, in the Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders, there is a phone number associated with each unit. This number is available independent of LUWS participation, so I think it is much more likely the source.

The alternate number is the bishop's home number, but I am certain it does not come from MLS. The reason I can say this confidently is that we have a bishop who has one number in the CDOL, but another number in MLS. It is the number in the CDOL that appears in maps.lds.org. I suppose it's conceivable that there is another source, but it's not MLS. In any case, it's nice that it is independent of MLS so that the family's home number can be in MLS so that ward members can contact the family in the most straightforward way, but the bishop can specify a different number for CDOL and maps.lds.org.

So if my theories are correct, you would not be able to change either number through local efforts, but would have to work with CHQ to get the CDOL entries changed.

[jdlessley]

...It is the number in the CDOL that appears in maps.lds.org. I suppose it's conceivable that there is another source, but it's not MLS.
...
So if my theories are correct, you would not be able to change either number through local efforts, but would have to work with CHQ to get the CDOL entries changed.

Are you saying that the bishop gave authorization to have his home phone number released to the general public without knowing it? Or is this an error on part of the Church?

[jdlessley]

I just called my bishop and told him that his home phone number was published by the Church on the meetinghouse locator and that it was available to the entire world. He was not happy. He also does not recall giving permission to have it published in that manner.

[aebrown]

Are you saying that the bishop gave authorization to have his home phone number released to the general public without knowing it? Or is this an error on part of the Church?

I never said anything on this topic. All I addressed was the source of the information displayed on maps.lds.org.

I have no knowledge of what permission any bishop gave or did not give, and I am certainly not going to jump to the conclusion that it is an error on the part of the Church. That would be a topic for concerned bishops to take up with appropriate authorities.

[jdlessley]

Are you saying that the bishop gave authorization to have his home phone number released to the general public without knowing it? Or is this an error on part of the Church?

I never said anything on this topic. All I addressed was the source of the information displayed on maps.lds.org.

I have no knowledge of what permission any bishop gave or did not give, and I am certainly not going to jump to the conclusion that it is an error on the part of the Church. That would be a topic for concerned bishops to take up with appropriate authorities.

These were merely questions. Nothing more.

[lajackson]

The CDOL receives information from the stake. The stake provides the bishop's phone number (presumably obtained from the bishop) and sends it to CHQ to put in the CDOL.

If the CDOL is, in fact, the source of phone numbers for maps.lds.org, the Church has a problem that should be rectified very quickly.

That said, I do not know the source of the maps.lds.org phone numbers, but whatever the source is, it should be located quickly and bishops advised on how to get the number changed.

Isn't it sad that we live in a world where this is such a problem. But we do.

[lajackson]

Ok, I just did a quick check. The primary phone number is the phone number of the bishop's office at the meetinghouse. I do not believe this number came from CDOL. I do not remember that the stake ever sends that number to CHQ.

I also know in our case that the number did not come from the LUWS, because the office number is not recorded there. I do not remember if it is in MLS or not, but I doubt it.

The alternate phone number is the bishop's home phone number. This number did not come from LUWS either, because LUWS does not include the area code of the bishop's phone number. For the same reason, this number did not come from MLS, because MLS does not include area codes, either.

My guess, and this is only a guess, is that both the primary number (bishop office at meetinghouse) and the alternate number (bishop phone with area code) came from CHQ, possibly the facilities records for the primary and the CDOL for the alternate.

I do not believe any bishop would have a problem with the office number (although it is never answered). But almost every bishop would be upset that his home phone, provided in private for use by other Church leaders, has been posted publicly at the maps site.

As I also said, this is not the world we used to live in. Things have changed. Someone has forgotten that.

[aebrown]

Ok, I just did a quick check. The primary phone number is the phone number of the bishop's office at the meetinghouse. I do not believe this number came from CDOL. I do not remember that the stake ever sends that number to CHQ.

I made no statement about how the office number gets to the CDOL, but I absolutely guarantee that it is there. Anyone with CDOL access can verify that.

It may get into the CDOL from the FM Group; in fact that seems likely. It could be that there is some other central database of office numbers. I consider the CDOL to be most likely (why go to two different databases when one has both pieces of information), but it doesn't matter much.

In any case, I don't think anyone has a problem with the office number being on maps.lds.org. That number is generally listed in the local phone book, and for stakes with a local unit web site, it is very often listed there. That seems only helpful, and not a significant target for abuse.