Solution for FSC directors to have access to the monthly FHAR
Some FSC leaders/directors are able to access the monthly FHAR (Family History Activity Report), but others are not. That capability is determined by how your stake clerk entered your calling(s) when you were first called. The short version is that if you are only listed in the LCR system as the FSC leader/director, you won't be able to view the FHAR.
A solution has been found for all FSC leaders/directors to be able to see that report. Each leader/director actually has two callings. A FSC leader/director is both a Stake Temple and Family History Consultant, as well as a Stake Temple and Family History Consultant specifically assigned to lead the FSC. The calling in LCR that designates each of us as the FSC leader/director does NOT provide access to the FHAR.
Have your stake clerk enter you into the LCR ("Leader and Clerk Resources") system as BOTH a stake consultant AND the FamilySearch Center leader/director. It is critical that both callings be entered by the clerk using the drop-down menu in the LCR system - NOT by hand typing in the calling name. Calling titles must be exactly as listed in their LCR drop-down menu.
Once you're in the system with both callings (stake T&FH consultant and also the FSC leader/director) do the following after logging into the Church main web page with your user name and password:
1 - Next to your log-in icon at the top right corner of the Church main web page, click the tools menu item:
2 - From the drop-down list options choose "Leader and Clerk Resources."
3 - The resulting screen will show one of your callings (mine always comes up as "Temple and Family History Consultant -- FamilySearch Center"). If yours also comes up as the FSC calling, then click the small blue drop-down link at the top right corner that has both the calling title as well as your FSC unit number. That will bring up a "Switch Calling" option where you can change that page to display your "Stake Temple and Family History Consultant" calling along with your stake's unit ID number in parenthesis such as "Stake Temple and Family History Consultant (510351)."
4 - Click that and it will open the page for your consultant calling with an option near the top left on the menu bar titled "Reports." Click the "Reports" link and you should see the FHAR listed as one of the reports authorized for your stake consultant calling.
5 - Click "Family History Activity Report" in that menu and it will open up to your current month's statistics for your the stake (with a brief summary of each of the wards and branches beneath the stake report).
6 - If you want to see the details of each ward, at the top right corner of the stake detailed report is a click-down menu for the name of your stake. Click that and you'll then have the option of viewing each of the wards and branches in your stake.
This should allow you to much more fully function in your capacity as not only the FSC leader/director, but also the family history consultant that you also are. You're in a great position to potentially impact the improvement in stake and ward family history activity, and this report will help a great deal.
For those unfamiliar with the FHAR, it is showing a monthly running total of the number of people in that unit who have done the particular activity ONE TIME this year. If 10 people in a ward or branch (or the stake) have submitted 100 names each for temple ordinances, that would be 1000 submissions. That is NOT what shows in the report - the report will simply show as 10 submissions, meaning 10 different people have submitted one or more names so far this year.
Note that there is a breakdown for multiple categories (adults, youth, etc) as well as a grand total. Please look carefully at the category for "New Members." If that shows a difference between the number of new members that have submitted at least one name so far this year versus the total number of new members, it is telling you that only some of the new members are being properly guided in their first months in the Church. The goal is for all new members old enough to receive a temple recommend, to receive a recommend and to also attend the temple where possible for the purpose of performing the baptism and confirmation ordinances for their own ancestors, not just taking a name supplied by one of the ward members, or going to the temple and being baptized for the person printed on one of the temple-supplied name slips. At least in our stake, and I suspect many others, new members may be being shown how to begin entering their family members into FamilySearch's Family Tree, but they aren't being shown how to submit the names of their own ancestors so those deceased ancestors can receive their ordinances. If new members can perform those ordinances for their own ancestors, the spiritual experience is potentially much more powerful than if that new member is merely doing a baptism for an unrelated and unknown person.
Even if circumstances don't permit a new member to attend the temple in their first year as a Church member, they can and should be shown how to submit names for their deceased ancestors, and either ask another member to perform those ordinances on behalf of the new member, or share those names with the temple so they will get done. It will be quite a special experience when the new member receives the notice in their FamilySearch account that a specific ancestor's ordinances have been completed on a specific day in a specific temple.
The FHAR, when carefully studied, will essentially be the ward's or stake's "lab work" to indicate the overall health of that unit in multiple categories pertaining to T&FH work. And when the T&FH activity is high, generally the ward is functioning far better in all respects. We consultants are just that - consultants to the ward and stake leaders to help them better understand what is going well and what can be improved in T&FH activity by their members. Leaders often don't have time to really learn about, study, and evaluate the FHAR, and we are the ones in the best position to help them with the sometimes surprising details so improvements can be made.
--Chris Schmink
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Chris….Well said regarding the ways we consultants should be working with nee members and ward leaders to build momentum within our units. Critical aspects in gathering Israel.
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Thanks Chris, will try it.
On other point regarding the work of salvation, the TFHL and WML should be yoked together in working with new members. The retention rate when a newly confirmed member goes to the temple for their family in the first weeks after they are a member is very high, compared to those who do not. During the new member lessons, ward consultants/TFHL can begin working with the new member during lesson 5. Then respective ward leaders can help the new member make a baptistry appt and accompany him/her. This should be done by the local unit leaders and not the missionaries, though they may be allowed to accompany someone they taught to the temple for the first time.
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Thanks! No question at all about that additional point, which deserves further discussion in the Temple and Family History Consultants Community Group. I included a beginning discussion on that point here, because I've talked with a number of FSC leaders/directors about the FHAR. Those that have seen it through another leader, or had direct access themselves, have often seen what I've seen - a distinct deficiency in the number of new members submitting names in their first year, which means they aren't getting the work done for their own ancestors in those first critical weeks and months of membership.
The discussion here in this Community Group is focused on technical issues, and FHAR access procedures for FSC leaders/directors seemed an appropriate technical issue. But your point is spot on as to what's supposed to be happening in the coordinated efforts of multiple people in the lives of new converts near and shortly after their baptisms. And the FHAR needs to be properly understood in terms of the wealth of information it can show as to the "health" of a unit, as well as the implications for better coordinating those efforts.
One other point - each month's FHAR is usually available online by about the 10th of each month for the prior month. I keep a copy of at least the December reports each year so we've got even more full years for comparison than just the 2 or 3 years covered by the various sections of the FHAR.
--Chris
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Chris--
I have been attempting, and continue to attempt, to create awareness in our stake and ward leaders regarding the importance of linking Missionary and T&FH efforts for new and newly reactivated members. Indeed, not only does it strengthen their commitment to gospel principles, using T&FH activities is a very effective in introducing the Church in Missionary work and in reactivating members as well. Linking to family and the eternal nature of families is an aspect that seems to resonate with most folks; the Holy Ghost testifies of those truths and folks feel that.
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I completely forgot to give credit where it is due. Mary Catherine Anderson @AndersonMaryCatherine1 , leader/director of the Tacoma Washington FSC, helped me finally get access to the FHAR very recently. We were puzzled why she could get access and I could not, and she figured it out. I merely posted the step-by-step above. She gets the credit!
--Chris
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One consideration needs to be added here. For years the FHC Director had access to the FHAR. Using that information, we (that's the "Royal We," meaning that it wasn't just me, but many long-serving FHC Directors across the country) talked and talked with local leaders and got few if any results.
Then the General Authorities changed the access away from the FHC leaders and directly on the Ward Council, Elders Quorum and Relief Society presidencies, Bishoprics, Ward Family History Leaders, etc. Why? Because those leaders have the responsibility for the Ward Family History plan. FamilySearch Center leaders do not have that responsibility, although goodness knows we are eager to help implement such plans.
So, dear brothers and sisters, are we undoing what the General Authorities are trying to accomplish if we go through a back door to access the FHAR? Are we taking authority on to ourselves? It seems more effective to me to simply ask the High Councilman over Family History for a copy of the FHAR. It's not secret, and the request may help him be more aware of its importance, and would probably initiate a discussion on how the information could be used in the stake and wards.
I intend no offense to anyone. My twelve years of FHC /FSC experience in two different stakes is speaking.
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I most definitely endorse Sister Cranford's comments - they don't conflict at all with my intent in providing the access steps. I have no idea why those steps work, but I suspect it's exactly for the reasons she notes - we FSC leaders/directors are leaders only within the four walls of our FSCs in that assignment. However, we're also stake consultants as well, and as such the Handbook specifically states that the high councilor over T&FH can use stake consultants to assist in training (which my previous one did before he passed away). Our stake president prefers that as stake consultants my wife and I (and a small handful of additional stake T&FH consultants) work with the new high councilor to assist in training quorum and RS presidents (and ward T&FH leaders), in a coordinated effort, with the high councilor as the lead. By having running access to the FHAR, we're just in a better position to make suggestions or point out both strong and weak areas from the report as we counsel with our high councilor. And in many cases, we're far more aware of how T&FH activities are structured and supposed to be functioning than many high councilors because of Handbook familiarity, experience, etc. Some high councilors are assigned to that responsibility with little or no prior experience with family history, unfortunately.
It seems to make sense that the FHAR can be accessed in the way presented above, because of the fact that it's the stake consultant position that has the access, not the person assigned to lead the FSC. That in itself suggests that in the role of FSC leader/director, we don't operate on our own outside the FSC. Sister Cranford is most certainly correct - the FSC leader/director has no authority outside the FSC itself. But because of our willingness (and often years of experience) to help where appropriate, the high councilor has the Handbook discretion to use stake T&FH consultants (which we also are) to assist in training, and the FHAR becomes very helpful in that regard.
Stake temple and family history consultants support temple and family history work throughout the stake. They serve under the direction of the stake presidency and one or more high councilors assigned to temple and family history work.
These consultants support high councilors and the stake Relief Society presidency in their efforts to instruct others in temple and family history work (see 25.3.3 and 25.3.4). They may also be given the following assignments:
- Help teach and support members in ward temple and family history callings.
- ...
--Chris
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No disagreement. However, the sad reality from my experience is that until prompted, those at the stake level who have access to the FHAR do not use it or even access it. Until visiting and area authorities use this when visiting stakes, it will be lost amidst the myriad of other also important reports that are reviewed. Until stake leaders (Presidency and High Councilors) use this in interviews with EQ presidents and presidencies, those ward leaders will not pay attention to it.
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@MLV2 Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. I wear two hats, one as T&FH Consultant, FamilyHistory Center and also as High Councilor assigned to oversee Temple and Family History efforts. Sadly, I have discovered that as I present information from the FHAR, it is news to everyone in those stake-level leadership meetings. However, because I wear both hats, I am able to raise concerns and propose solutions based on personal experiences within the Center. I wish I were more successful in the outcome of those discussions; I'm realizing that it depends on me, personally, directly interacting with each unit's RS and EQ president in order to create awareness. We are slow to hear the Prophet's admonition to "gather Israel on both sides of the veil."
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