Beta: Ward Leadership Directory

[aebrown]

I am requesting an option to extend the standardized callings list to include outliers, or to allow non-standard OTHER callings (anything marked as OTHER would display, regardless of what it says).

For all those non-standard callings, just go ahead and use custom positions. There is nothing at all wrong with using custom positions -- that feature is in MLS for good reasons. You of course need to use standard callings for all those callings for which a standard MLS calling exists, but where it does not exist, feel free to create a custom position.

For a "Munch&Mingle coordinator" there is no special access to any Church websites beyond what any member has. So there is no problem with such a person having a custom calling. The bottom line is that MLS already does almost exactly what you are requesting -- just use custom callings.

I suppose the one item that you are hoping for is that the "Leadership Directory" would show all people with callings. But that is not the way it is designed, for singles wards/stakes or for normal wards/stakes. It just shows the actual standard leaders. All sorts of standard callings don't show up in the Leadership Directory, either -- it's not just the custom callings that are not listed there.

[greenwoodkl]

As a member of the same stake as freewholly (David), I can add some additional insight. I currently maintain a Stake Leadership Directory. Our hope is that we can move away from an offline customized solution to having flexibility in the online tools at LDS.org to provide a "Leadership Directory" online and then we can focus on training ward clerks to keep leadership callings updated.

I don't believe that we are seeking to show all people with callings, but in our YSA stake the committee leaders are standardized across all our wards and it would be most helpful if we had the flexibility to show the leaders of each standardized committee from each ward, not necessarily the committee members under them.

I respectfully disagree with some of the assertions you make however. I would think that the online directory would be more helpful to members of a ward or stake if they could find out who was in each calling, standard or custom. Perhaps the term "Leadership Directory" is too specific. In a family ward, it would be helpful to know who will my child's Primary teacher be or who my teenager's Scoutmaster and Young Women's leader would be without having to ask around or ask the clerk for the information. For example in our stake, committee chairman (elders) and co-chairs (sisters) are considered leadership within the wards and participate in most ward councils I've attended.

I can think of a few potential options to provide the flexibility while maintaining some order:

1. Work towards standard callings lists for specialized units.
2. Allow for a customized list of standard callings managed by each stake/ward. This would allow Priesthood leadership to determine what is considered "Leadership" within their unit.

As another example, we don't have Primary, YM, YW leaders in our YSA stake. If flexibility were added, our stake or ward leadership could hide those unused organizations and de-clutter the online tool.

Just some of my thoughts and two cents...