Serving in a FamilySearch Center
Your Calling
Congratulations on your calling as a FamilySearch center coordinator! Thank you for your willingness to serve! You are the most valuable asset in your FamilySearch center. Your primary role is to help others have personalized temple and family history journeys. Your secondary role is to manage the FamilySearch center. Your efforts will have far-reaching effects as you bless those in your area and on both sides of the veil.
President Russell M. Nelson has declared: “The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it” (“Hope of Israel” [worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018], HopeofIsrael.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
Whether you are new to your calling or a seasoned consultant, we invite you to study and review the following materials often as updates are made regularly to address your needs. These tools will be invaluable to you as you seek to understand your role and how to help those who visit your FamilySearch center.
Important Resources
- My Calling: The ChurchofJesusChrist.org provides inspiring resources for your calling.
- General Handbook: Section 25 of the General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gives official policies regarding temple and family history callings.
- FamilySearch Center Operations Guide: The FamilySearch Center Operations Guide is the basic handbook for FamilySearch center operations.
Your Calling
It is normal to feel some apprehension about your calling; however, it is important to remember that you are not alone. This calling is a partnership with the Lord, and serving with Him brings about wonderful, eternal consequences. As you seek the Lord’s guidance in helping others participate in temple and family history work, He will magnify your efforts at home and in your calling. You will feel His love for you and for the people you serve. Seek to nurture your personal testimony of temple and family history work so that you and others can enjoy the blessings and miracles that can come from this important work.
Register your calling with FamilySearch
As one who is called to coordinate the operations of a FamilySearch center, it is important that you register with FamilySearch. Contact OI Services (oiservices@churchofjesuschrist.org) to register your new calling. Please provide your FamilySearch center unit number and your LDS Account username or membership record number.
Ask the stake clerk to enter your name in the Manage Callings section of Leader and Clerk Resources. The standard calling to be entered is FamilySearch center coordinator. The correct calling allows you to access leadership tools and provides the area temple and family history advisor your contact information so they can reach out to you with support and guidance.
For additional guidance and information, please see the Administrations webpage and Section 10 of the Operations Guide: Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders (CDOL).
Consult with Previous Leaders
If possible, meet with the previous FamilySearch center leader(s) to learn about the current operational status of your center. Some of the details the previous leader may provide include center hours, staff members, existing schedules, keys to the center, and administrative passwords.
Additional Resources
Getting Started
Resources for a new stake FamilySearch center consultant
Overseeing the FamilySearch Center
A FamilySearch center coordinator is called to direct the day-to-day operations of the FamilySearch center. He or she serves under the direction of a stake presidency member or an assigned high councilor. Responsibilities may include the following:
- Help Church members prepare family names so they can perform ordinances in the house of the Lord.
- Coordinate center activities to help Church members and community visitors discover their ancestors.
- Maintain the center and schedule staff.
- Work with the stake high councilor supporting temple and family history work to implement a plan for managing the FamilySearch center. Discuss your needs and concerns with him. If you do not have a high councilor assigned, reach out to your stake presidency and area temple and family history advisors for support and guidance.
- Collaborate with ward and stake leaders to meet temple and family history goals. Discuss how the FamilySearch center can specifically support ward and stake temple and family history plans with your high councilor.
- Work with the stake technology specialist to meet the center's operational needs and maintain its resources.
- Report facility management needs.
- Oversee other administrative tasks and upkeep of the FamilySearch center.
Most importantly, turn to the Lord. Seek to do His will and receive His guidance in your calling. This is His work, and He will help and guide you as you seek to lovingly serve others and help them gain a love of this most important work.
For more information on responsibilities, please see the Administrative Operations webpage.
Consultants and Volunteers
Ward and stake consultants and community volunteers can serve in the FamilySearch center. Work with ward and stake priesthood leaders to accomplish staffing needs for your center. If your new or current staff members do not know how to provide one-on-one experiences for your guests, please train them. Guide them to learn how to provide simple, helpful instructions for others to have success with their family history work. Show them your support and appreciation.
For more information on managing your FamilySearch center, please see the FamilySearch Center Operations Guide and the Administrative Operations webpage. See also the Training FamilySearch Center Staff and Consultants webpage for additional resources.
Spiritual Temple and Family History Resources
Although overseeing the operations of your FamilySearch center can be time intensive, you will find greater joy, support, and direction in your calling when you seek spiritual assistance. Turn to your stake priesthood leaders for direction and guidance and seek out other inspirational sources to nurture your testimony and inspiration of temple and family history work. This can also be accomplished by taking the time to have personal temple and family history experiences.
Additional Resources
Explore Family History Through FamilySearch
Although it is not required for you to be an expert genealogist to oversee a FamilySearch center, gaining experience using FamilySearch and other family history resources allows you to better help others, answer questions, and train staff. The Lord has provided great tools to further His purposes. FamilySearch is the primary platform used to research ancestors and prepare their names for temple ordinances. The best way to learn is by doing! As you seek personal experiences and learn to use the available tools for seeking out your kindred dead, you will be more prepared to offer guidance to those who look to your leadership. Your testimony of this sacred work will be a driving force to ensuring that all who visit your FamilySearch center feel the Spirit and blessings of family history work.
To ensure that staff members are also prepared and comfortable helping guests, leaders directing the operations for the FamilySearch center should strive to meet regularly with staff members. Listen to their needs and concerns and look for solutions to any problems. Leaders should seek to offer consultants and volunteers the tools and training they need so that they and any potential guests can have positive experiences. Consult with your stake leadership to determine when and how to appropriately offer training meetings and classes.
Some FamilySearch centers have wonderful volunteers and staff members who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their contributions to family history research and helping guests are welcomed with the approval of stake leadership. Helping guests with temple ordinances should be reserved for staff members who are members of the Church.
When serving in the FamilySearch center at the stake level, you may be asked by your stake presidency to train those in temple and family history callings (such as ward temple and family history consultants), including those who do not serve in a center. The goal is to assist consultants in learning how to create personalized experiences during which individuals can learn something meaningful about their family and heritage. These experiences can invite the Holy Ghost to testify of the divine nature of families and the importance of gospel ordinances. The inspiration of the Spirit also encourages a desire to invite others to receive the blessings of the holy temple for themselves and their ancestors.
Please see the FamilySearch Help and Learning Resources to increase practical application of FamilySearch tools and family history research skills. Be sure to sign in to see all of the resources. See also Training FamilySearch Center Staff and Consultants for additional helpful resources.