Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

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RayLPghPA
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Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

#1

Post by RayLPghPA »

I'm not sure where it came from but I remember hearing that only baptisms are counted. However, I have been unable to confirm (or refute) this belief.

I asked the question to other Ward and Stake Temple and Family History Consultants and Leaders and have received replies that (1) only baptisms are counted and also (2) that one individual is recorded as a submitter regardless of the ordinance type. The closest thing to an answer has been the wording from the definition of 'Members Submitting -- "...a submitter is defined as an individual member who prints a Family Ordinance Request (FOR) or a family ordinance card to take to the temple or who shares an ordinance with the temple." I'm sure than can be interpreted to mean ANY ordinance but, based on what I've seen, that particular wording is not as clear as some might believe. So...

My questions:

(1) If a person prints an ordinance card or shares a baptism with the temple (or a baptism with any other ordinances), would you agree that the FHAR would count that person as a single submitter for the month?

(2) If a person prints an ordinance card or shares one or more ordinances that DO NOT include a baptism, does the FHAR count that person as a submitter or not record the person as a submitter since there was no baptism?

(3) If a person prints an ordinance card for or shares (all for the same person) an Initiatory in January, Sealing to Parents in February and Sealing to Spouse in March, is that person reported as a Submitter for all the months?

(4) Can you provide any official reference(s) to support your response?

Thanks so much for any input you might offer.
nathanpokipala
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Re: Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

#2

Post by nathanpokipala »

FHAR

Does anyone know when a number is included in the FHAReprt? I am being told that until an endowment is complete w/temple stamp and recorded by the temple that number will not appear on the FHAR In other words, if we prepared 10 names for baptism, did them along with confirmations and iniatories it still does not show on the FHAR until the endowment is completed and recorded by the temple. Is this true or does the numbers show up earlier on the report?

Thank you

Nathan
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jwthomasbennion
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Re: Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

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Post by jwthomasbennion »

No, I've been told it is when the ordinance reservation is actually printed (or claimed to be printed). That applies to any ordinance, and is what goes into the FHAR. I have been an FHC director over 10 stakes for nearly 5 years now. But I could still be wrong. Check with the FamilySearch Community group "All Temple & Family History Consultants" at https://community.familysearch.org/en/g ... onsultants -- you may have to "Join" first.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

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Post by sbradshaw »

jwthomasbennion wrote:when the ordinance reservation is actually printed (or claimed to be printed)
Just reserving a name doesn't count towards the Family History Activity Report – it has to be either printed, or shared with the temple.
nathanpokipala wrote:if we prepared 10 names for baptism, did them along with confirmations and iniatories it still does not show on the FHAR until the endowment is completed and recorded by the temple. Is this true or does the numbers show up earlier on the report?
The Family History Activity Report is generated monthly, so the number won't go up right away, but doing a baptism or any other ordinance should be enough to cause the number to increase the next time the report is generated. However, the number won't increase by 10 unless each of the 10 names were printed by 10 unique ward members. The report counts the number of ward/stake members who have "submitted" (printed or shared with the temple) at least one name during the year – not the number of names that were printed. So, if the same member prints 2 or 10 names in a year, it's the same – the number in the report will go up by one, and any additional names printed by that member won't have any affect on the report until the next year.
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aebrown
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Re: Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

#5

Post by aebrown »

I'm very late to reply to this, but since there were multiple misconceptions in this post, I thought it was important to clearly respond.
RayLPghPA wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:46 pm I'm not sure where it came from but I remember hearing that only baptisms are counted. However, I have been unable to confirm (or refute) this belief.

I asked the question to other Ward and Stake Temple and Family History Consultants and Leaders and have received replies that (1) only baptisms are counted and also (2) that one individual is recorded as a submitter regardless of the ordinance type. The closest thing to an answer has been the wording from the definition of 'Members Submitting -- "...a submitter is defined as an individual member who prints a Family Ordinance Request (FOR) or a family ordinance card to take to the temple or who shares an ordinance with the temple." I'm sure than can be interpreted to mean ANY ordinance but, based on what I've seen, that particular wording is not as clear as some might believe.
First of all, it is absolutely not true that "only baptisms are counted." All ordinances are treated the same for purposes of the FHAR. The wording that refers to "an ordinance" is clear and accurate.
RayLPghPA wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:46 pm(1) If a person prints an ordinance card or shares a baptism with the temple (or a baptism with any other ordinances), would you agree that the FHAR would count that person as a single submitter for the month?
If a person prints an ordinance card or shares any ordinance with the temple, the FHAR will count them as a submitter for the year. Note that the FHAR only counts submitters for the year. The main graph is titled "Members Submitting This Year" and that is all that is counted. The graph shows how that total number of submitters for the year changes by month.

So if 10 people each submit at least one ordinance in January, the first dot on the graph above the January label will be 10. Nothing those 10 particular people do throughout the rest of the year will have any further impact on the total number of submitters for the year. But if 5 different people submit an ordinance in February, the number of submitters will increase to 15 and you'll see 15 on the dot above the February label.
RayLPghPA wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:46 pm(2) If a person prints an ordinance card or shares one or more ordinances that DO NOT include a baptism, does the FHAR count that person as a submitter or not record the person as a submitter since there was no baptism?
Again, there is nothing special about a baptism. If a person who has not previously submitted in the year prints a card with only an endowment, for example, then the FHAR will count that person as a submitter.
RayLPghPA wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:46 pm(3) If a person prints an ordinance card for or shares (all for the same person) an Initiatory in January, Sealing to Parents in February and Sealing to Spouse in March, is that person reported as a Submitter for all the months?
For that example, when that person submits the Initiatory in January, they become a submitter for the year. None of the other submissions have any effect on that. Since the graph counts TOTAL submitters in the ward/stake for the year as it increases (or stays level) month by month, the person who submitted in January will be part of the count for all 12 months of the year.

If someone else submits their first ordinance in July, then that submission will be reflected in the increase on the graph from June to July, and that person will be part of the total submitter count from July through December.
RayLPghPA wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:46 pm(4) Can you provide any official reference(s) to support your response?
Sure. See What information is on the Family History Activity Report (FHAR)? (note that you will have to be signed in to FamilySearch in order to view this particular Help Center article).

Note also that I am a FamilySearch employee and am very familiar with these details.
davesudweeks
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Re: Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

#6

Post by davesudweeks »

Appreciate the information in your post, aebrown. Curious about one point with this report. Sometimes the graph for our ward goes down in a particular month. I'm guessing that would be driven by members counted in the report who moved out of our unit that month, but am curious if that is a valid assumption. Anyone out there know for sure?
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Re: Family History Activity Report - Are only Baptisms counted?

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Post by sbradshaw »

davesudweeks wrote: Sat Dec 25, 2021 3:37 pm Appreciate the information in your post, aebrown. Curious about one point with this report. Sometimes the graph for our ward goes down in a particular month. I'm guessing that would be driven by members counted in the report who moved out of our unit that month, but am curious if that is a valid assumption. Anyone out there know for sure?
That is my assumption as well. When I was living in YSA wards near BYU, the number tended to drop in the spring and jump in the fall, corresponding with the lower number of students in Provo during summer months.
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