Out of Unit Baby Blessing Best Practices

[scgallafent]

A blessing is not a saving ordnance. The biggest fallout from not resolving the missing blessing is the parents don't get a blessing certificate. As I recall, it's not on the actual membership record. For many years, MLS was quietly discard that information when the record changed wards. I understand that LCR retains it.

LCR doesn't retain it -- there isn't anywhere to record it.

[russellhltn]

LCR doesn't retain it -- there isn't anywhere to record it.

How is a blessing certificate created? It doesn't hold any of that information after pressing print?

[scgallafent]

LCR doesn't retain it -- there isn't anywhere to record it.

How is a blessing certificate created? It doesn't hold any of that information after pressing print?

No. The entered information is only used to generate the certificate.

[jgoggan]

Add me as yet another person going "Ok, I've read through this thread, some of the info is outdated, and I'm still not sure how to handle this situation..."

We have a fairly common thing going on. We have new parents who are from another unit. They would like to bless their baby in our ward (NOT their home ward) because the grandparents are going to be here (for a missionary return). Basically, all of the family is here in our ward for a missionary returning -- so they'd like to bless the baby in our unit during that time.

I'm still confused on what the best practice is for doing this. Some say to have their home ward create the record first -- but others say that isn't the best way (and actually causes some information to be a bit incorrect or "wonky"). So, do we just create the whole thing here and make the baby their own head of household? And then send the record to the parents' home ward immediately after to have them add it to their parents' household?

Also, the handbook states:

"Exceptions to the typical place of the child’s blessing must be approved by the bishop."

By WHICH Bishop? The home ward of the parents must approve them to perform the ordinance in another unit? Or the Bishop of the other unit must approve them being able to do it in his unit? Or both, I guess?

[jdlessley]

The bishop of the unit in which the parents' records are kept must approve the baby blessing being done out of unit, or in another unit. The bishop of the unit in which the blessing will be performed must also agree to having the blessing done in his ward. It doesn't matter whether the parents' bishop coordinates with the other bishop or whether the parents coordinate with the other bishop.

The parents' home unit clerk creates a partially filled out blessing form by going to LCR > Membership > Create Record and filling in the baby's information. Then the partially completed form is printed by clicking the 'Print Create Record Form' button. Alternatively a completely blank form can be printed by going to LCR > Membership > Create Record and clicking the ' Blank Create Record Form (seven or younger)' link and printing the form. The printed form is given to the parents to take with them to the unit in which the blessing will be performed. That form is completed following the blessing and must include the name, priesthood office, and MRN or birth date of the person performing the blessing if it is someone outside the parents' home ward. If the father is the one performing the blessing then only the name is required. The completed and signed form is returned to the parents' home ward clerk to create the record and print the certificate.

Note that the record for the child can be created before the blessing is done if the parents desire. This will require two forms being completed - one to create the record and one with the same information but with the blessing information added. Both forms will require a parent signature. If two forms are used, the first form uploaded must be replaced by the second form.

[jgoggan]

The parents' home unit clerk creates a partially filled out blessing form by going to LCR > Membership > Create Record and filling in the baby's information. Then the partially completed form is printed by clicking the 'Print Create Record Form' button. Alternatively a completely blank form can be printed by going to LCR > Membership > Create Record and clicking the ' Blank Create Record Form (seven or younger)' link and printing the form. The printed form is given to the parents to take with them to the unit in which the blessing will be performed. That form is completed following the blessing and must include the name, priesthood office, and MRN or birth date of the person performing the blessing if it is someone outside the parents' home ward. If the father is the one performing the blessing then only the name is required. The completed and signed form is returned to the parents' home ward clerk to create the record and print the certificate.

Based on everything else in this thread up to this point, this seems not the best way to do it to me. Almost everyone above seems to indicated that the better way to do it is to have the ward where the baby is blessed create the record, print the certificate, and then transfer the record into the home ward (and place the baby directly into the family where it belongs).

Is that not the case and current best practice?

[chriswoodut]

Is that not the case and current best practice?

In general, I found it hard to get another ward clerk to create a record for something that occurred in our ward or for something that occurred in their ward with our member. I don't know why, but there often was a hesitancy to figure out the cross-ward coordination of blessings/ordinations.

I ran into a couple of situations where families moved into our ward with a baby not having a record even though a blessing did occur a year or more before. It once took me 6 weeks to get a ward clerk in another state to complete a step. After these issues, I decided getting the record created is the most important thing and if I could do that and push it to them, then I would. If needed, I would also nag them and get the info if I needed to create a record. I just took ownership of it because the records being right and updated timely are important.

[jdlessley]

Almost everyone above seems to indicated that the better way to do it is to have the ward where the baby is blessed create the record, print the certificate, and then transfer the record into the home ward (and place the baby directly into the family where it belongs).

This creates problems and is not in accordance with the General Handbook. First is the creation of a record for a child in a unit in which they do not live, nor the parents live. Second is the certificate would be signed by the wrong bishop/branch president and show as the approving authority for creating the child record incorrectly since only the bishop/branch president of the unit in which the parents live has the keys to authorize the blessing and the creation of the record. It is not possible to move a record into a household in another unit. It is only possible for a unit to move in a record and place it in a household within that unit.

The responsibility for maintaining unit membership records belongs to the unit in which the record resides, or rather where the member lives. See General Handbook, 33.6, "Membership records should be kept in the ward where the member lives." In the same section it states "clerks ...create records for new members and new children of member parents." There is no provision in the General Handbook for creating a new children record in any other unit other than the one in which the parents live.

[chriswoodut]

The responsibility for maintaining unit membership records belongs to the unit in which the record resides, or rather where the member lives. See General Handbook, 33.6, "Membership records should be kept in the ward where the member lives." In the same section it states "clerks ...create records for new members and new children of member parents." There is no provision in the General Handbook for creating a new children record in any other unit other than the one in which the parents live.

It doesn't say it can't be done and the system fully supports it.