Separation of Duties…Clerks & Asst Clerks

[RBeatse]

I am newly in as Ward Clerk. My Asst Clerk - Finance has been in for a while and is doing great. My Asst Clerk Membership was put in when I was but has now moved and the Bishop and I were talking about his replacement. I can’t figure out why I need an Asst Ward Clerk for membership. There hasn’t been too much to do with an occasional baptism or baby blessing.
What are things that the Membership clerk should be doing that could be split off from what I should be doing so that there isn’t too much on my plate (according to the Bishop) but have something for them to do? Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks!!

[russellhltn]

The first thing to keep in mind is making sure you're not trying to hand them a task they don't have the rights in LCR to do. Going though the Handbook, it points to 33.5 and 33.6 as a list of tasks you can assign to an Assistant.

[rmrichesjr]

(Not complaining, just explaining:) As assistant ward clerk membership for a few years, I'm kept VERY busy trying to find out where a few dozen members currently live so their addresses can be updated or their records moved out. Most of the names came from 2020 and 2022 Christmas cards that came back as not deliverable with no forwarding address. Some came from a cleanup of the records of the local YSA ward/branch. Only a very few of these members want to be found by the Church. For most of them, no active members know anything about them.

[RBeatse]

The first thing to keep in mind is making sure you're not trying to hand them a task they don't have the rights in LCR to do. Going though the Handbook, it points to 33.5 and 33.6 as a list of tasks you can assign to an Assistant.

I read that all when I was put in but I will read it again to see what they can do but I was definitely thinking within their responsibilities

[RBeatse]

(Not complaining, just explaining:) As assistant ward clerk membership for a few years, I'm kept VERY busy trying to find out where a few dozen members currently live so their addresses can be updated or their records moved out. Most of the names came from 2020 and 2022 Christmas cards that came back as not deliverable with no forwarding address. Some came from a cleanup of the records of the local YSA ward/branch. Only a very few of these members want to be found by the Church. For most of them, no active members know anything about them.

This gave me an idea or two. We do not have many that we don’t know the locations for but this is a good start for some ideas. Thanks!!

[russellhltn]

It sounds like you have a pretty static ward. It should be noted that an assistant is an option, not a requirement.

However, you may want to look at having an assistant as a way of training up a future ward clerk.

[RyanGard1977]

a calling like that can be helpful for the individual called as well. I have been called to a few.. "made up" callings in the past, and I realized the intent was good so no hurt feelings. I did my best and that is what we all should do for any calling, right?

[sbradshaw]

If you need an assistant clerk, I'd recommend calling a general "Ward Assistant Clerk" rather than specialized "Ward Assistant Clerk—Finance" and "Ward Assistant Clerk—Membership." This will provide the most flexibility and allow you to share more responsibilities without having to worry if something is specifically finance- or membership-related.

[RBeatse]

Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and ideas

[greenwoodkl]

It may be local culture, but I had the impression that the general "Assistant Ward Clerk" was being avoided in favor of the specific Finance and Membership roles?

As a current Assistant Ward Clerk--Membership, here are some things I've been asked to assist with. Your mileage may vary and some of the list is part of our ward culture.

• Attendance - tally in-person Sacrament attendance, download reports from the ward Zoom account for those still authorized to attend remotely, add remote Sacrament attendees to the in-person count, forward the 2nd hour remote attendee list to the EQ, RS, or SS presidencies to add to their in-person counts.
• Membership Records - Standard Handbook responsibilities of maintaining and recording births, deaths, ordinances, child blessings. January is the busy season with all the new Aaronic Priesthood ordinations. We also still print and provide Primary completion/graduation certificates each January to the newly advanced youth. Provide reports on new move-ins to the Bishopric to welcome into the ward.
• Missionary Support - work with outgoing missionaries to order a service plaque for our ward display cabinet, maintain the section of the online announcements tracking currently serving missionaries with their contact information
• Record Callings, Prayers, Talks - the Bishopric provides their Sacrament Meeting agenda weekly, maintain the LCR callings list, track prayers and talks to inform the Bishopric's future invitations to participate. Provide an accurate Sustaining List to the stake ahead of each ward conference.
• Tithing Declaration Support - Review IOS/member records with families, coach and support use of the Member Tools phone apps, take and update photos