Recording funerals (Aug 2024 General Handbook change)

[wille]

Section 29.7 of the General Handbook used to include the following exemption for funerals and weddings: "However, members may save a recording of the video stream of a funeral service or wedding for personal use."

This exemption was removed when the Church introduced "Simplified instructions for streaming and holding virtual meetings" in August, 2024. Now the Handbook only says "Stream recordings of ward and stake meetings should be deleted within one day after the meeting."

Funerals conducted by a member of the bishopric or stake presidency seem to qualify as ward or stake meetings. So, without the exemption, I believe the Church is now saying that permanent recordings cannot be made when funerals and weddings are presided over by a ward or stake priesthood leader. This prohibition would also apply to mortuaries and funeral homes, who often record funeral services as part of their services.

I would appreciate any authoritative interpretations or insights into this apparent change in Church policy. Thanks!

[russellhltn]

I was a little surprised by that interpretation, but 29.5.4 says "A funeral conducted by the bishop, whether in a Church building or elsewhere, is a Church meeting and a religious service. "

[BrianEdwards]

I would appreciate any authoritative interpretations or insights into this apparent change in Church policy. Thanks!

I doubt you'll get any "authoritative interpretation" beyond what we can all see in the new Handbook sections, but perhaps different personal "insights"

One thing I believe that underlines the simplification in much of the Handbook, is to enable better application of GHB 0.4, the local application per presiding authority of Handbook policy. Whether that applies here is a good question, or if this was intentionally removed and thus no interpretation is allowed. My perspective is that a few recent changes in church guidelines about streaming seem to be "loosening" some previously strict instructions, so it would be a bit surprising to me if this exception was removed (but maybe others see things differently). My thought is that perhaps the new language in GHB 29.7 refers specifically to the publicly available stream recording, which should not remain on the publicly available site for more than a single day. And that perhaps for local exceptions, a personal copy can be made prior to the deletion of the stream recording.

That said, I do agree that there's grey area since something that previously was specifically addressed, is now omitted. And since the Church rarely ever gives reasoning behind Handbook changes, it's usually impossible to know if we understand the "why".

[sbradshaw]

I interpret "ward and stake meetings" as the meetings outlined in 29.2 ("Ward Meetings") and 29.3 ("Stake Meetings").

[wille]

I interpret "ward and stake meetings" as the meetings outlined in 29.2 ("Ward Meetings") and 29.3 ("Stake Meetings").

I think referring to 29.2 and 29.3 adds clarity to this, so thanks! The "meetings presided over by a bishopric or stake presidency member" interpretation came from my stake presidency.

[jnpetersen]

I had this same question when I first came across this. I had a discussion with my Stake President and he got back to me with his interpretation. I would definitely speak to the Stake President about it to get clarification. In my Stake, the Stake President said it is at the discretion of the Bishop or Stake Presidency Member presiding over the service. If the services are held within the Chapel, no video recording can be kept, but an audio recording can be provided to the family.