Tech Forum

I am recommending that we create an Emergency Contact tab in a member profile. In the event of an emergency to one of my members I do not have available to me contact information for a next of kin or family member should they not be members and or have their records attached. I was contacted today by a member who shared with me his brothers information in Utah in the event something happens to them. Today there is no place to maintain this information which could be reviewed annually during tithing settlement. If you would like more information about the suggestion please let me know.

Bishop Jason Shipp

Unfortunately, there's no one here who can act on your suggestion. I'd suggest using "Feedback" on the main web page, or asking your stake president to send it up to the area authority to talk to church headquarters about.

I'm not sure what factors are driving gathering emergency contact information (age, health, natural disasters, just in case, etc.). Some organizations, such as doctors, employers, etc. often times ask for such information. With the church's emphasis on information privacy and protection, it feels like something the church may not want to make available (this is just my opinion from what I've observed; I have no official word on the matter). Some emergency preparedness tasks have become more difficult with the church's changes in its information systems.

You may want to encourage members to be proactive in making such information available. Some ideas may include the following:

• Have emergency contact information in your wallet/purse
• Give emergency contact information to your neighbors
• Give emergency contact information to a close friend (in this case, maybe you, as bishop, happen to be the friend, who also happens to be a bishop)
• Some cities have a magnetic envelope that goes on the outside of the refrigerator and you can put emergency info there. First responders are trained to look at the refrigerator for such information.
• If the person is on social media and you don't have any other contacts, you may be able to post something there to connect with friends and loved ones who may know more.

If I remember correctly, in Leader and Clerk Resources there's a place to see family members in other Church units, if they have membership records. From that, a bishop could contact the bishop of a family member's ward to get in contact with the family. (Am I remembering correctly?)

sbradshaw wrote:If I remember correctly, in Leader and Clerk Resources there's a place to see family members in other Church units, if they have membership records. From that, a bishop could contact the bishop of a family member's ward to get in contact with the family. (Am I remembering correctly?)

I don't have LCR access anymore, but as an assistant clerk I think I could see information on an individual's parents. If a parent was living and a member, it also showed the unit the parent was in. I could also see children, but not the unit where the child's records were located. I was able to call Global Services and get a little more information (but nothing specific) about some family members. It's possible the Bishop can see more when he logs in, or it's possible that Global Services would give him more family details if the situation warranted it.

In the case of the bishop's original post, he specifically mentioned situations where other family members were not members of the church.

Another possible option is the baptismal record. I don't know if they still record the contact information of someone "who will always know where you are." It's possible that Global Services would have such information and might share it with a bishop if there was an appropriate need.

If the member in question is older, the parents are deceased. The baptismal record is now decades out of date. Unless the rest of the family are members, there's absolutely no record of who the next of kin would be.

sbradshaw wrote:If I remember correctly, in Leader and Clerk Resources there's a place to see family members in other Church units, if they have membership records. From that, a bishop could contact the bishop of a family member's ward to get in contact with the family. (Am I remembering correctly?)

The bishopric and clerk have access to this information (if they are still members and still living as mevans indicates). I no longer have access as a counselor in the EQ. In my experience, the bishop will to delegate Emergency Preparedness management/contact to the EQ or RS (or someone specifically called) and none of them will likely have access to family member information outside of the ward/branch.

But for my 2-cents, I think we should work with the information/tools we have to the best of our ability. If we think an expansion of the available information/programs is warranted, we can make a business case using official channels (feedback or ask SP to bring it up in his coordinating council for leadership consideration).