User Support Forum

I am using the online version of PCPLUS 11.5 and Windows 7 Professional.

The church had been an ACS user, and the previous secretary would delete members that passed away, moved their membership or based on the constitution and bylaws would remove them if they had been inactive for a certain period of time.

When I started working at the church, I switched from ACS to PCPLUS, and entered the membership that was left in the ACS system. I would like to add everyone that was removed from the system back because it gives a complete history of the church membership. However, several members have joined the church, left and rejoined. I have used all but two date fields under the Profile Information tab: Birth Date, Wedding Ann, Baptized, Date Joined, Deceased, Letter Rec'd, Letter Sent, Date Rec'd, Child Dedication and Dismissal. I thought I would add Rejoined and a second Letter Rec'd, but wasn't sure if I should do something differently. Also, under the Notes & Codes tab, I have Member No and Dismissal No, but I'm not sure where I could add additional Member & Dismissal No fields. All these dates and number fields come in to play when I'll setup a Chronological Membership Report.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is - has anyone had a similar situation of members joining, leaving and then coming back? If so, how did you handle them in the membership records. I'm trying to avoid having to create multiple records for these families. It would get confusing when trying to search for the current family record.

I hope this hasn't been to confusing.

Karin Watson
Temple Baptist
Columbia, SC

TempleBC wrote:I am using the online version of PCPLUS 11.5 and Windows 7 Professional.

The church had been an ACS user, and the previous secretary would delete members that passed away, moved their membership or based on the constitution and bylaws would remove them if they had been inactive for a certain period of time.

When I started working at the church, I switched from ACS to PCPLUS, and entered the membership that was left in the ACS system. I would like to add everyone that was removed from the system back because it gives a complete history of the church membership. However, several members have joined the church, left and rejoined. I have used all but two date fields under the Profile Information tab: Birth Date, Wedding Ann, Baptized, Date Joined, Deceased, Letter Rec'd, Letter Sent, Date Rec'd, Child Dedication and Dismissal. I thought I would add Rejoined and a second Letter Rec'd, but wasn't sure if I should do something differently. Also, under the Notes & Codes tab, I have Member No and Dismissal No, but I'm not sure where I could add additional Member & Dismissal No fields. All these dates and number fields come in to play when I'll setup a Chronological Membership Report.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is - has anyone had a similar situation of members joining, leaving and then coming back? If so, how did you handle them in the membership records. I'm trying to avoid having to create multiple records for these families. It would get confusing when trying to search for the current family record.

I hope this hasn't been to confusing.

Karin Watson
Temple Baptist
Columbia, SC

There have been such, and basically if they left for whatever reason, and they notified us that they had joined another church, they were no longer members, and we marked them transferred, unchecked all the boxes on the Mailing List Profile, and left them in the system for 4 years then deleted them. The 4 year period is the time the IRS requires any church to maintain income (contribution) records.

However, if they came back (for whatever reason) within that 4 year time frame and they again were approved as members, we updated the Joined Date with the new date of membership, cleared out the Loss Date, and changed all the profile statuses to member. Otherwise, if they had been previously deleted, we just entered them as new.

Of course, we have a written membership book where the main data is kept as required by our denomination, so it definitely reflects the full status of each member. If they come back, we use the same member number as was originally listed, just updated the dates and added a note about the return.

The question is, do you really need all that data or could you just include the old join/loss dates and member/dismissal numbers as a note on each personal profile? In the end, you go with what you're comfortable with.

I have this same need. I would love to have a table that allowed me to track the dates they left and came back. Our statistical reports require a member count and it is very confused with books, notes, scraps of paper, etc. I'm trying to get it all into the computer system but can't get numbers anywhere close if I don't have ALL the dates in the system.

RKellyHarvell wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 26, 2021 11:25 am

I have this same need. I would love to have a table that allowed me to track the dates they left and came back. Our statistical reports require a member count and it is very confused with books, notes, scraps of paper, etc. I'm trying to get it all into the computer system but can't get numbers anywhere close if I don't have ALL the dates in the system.

As I mentioned above, unless you have a register book as required by some denominations, all you can do is update the system with the most recent join date. Unfortunately, without such a source document, you have to try to piece together from various documents, or stand-alone databases what the current membership is.

A good starting point is often any type of Contribution system that was being used. If your church has been using Powerchurch for a while, you should be able to see when people started contributing.

You should also check to see if your church board's minutes contain information on new member approvals, transfers, or removal from rolls. Again, some denominations require this. I don't envy your task, but you'll only have to do it once, as then all you would need to do it maintain the system with the most current join and loss dates.

You didn't say what denomination or affiliation your congregation has, but I suspect that because you have to give a statistical report, that its one that requires some sort of written registry.