Tech Forum

Is it possible to add non-members who live in a household to the ward directory on lds.org? Specifically, there is a concern with members who are not in the directory because of disciplinary action.

You can create a non-member record in MLS. However, you need to follow the policy in the MLS manual: "Create a nonmember record only when the nonmember is related to a member of your ward and you have the permission of the nonmember."

There may be additional guidance in Handbook 1.

RussellHltn wrote:You can create a non-member record in MLS. However, you need to follow the policy in the MLS manual: "Create a nonmember record only when the nonmember is related to a member of your ward and you have the permission of the nonmember."

There may be additional guidance in Handbook 1.

Unfortunately, this does not seem to list the individual on LDS.org, and so they are not on the ward directory either.

cbradford wrote:Unfortunately, this does not seem to list the individual on LDS.org, and so they are not on the ward directory either.

It works in our ward. We have nonmembers who have never been members of the Church, and nonmembers who are (hopefully temporarily) not members of the Church because of disciplinary action. Both kinds of nonmembers do show up on the ward directory on lds.org. In all the cases I know of, it is the husband who is the nonmember. The husband is in the household as the head of household in MLS. But for those cases, the family is listed on the ward directory on lds.org exactly like any other households.

I'm a bit curious about your wording: "does not seem to list the individual on LDS.org, and so they are not on the ward directory either." What do you mean by "list the individual on LDS.org" that is different from the ward directory? Are you talking about a ward directory from MLS, or the ward directory on lds.org? If the latter, what's the distinction?

aebrown wrote:In all the cases I know of, it is the husband who is the nonmember.

Since the lds.org directory seems to pull up people who are married to members - regardless of if a non-member record has been created, I'm not sure as that's a good example.

I'm guessing what cbradford may have is a single member who is undergoing discipline. Even if it did work, that situation may not comply with the MLS instructions "only when the nonmember is related to a member of your ward".

RussellHltn wrote:Since the lds.org directory seems to pull up people who are married to members - regardless of if a non-member record has been created, I'm not sure as that's a good example.

Actually, it is a good example, but I didn't include all the details. In at least one case related to Church discipline, the brother disappeared from the directory entirely for a few weeks. Then the ward added a nonmember record, and he appeared again.

RussellHltn wrote:I'm guessing what cbradford may have is a single member who is undergoing discipline. Even if it did work, that situation may not comply with the MLS instructions "only when the nonmember is related to a member of your ward".

Since he specifically mentioned "non-members who live in a household" that doesn't seem too likely.

The situation is this: the father of the family was excommunicated. We then created a non-member record for him, and assigned him as head of household in his family. In MLS, everything shows up as it should. There is no record of him in the ward directory on lds.org, however.

Edit:
I just spoke with someone at headquarters regarding this issue. According to them, non-member records are kept at the local unit only, and do not get transmitted to headquarters, and will not show up on the ward directory on lds.org.

Is it just me, or doesn't this cause a privacy issue for members on discipline?

I can see the argument for the privacy issue, as it wouldn't take much more than 2+2 to figure out what could have happened to someone's record if it isn't listed on the ward directory.

BUT... Isn't that one of the reasons for disciplinary action in the first place? To remove the individual from full fellowship in the church until sufficient repentance has taken place? I understand the embarrassment that could result, but in the end, privacy about why was there discipline does not guarantee preventing embarrassment about the discipline happening.

We used to have a ward phone roster distributed annually in my ward, now it gets updated almost in real-time. The benefits of the automation outweigh the cost.

There seems to be conflicting information in this thread regarding what non-members (if any) show up on the ward directory at lds.org.

Which of these statements are true?

1. Those with non-member records created in MLS (excommunicated or not) show up in the ward directory on lds.org.
2. Non-member spouses of members (whether non-member records were created or not) show up in the ward directory on lds.org.
3. No non-members show up in the ward directory on lds.org.

I have moved to a new ward since the introduction of the new lds.org tools, and I no longer have privileges with MLS to confirm. However, when I asked LUS about those with non-member records not showing up in LUWS, I was told that no. 3 was the case. I was told that the online ward directory was of members only for use by members only.

greggo wrote:Which of these statements are true?

1. Those with non-member records created in MLS (excommunicated or not) show up in the ward directory on lds.org.
2. Non-member spouses of members (whether non-member records were created or not) show up in the ward directory on lds.org.
3. No non-members show up in the ward directory on lds.org.

Unless something has changed, #2 may be true. But was inconsistent. It appears that #2 is "by design" (although many of us think this is wrong), but perhaps someone has re-thought the situation.