Tech Forum

Hi, so here's the story:

A family (members who are not in our ward) came to our area for vacation and it so happens the child wanted to get baptized in our ward. I have attempted to record the child baptism record in our ward's MLS as "child baptism" but it requires that the child's records be present in our unit. I also tried recording it as "out of unit member", but that did not work too.
Would I have to send the child's baptism record papers to his/her current ward for the baptism to be recorded?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Yes, the baptism papers need to be recorded in the ward where the family is living. Who interviewed the child for baptism?

It was the bishop presiding over my ward

How did you fill out the Baptizm recommend form if the record was not in your ward.

Anyway, you could move the record to your ward, record the baptizm and then move the record back to the ward where the family resides.

HB 1: 16.1.3 puts the responsibility on the clerk where the member's record resides. While requesting/updating/returning could work, I think it's a bad idea. It could disrupt class rolls, and in the case of older adults, callings. I think a better plan is to send the info to the other ward.

So the proper thing to do would be to mail the filled out baptism recommend to the ward where the records are located.

May we assume that the child was also confirmed in the same ward that the baptism was performed? I can't remember if the confirmation is recorded on the same form.

I agree with the previous questions.
- You must have an interview before the baptism.
- You must have the form before the interview.
- You must have the membership record (for a child of record) before you can create the form.

drepouille wrote:May we assume that the child was also confirmed in the same ward that the baptism was performed? I can't remember if the confirmation is recorded on the same form.

The conformation is recorded on the same form.

drepouille wrote: - You must have an interview before the baptism.

The handbook says the person can be interviewed by the Bishop or assigned counselor. It does not distinguish if the Bishop in the Bishop where the records are located. But I have to assume that the Bishops conferred with each other.

drepouille wrote:- You must have the form before the interview.
- You must have the membership record (for a child of record) before you can create the form.

I think you can print off the blank form from MLS, on the other hand they may have had some of the old forms laying around.

drepouille wrote:May we assume that the child was also confirmed in the same ward that the baptism was performed? I can't remember if the confirmation is recorded on the same form.

Yes, it is.

drepouille wrote:I agree with the previous questions.
- You must have an interview before the baptism.
- You must have the form before the interview.
- You must have the membership record (for a child of record) before you can create the form.

Certainly there is no requirement in MLS that you have to have the record to print the form. You can easily print an empty form and fill it in manually or manually enter the information before printing the form. I can't find anything in the Handbook that requires that child be interviewed by the bishop where the record resides. The only thing I can find is the section already referenced that indicates the clerk where the record resides is responsible for recording the baptism. So I agree that the form should be sent to the ward where the record is.

However, it would probably be best for the clerk and bishop where the baptism was performed (and where the interview was performed) to print and sign the baptism certificate. Since the baptism was performed under the authority of that bishop he should probably sign it (although I don't know of any policy that requires that). You can print a certificate without actually recording the ordinance by using the Membership > Ordinances > Certificates menu option.

Does the form require the name, birthdate, and MRN of those performing the baptism and confirmation, as the ordination forms do? If, so then those fields must be completed before the form is mailed to the unit that holds the membership record.

We have some units in my stake that pre-print a stack of blank forms, and the bishopric grabs a blank form during the interview. I prefer that the bishopric ask the clerks to print the form from MLS before the interview.