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I don't know where you were talking about the Church not leaving you alone.

I asked my husband, who is currently our ward membership clerk. This is what he said.

When a person resigns, their record is sent to Salt Lake. It is no longer in the ward's computer. It is not kept with an asterisk or any other kind of notation. It is GONE from the ward records.

He didn't know about the data in the central Church computers.

He did know that in all the times he has served in different ward callings, there were no communications from central Church headquarters notifying any ward leadership person "hey, this person used to be on your ward records but they resigned so you should check on them." And neither were there any "this person just moved into your ward, and you won't have a record because they resigned, but you could check up on them."

As far as he knows (and he knows a lot) once a person resigns their formal membership record is no longer available to the ward.

NOW: Many wards and stakes print out membership directories, and those tend to hang around. I have some that are 10 years old. And people could be accessing names and addresses and phone numbers. And of course, a name doesn't magically disappear off the paper if a person resigns.

AND ALSO, it could be that a concerned familiy member, who doesn't want to give up hope, could contact a bishop and ask him to visit their family member.

charity wrote:I don't know where you were talking about the Church not leaving you alone.

I asked my husband, who is currently our ward membership clerk. This is what he said.

When a person resigns, their record is sent to Salt Lake. It is no longer in the ward's computer. It is not kept with an asterisk or any other kind of notation. It is GONE from the ward records.

Ask your husband how long that process takes, from the time a person resigns to actual removal of records.

Oh my gosh, leaving church is actually quite serious. I think I will pass for now.

the road to hana wrote: Ask your husband how long that process takes, from the time a person resigns to actual removal of records.

He hasn't had an personal experience, because in the 30+ years we have lived in the same place, no one has asked to resign their membership.

But these are the procedures. When a letter is received asking for the membership to be removed, the person will get a phone call asking for a visit by the bishop. The purpose is to determine that the person really wants to resign. There could be a situation where another person wrote the letter, either as a joke or maliciously.

And it has to be a letter. It can't be just a phone call or walking up to the bishop on the street, etc. There is no form letter, or specific wording that has to be followed.

When the person has the interview with the bishop, it should take a week. The membership clerk is supposed to deal with all membership situations within the week they come to his desk.

charity wrote:

the road to hana wrote: Ask your husband how long that process takes, from the time a person resigns to actual removal of records.

He hasn't had an personal experience, because in the 30+ years we have lived in the same place, no one has asked to resign their membership.

But these are the procedures. When a letter is received asking for the membership to be removed, the person will get a phone call asking for a visit by the bishop. The purpose is to determine that the person really wants to resign. There could be a situation where another person wrote the letter, either as a joke or maliciously.

And it has to be a letter. It can't be just a phone call or walking up to the bishop on the street, etc. There is no form letter, or specific wording that has to be followed.

When the person has the interview with the bishop, it should take a week. The membership clerk is supposed to deal with all membership situations within the week they come to his desk.

Are you of the opinion that no one on this board has any experience with resigning their church membership?

charity wrote:

the road to hana wrote: Ask your husband how long that process takes, from the time a person resigns to actual removal of records.

He hasn't had an personal experience, because in the 30+ years we have lived in the same place, no one has asked to resign their membership.

<snip>

I don't mean to quibble, but if your husband has not had a personal experience with a resignation, how does he know what procedure is actually followed? As anybody who has worked in a large organization knows, practice is often much different than theory.

the road to hana wrote:
Are you of the opinion that no one on this board has any experience with resigning their church membership?

Why would you ask that? Obviously the whole OP was for beastie, who has said she has. I really don't understand your question.

charity wrote:

the road to hana wrote:
Are you of the opinion that no one on this board has any experience with resigning their church membership?

Why would you ask that? Obviously the whole OP was for beastie, who has said she has. I really don't understand your question.

I think the point is that Beastie obviously has more experience with the process than your husband does. It seems that you were trying to educate people here regarding the resignation process from a theoretical point of view, when there are plenty who've had their own experience regarding it that might differ.

Skippy wrote:I don't mean to quibble, but if your husband has not had a personal experience with a resignation, how does he know what procedure is actually followed? As anybody who has worked in a large organization knows, practice is often much different than theory.

There is a standard practice for this process. If Charity's husband is a Ward Clerk, then even if he hasn't practiced it, he would be aware of it.

liz3564 wrote:

Skippy wrote:I don't mean to quibble, but if your husband has not had a personal experience with a resignation, how does he know what procedure is actually followed? As anybody who has worked in a large organization knows, practice is often much different than theory.

There is a standard practice for this process. If Charity's husband is a Ward Clerk, then even if he hasn't practiced it, he would be aware of it.

In theory, if not in practice.