Maybe as a Suggested Idea - Wouldn't it be nice if? Get Involved: Temple Involvement Report
Wouldn't it be nice if a similar report could be generated for each name submitted for temple work and a monthly tally of the six completed categorized temple ordinances by ward and stake? The current "report" we get as printouts as Temple and Family History Consultants by our ward genealogy leader each month just gives a total of how many folks are involved once a year in various categories. But eventually that flat-lines at 100% participation.
A report with the same look and feel of this one would be wonderful:
Answers
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I agree, actual counts (without names attached) would be very useful for us in seeing actual involvement in the temple. Right now we have no idea, so it makes it hard to know where to place our efforts. It also prevents us from seeing if our efforts are effective. The gathering of Israel is the most important thing happening on the Earth, so having tools to help us would be wonderful.
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Our ward leaders agreed to do a "1,000 temple ordinance month" in June 2024. All activities - including FamilySearch profile updates or keyboard contributions - will be included to meet the goal. Our ward at the moment is more like a large geriatric branch, with many members being temple workers. It will be interesting to see how the data will be gathered, besides having a poster in the church hallway showing "progress" by members - circa "Moses" documentation (like back in the day of home teaching reports, etc.). A handout was created explaining how this is to come about. I will ask at our next Ward Genealogy meeting later this month how the data will be compiled.
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You might consider reviewing section 25 of the Church Handbook about temple goals/quotas. Section 25.1.1 says "leaders do not establish quotas or reporting systems for temple attendance."
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Each member volunteered their numbers via two posters with 1,000 blocks and colored those blocks in each week with a variety of colored pencils until the posters were filled. One was for genealogy work, so even children and those without temple recommends could participate, and the other poster was for temple ordinance self-reporting. We filled the genealogy poster 3/4 the way and we had to add another poster for temple attendance and almost doubled the total for the month. It certainly was a topic of discussion for both June and July. It was a grass-roots effort. It was exhilarating!
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Just found this thread, and wanted to add a comment or two. The statement was made above regarding that report (presumably referring to the monthly Family History Activity Report or FHAR, though that wasn't specified I don't think), "eventually that flat-lines at 100% participation."
That is not so. If 10 people in a ward each do 1000 submissions in a year, the report will still only show 10 submissions. The report counts how many people submit at least one temple name for ordinance completion, not how many are submitted in total. Unless you have an exceptionally unique ward, it will never reach 100%, because 100% of the members aren't going to submit.
Also, the report shows year to date and corresponding prior years, and zeros out beginning each 1 January so reflect progress at any point through a specific year.
It's an exceptionally useful report IF we take the time to study it and how to use it.
—Chris
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We expected that from our increased temple activity, that this Report would show positive changes (participation). It did not.
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The Church is not likely to report detailed stats on what individuals are doing in relation to temple activity for good reason: that's a sacred thing between the individual and the Lord. And the goal is not at all about increasing stats on a monthly report. The purpose of the monthly FHAR is not the numbers, but what they represent. For example, if a ward or stake has only 30-40% of the 4-generations completed, that says a great deal about how much understanding and commitment exists in those congregation-level groups (ward or stake), and gives the leadership significant clues about what areas are not as well understood, and/or the commitment level of the members to making sure that we remedy the "we with them, and they without us cannot be made perfect" concept in Church doctrine.
Imagine if a non-member of our church became interested, participated in the missionary discussions, received convincing spiritual confirmation that the Church is true, and wanted to commit to a baptism date - but the missionaries told that person they could not be baptized because the ward mission leader and clerk had not prepared the proper paperwork, and until the required paperwork was filled out to qualify that person to be entered into the membership records of the Church, the ordinance could not be completed. We have to verify that we've got the correct full name of the individual, parents, dates of birth, etc., in order for that information to be entered into the Church's database of members. And the baptism and confirmation (and subsequent ordinances) cannot be done until we've collected all of that personal data.
Yes, it's all paperwork (or done on a computer screen with a keyboard), but it's still a function of the sacred record keeping within the Church.
Now go to the other side of the veil. There are called and set apart missionaries teaching on the other side of the veil just as it's being done here. And without the negative adversarial influences we have here in mortal life, the acceptance of the gospel is believed to be much greater on the other side of the veil. Yet because of "paperwork" (FamilySearch) not being completed properly or completely enough, the submissions cannot take place for the ordinances to be performed in the temples for the deceased family members. And that is our individual responsibility. So if only 30% or so of members have even completed that much (just 15 people - self, parents, grandparents, and great grandparents), it's a good bet that either there's a lack of commitment or even a significant lack of understanding. And that's what the FHAR is designed to do - i.e. to alert leaders (note the wide distribution list of who's authorized to see the FHAR) to the problem Then corrective attention/instruction can be provided to the membership as a whole, as well as individually if a sufficient number of ward T&FH consultants have been called and well trained.
Thus, just because there is increased temple activity (i.e. people going more often, and even more people going more often), that does not necessarily indicate who the temple ordinances are being done for. Are they being done for random names handed out at the temple for a patron to accomplish that day, or are the temple patrons bringing in their own family members to accompany them on their ordinance journey that day? The FHAR needs to be used as a thermometer or barometer to indicate that something is going well (a normal temperature, or a high barometric pressure reading, indicating probable good health or weather). And if the readings are in an abnormal range, more investigation and prayerfully considered action becomes necessary (diagnostic assessment in medical terms, followed by appropriately planned treatment).
A new Temple Involvement Report would merely tell you how many people are attending the temple, but would not tell you whose ordinances are being done in the temple. Ideally, the temples would not have to have names waiting to be handed out to patrons to "do" that day in the temple. Instead, the ideal is for each of us to be finding our family members, getting to know who they are within the availability of records, and them taking our ancestors (with the required paperwork/ordinance slips) to the temple with us.
For additional specific information on the FHAR see:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/new-family-history-report-available-in-lcr—Chris
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So when we hear "these numbers are 'disappointing', since they have not changed one whit from last year or the year before" and our numbers are in the 75-80% range, we should push back and state that based on the stats, we are in great shape and no more pressure needs to be applied to make the numbers look better and to "not worry, be happy". In my particular case, the numbers are not disappointing in my ward, based on what they measure. Got it.
So personally, I have a ton of temple work to do and no real time to do it and I have pressure from the other side of the veil to do as much as I can as fast as I can, while on this side of the veil, I am being pressured to slow down and think "quality" and not "quantity" and not be in a hurry.
I cannot clone myself. I can however, urge, inspire and share.
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