One metric we track is the % of ward adults and youth who have four generations documented in Family
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This question has been asked before, and the consensus has always been "No" there isn't a way. If there is, I hope someone knows and shares it.
My favorite suggestion was from another T&FH consultant who sat outside the bishop's office during tithing settlement and chatted with everyone waiting for their turn. She had them all log in to Family Search so they could find out if they had 4 generations.
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That’s right there is no list. What we did in our ward was have a bulletin board with a large tree on it titled Four Generations. We invited everyone to show us their four generation on family search and they got to put up a leaf on the tree with their name on it. We were able to see from that response where most people were and how we could help them. It was been a really great way for us to see where our ward is at.
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Two years ago we were told to report to our Stake Leaders how many people in our ward did not have their 4 generations and identify who they were, with a deadline less than two weeks away. I do not believe that the Stake leaders understood that there was no button we could push or report we could run to determine this.
We got creative and created a spreadsheet with everyone in the ward on it with a yes and no column for 4 gen. We explained to the ward leaders that to comply with the Stake's request everyone needed to get the Family Tree app so they (and we) could immediately see their 4 generations on their phones. (People didn't know what 4 gen meant so the app made it easy for them to see.) The bishop announced it at the following sacrament meeting and put it in the ward bulletin. That Sunday the various ward organizations taught everyone in their meetings how to get the Family Tree app and find their 4 gen. It only took a few minutes of the meetings. We were able to fill in the information for quite a few ward members on our spreadsheet that day.
Following that Sunday we identified the no contacts and then sent a fun text to everyone in the ward whose status was unknown. We were surprised at the willing response we received. Those that did not respond, or needed help figuring it out, were divided up among the consultants. The consultants chose those people they had a relationship with and followed up on contacting them. We were able to canvas 72% of the ward in less than two weeks.
From there on it was a matter of following up on the other 28% and then helping those that did not have their 4 gen. Working with those who don't have their 4 gen is the most rewarding experience a consultant can have. One of the first sisters I worked with didn't even know who her grandparents were. I was able to help her quickly discover them. It was very touching when she learned she was named after a grandmother and she had never known it. Our ward has a lot of move ins and outs so it is a continual process of updating, but it works marvelously.
As a side benefit, now that most ward members have the Family Tree app they come to us with questions at church using their phones or devices. It has greatly increased the depth of interest and amount of family history work being done among our ward members. Especially with Ordinances Ready now available.
It would be nice if we could have access to ward members 4 gen information. It would certainly save a lot of time and allow us to put the energy used tracking them down into helping them instead.
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I love this answer!
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Also, my wife and I serve as Stake T&FH Consultant Leads. During Stake temple recommend interview time, members come in, sign in, meet with a member of the Stake Presidency, who then invites them to sit with us briefly. We help download Family Tree and Memories, show them how to use them, and if they already have Family Tree, we show them how to use the Ordinance Ready tool. We've been doing this for a few months now, and it has been a good experience, and appreciated by members.
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The problem is--and obviously your stake leaders didn't know about it--the church leadership has specifically stated that we are not to have people do a sign up sheet of any kind or do a survey to find out this information. My question is how did you get the information from their phones to your spreedsheet?
If this works without going against protocal, it is a great idea because it does two things--get people into the Family Tree app and make them aware that they aren't "in" familysearch unless they have their own account.
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Could you please give specific details about not doing a sign up or survey? Who said it , when it was said and what was said. Thank you. I've never heard this before. But, I'm a fairly new Stake TFHC.
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I have not heard that we are to keep this information about the 4 gen for each adult/youth in the ward. Where do I find out about that or is that something various local units have asked for?
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There is a report from Leader and Clerk Resources called "Family History Activity Report".
One of the sections of the report is "the percentage of your ward who have their first four generations of ancestors in the tree."
Without knowing who DOESN'T have their first four generations in the tree, we don't know who to target.
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From the same "Family History Activity Report" we track the number of ward members who have added an ancestor this year. This is as close a measure of how many actually research their missing relatives as we are able to get. True, it only gives numbers, but if that number is steadily increasing, you are doing what is recommended; turning member's hearts to their ancestors and helping bring them closer to Christ and receive the promised blessings.
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I have had access to this "activity report" as a Stake Temple and Family History Consultant and Family History Center Director but now I am getting the message "Access Denied". What's up with that?
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Check your calling in Tools. If you are still listed as a "Temple and Family History Lead", you should have access to the report, if you don't have that calling in the system, then talk to your membership clerk. Also, check that you are running it for your unit -- if you have a ward calling, make sure you are running the report for your ward and not attempting to run it for another ward or for the whole stake.
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The access to the FHAR has changed recently. Here is a knowledge article about it. The Priesthood Leaders over Temple and Family History are the Ward Temple and Family History Leader (or Elder's Quorum presidency member who is acting as such) and the Stake High Council Member over Temple and Family History. Auxillary presidents also have access to the report. These are the people who are responsible for setting goals, making plans, and monitoring progress, so they have access to the reports. Temple and Family History consultants are primarily responsible for working with individual members and families, so they no longer have direct access to the reports, although of course the ward leaders can pass them along to the consultants if they feel it will be useful.
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My husband and I are Stake Temple & Family History Leads as well as FH Center Directors and we are also now denied access. However, our stake clerk entered us only as Stake T&FH Consultants so perhaps that is why. As directors of a FH Center, I do not understand why we should not also have access to this report, especiall since auxiliar presidents get it. We gear our monthly schedule of classesspecifically toward some of the information that we receive from that report. Stake and Ward Temple & Family History Consultants are directly called to work with leaders and members in the area of Family History. Shouldn't they need this information before and auxiliary president in order to fulfil their callings more effectively? To me it would be like denying an auxiliary leader access to the reports regarding their stewardships. Is there some way to contact the people who are making these decisions to have them reconsider?
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The link listed in the previous comment shows this directive: Stake consultants obtain it through the high counselor assigned to temple and family history work.
It is my understanding that the high counselor may share this report with the Stake TFHC, maybe using it in their stewardship accountability and directive. I believe there also is no Lead Stake TFHC, only Stake TFHC over training for the wards. The Stake lead in effect is the high counselor. Please correct me if I am wrong. I went from Stake lead to Stake TFHC and the access to the report went with it.
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It would be nice if all consultants could still run the report. I don't know why that changed. Because the report changes only once per month, I suppose the lead could run and send to all consultants once per month.
I wonder if the same is true about the indexing details report, with metrics by person. That one changes every day, and again it would be nice if any consultant could run it.
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KSTaylor1, you said in your comment "it would be like denying an auxillary leader access to the reports regarding their stewardship."
To follow that analogy, a Temple and Family History consultant is like a teacher in the primary. If the teacher needs a report that the Primary president has, she can share it with the teacher. The leader for Temple and Family History in the stake is the High Council member assigned to that role. He has access to the report. The consultants are the teachers, working with individuals. If they need the report, the Leader can share it.
There is no Temple and Family History - Lead designation any more, so your stake clerk cannot enter you as that. The responsibility to lead the work has been given to the priesthood leader in charge, either the High council member or for the ward, the Ward Temple and Family History Leader (or Elder's quorum presidency member who is acting in that role.) As experienced consultants, I believe we can support the leaders by helping them to learn how to lead the work. We should be asking about the report, teaching them how it is useful, and asking for direction in terms of goals and plans for our units.
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I appreciate your answer, Joanne MacD. It makes sense more sense to me now. Yet, I see the priesthood leadership very, very busy with more and more being added to them while less and less is added to those who are not in the leadership position. Our member of the Stake Presidency has to send us the report, he has to post anything about our activities on the stake calendar, he has to work with other organizations in the stake also, carry on temple interviews, etc. It goes on and on. I dont' know how other stakes set their goals, but we are asked to summit our suggestions, without discussion, toward the end of each year. For the most part they are accepted, also without further discussion.
Since you appear to know quite a bit about the organizational part of this, I would also ask you if we no longer have Area T&FH Consultants over us? In the time we have had this calling (almost 3 years), we have only had an Area leader over us for about 5 or 6 months--as far as we have been informed. Our last one did funtion, but unfortunately his wife became ill. We had not heard from him for months so we contacted him around April timeframe only to have him tell us that he was released in January due to illness in his family. We have not heard if another one was called or not.
Also, how do you find out your information? We were at RootsTech, have watched the Thursday night Priesthood leadership meeting many times, finding that here are some subbtle conflicts in the presentations that are major in regard to how things should be carried out. To whom can we address our questions and get valid answers rather than opinions?
We also were left hanging since Stake T&F History Consultants--leads or otherwise--were given no directions. No one has told us there is no longer Stake leads in T&F History.
We would have assumed that there were no longer Stake T&FH personal at all from the RootsTech presentation if it were not that my husband approached one of the leaders at a following session in RootsTech and asked, "What about the stake T&FH Consultants?" to which he was told, "Just keep doing what you are." Very unclear direction for a calling, but the leader was in a hurry and didn't take time to wait for a follow up question. Perhaps those in Utah who live in general authorities' wards or who know people who work in this area at church headquarters know how things are supposed to be or where and to whom to ask questions, but where do we who live in the mission field find out? Especially since our members expect us to be knowledgeable in our calling.
I will appreciate hearing your answers. You appear to be someone who is in a position of authority and well informed. Thank you.
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I'm not really in a position of authority. I'm a Stake Temple and Family History consultant too, and also not in Utah. I read everything posted in this group, and follow the Temple and Family History Consultant group on Facebook, and also check in once in a while to the old Yammer groups (that are mostly transferred to here now, but still have a few people commenting.) I try to keep on top of all the training materials on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. In our stake we have also been blessed with active and involved Area TFH consultants and an involved High Council Member. Our Area TFHC were just released, and we have new ones that we will be meeting next week. So that calling still exists.
So this is just my understanding and if I have something wrong, I hope someone points it out. Putting everything I know together, as I see it things have not so much changed as simply been clarified and refined. Ever since the "New" callings of Temple and Family History Consultants were created, about 2.5 years ago, there was always supposed to be a priesthood leader who would lead the work. In the beginning that was the High Priest Group leader for the wards and the High Council member for the Stakes. When changes were made to the Priesthood quorums, that responsibility moved to the Elders Quorum President. He still has that responsibility, but we have the new possibility of a Ward Temple and Family History Leader to help the EQ president. In the Stake, it's still whichever High Council member (or members) have been assigned to oversee TFH work. As consultants, our role has always been to hold one on one experiences with individuals and families.
The priesthood leaders over Temple and Family History work were always supposed to coordinate with the ward council, make plans, and oversee the consultants. There was also the Temple and Family History - Lead position, which was someone who could train and help the other consultants and help the Priesthood leaders administer the program. However, because the priesthood leaders were busy with all the other things they have to do, and often didn't know about or take advantage the training materials available, many of them did not take much of a leadership role in TFH work. So many consultants, usually the TFHC-Leads, picked up the slack and did everything. Setting goals, monitoring progress, etc. Many consultants mostly floundered, wondering what they were supposed to be doing. In some units the system worked better than others.
Now we have more clear direction. The RootsTech presentation showed some of the ways that the work can be coordinated. The principles haven't changed (ie. a Priesthood leader oversees the work while the consultants teach.) The reports now go to the leaders who should have them to be able to fulfill their callings.
You mentioned that your Stake Presidency member has to give you reports and post events on calendars, etc. They should actually have one or more of the High Council members doing that. There also shouldn't really be many events to post, since most of the work of consultants should be in one on one experiences.
Stake consultants, as I understand it, act primarily as a resource for the Ward Temple and Family History Leaders. When invited, we can help train the ward TFH consultants and Leaders. We set the example in holding one on one experiences, especially for Stake leaders so that they know what the whole process is about. We encourage and mentor the ward consultants and leaders. We create enthusiasm for temple and family history work in the stake. We learn as much as possible about using FamilySearch and other resources so that we can answer questions and solve problems. Some are assigned to work in Family History Centers. I have plenty to do without ever worrying about the FHAR!
Again, this is just my understanding, but I hope that helps.
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When you say 4 generations, does that mean from all 4 main family lines? (Both your grandparents birth names) back 4 generations on each?
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Four ggenerations would be an individual, their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. So on the FHAR it shows how many people have everyone up to their great-grandparents linked in their Family Search profile.
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Ok, now I get it! Thanks : )
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Over the years, FamilySearch leadership has decided on several occasions not to share with Temple and Family History Consultants the identity of local members who have not done specific family history activities. Therefore, there is no report for this that is shared with consultants.
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That's not exactly correct. If you look carefully at the FHAR wording, it says "First Four Generations of Ancestors in the Tree" and then gives a percentage. I will certainly agree that this wording is a bit ambiguous, but here's what is actually calculated:
Each person has 14 ancestors that are tracked (their 2 parents, 4 grandparents, and 8 great-grandparents). If a ward has, for example, 100 members, then there are 1400 ancestors that are tracked. The reported number is the percentage of those 1400 ancestors who are in the Tree.
If the reported number were what you suggested, then it would hypothetically be possible to have 100 members, all of whom have 13 of their 14 4-gen ancestors in the Tree, and the number reported would be 0% since no member would have all 14 ancestors in the Tree. But what actually would be reported is 1300/1400 or 92.86%.
I know this is a subtle distinction, but I think it's important to have the correct information. The actual implementation is particularly helpful for members for whom it may be impossible to identify one of their grandparents or great-grandparents -- they still get "partial credit" for having most of their 4-gen ancestors in the Tree.
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That's interesting. No one else ever explains it that way. Is there more information that I can read about this somewhere?
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Wow, that's fascinating! Do you have evidence that it is calculated that way?
It is subtle but does make a big difference (0% vs 92.8% in your example).
So the question is this: does "First Four Generations of Ancestors in the Tree" mean:
"percentage of all the first 14 ancestors for each member are in the Tree"
or
"percentage of the members who have all 14 ancestors in the Tree"
I thought it was the latter. You are implying it is the former.
I wonder how it handles family members who have different numbers. Like an adult who has all 14 spots filled, but whose parent isn't interested in family history and has none. Or a parent who has all 14 spots filled but a youth child who added only the living parents but nothing after that.
Nevertheless, the first question remains: Is there a way to find out who DOESN'T have all 14 ancestors so we can help them? Beyond asking each person, I understand that the answer is unfortunately "no".
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@Taggart Barron : "Do you have evidence that it is calculated that way?"
My calling is as a Ward Temple and Family History Leader, but my day job is as an employee at FamilySearch. I was curious about this distinction and asked people at FamilySearch who know this precisely, and that's what they told me. I'm not sure why the published documentation on this is rather vague, but I'm sure what I stated is correct.
@Taggart Barron : "I wonder how it handles family members who have different numbers."
The numbers are based on exactly what people see in Family Tree when they sign in to FamilySearch. Because records for living persons reside in private spaces, each member's copy of living persons is unique. So my father (who is living) could have his personal record for himself properly connected to both of his deceased parents, but my copy of my father's living record might not be connected to my grandparents at all. In that scenario, my father might have all 14 of his 4-gen ancestors in the Tree, but I would be missing one set of grandparents and two sets of great-grandparents. That's why it's very important that each member connects their personal living record to living records for parents and grandparents as needed until every record is finally connected to deceased ancestors.
@Taggart Barron : "Is there a way to find out who DOESN'T have all 14 ancestors so we can help them? Beyond asking each person, I understand that the answer is unfortunately "no"."
As several people have responded in this discussion, that is correct. There is no way for priesthood leaders or TFHCs or TFHLs to see their ward members' 4-generation status. We just need to diligently work with each member of the ward to help them with their family history needs, including filling in their 4 generations and beyond.
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There is also a FamilySearch Blog post that is helpful in understanding how the 4-Generation percentages are calculated:
https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/family-history-report-lcr/
It says: "The first chart on the left shows the current percentage of first four generation ancestors in FamilySearch Family Tree for members of the unit. "
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So, knowing this new way of interpreting the statistic, I'd like to know if everyone in the ward is included in the calculation, including those who are not active, or is it calculated based on just those who have a Family Search account already?
I've always thought it curious that our statistic for "First Four Generations of Ancestors in the Tree" is higher than what I've been told our activity rate is. Now I'm wondering even more about what that number really means.
Thanks!
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@JoanneMacD JoanneMacD , everyone in the ward 12 and older is included. Note that the heading to the FHAR includes this note:
"This report shows a summary of members of your ward, ages 12 and older, and their engagement in family history activities compared to prior years. "
The number does include every member 12 and older, regardless of whether they are active, or whether they have ever signed in to FamilySearch. Based on membership records, FamilySearch creates person records for every member of the Church. Since membership records include information about parents, if the member's parents were members, then that person's record will be linked to their parents. If there are enough member records in a member's ancestry to get back to deceased persons, then they might very well have a full set of 14 4-gen ancestors without ever having signed in to FamilySearch.
But if the system runs into nonmember records before it gets to the deceased ancestors within the 4 generations, then the automated system will not be able to generate a complete 4-generation tree. Such members would have to sign in and fill in living ancestor records until they can connect to deceased records already in the tree or create records for deceased ancestors to fill out their 4-generation tree.
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