Criteria for "Member is a convert"

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
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pwilson
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Criteria for "Member is a convert"

#1

Post by pwilson »

I created a custom report this week listing all of our Melchizedek Priesthood holders and added a column showing whether or not a person was a convert to the church. It appeared as though anyone that has joined the church within the past 10 years showed up as "a convert" but if it was later than that they did not show up as converts (for example one brother had joined the church in the 70's and he had a "no" in the convert column).

Any idea why members may not show up as converts or what drives this data point?

Interestingly enough we had one Elder who was BIC, but showed up as a convert...
russellhltn
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#2

Post by russellhltn »

I'm not sure what criteria they used. You may want to compare the member's birth date against their baptism date. One possible definition is anyone who was baptized after age 8. BIC is irrelevant.

I tried running the report in the test unit, but it ended up blank. I'm not sure what's going on.
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aebrown
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#3

Post by aebrown »

RussellHltn wrote:I'm not sure what criteria they used. You may want to compare the member's birth date against their baptism date. One possible definition is anyone who was baptized after age 8. BIC is irrelevant.

I tried running the report in the test unit, but it ended up blank. I'm not sure what's going on.
The definition of a convert (which is documented in the MLS Help system) is: "Converts of the church are persons who are nine years or older when they are both baptized and confirmed."

But the "Is Convert" attribute available in custom reports doesn't seem to follow this definition. Using the test data, some examples would be Raul Asay, Brett Thomas Byington or Christopher Schults. All these were at least 10 years old when baptized, but every single person in the test data has "Is Convert" set to "No".
dwterry-p40
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Location: Salt Lake City, UT

#4

Post by dwterry-p40 »

The test data is probably old.

MLS used to have its own rules "hardwired" into the software for determining who is or is not a convert (and the data probably dates back to at least then if not before).

But a couple of years ago, MLS switched to giving CMIS (the database at church headquarters) complete authority over who is or is not a convert. The rules are stored there and MLS has no influence or control or understanding of them. It simply reports that a member is a convert if the "is Convert" flag is turned on.

So I suspect the test data predates this flag and none of the members in the test data have it turned on. As for everyone else... I guess you could contact support about specific individuals.
kenny.eliason
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Re: Criteria for "Member is a convert"

#5

Post by kenny.eliason »

Stirring up an ancient topic here, I know... but just ran a custom report on LCR and added the column for "Is Convert" to the report, only to get a bunch of false positives on the report. Not sure what the criteria is for this now on LCR? Many of the people showing up as a convert were actually baptized at the age of 8...

Any one else have a similar issue and figure out a fix? Or at least can maybe help explain to me the purpose of that column?
russellhltn
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Re: Criteria for "Member is a convert"

#6

Post by russellhltn »

kenny.eliason wrote: Fri May 06, 2022 12:02 pm Not sure what the criteria is for this now on LCR? Many of the people showing up as a convert were actually baptized at the age of 8...
I'll take a wild guess and say they were never a "child of record". Either they were baptized with their convert family, or the clerk messed up and overlooked them until they were baptized.
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scgallafent
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Re: Criteria for "Member is a convert"

#7

Post by scgallafent »

kenny.eliason wrote: Fri May 06, 2022 12:02 pm Stirring up an ancient topic here, I know... but just ran a custom report on LCR and added the column for "Is Convert" to the report, only to get a bunch of false positives on the report. Not sure what the criteria is for this now on LCR? Many of the people showing up as a convert were actually baptized at the age of 8...
Being baptized at the age of eight does not make you not a convert. A child who was baptized at age eight whose parents are not members or whose parents were recently baptized is a convert.
russellhltn
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Re: Criteria for "Member is a convert"

#8

Post by russellhltn »

scgallafent wrote: Mon May 09, 2022 10:51 am A child who was baptized at age eight whose parents are not members or whose parents were recently baptized is a convert.
Which means, if the parent's are just listed by name (as if they were non-members) rather than properly linked would create a false "convert" status. It might be worth checking the record to make sure they are properly linked. That could happen if the baby was blessed/record created outside of the ward.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

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