I was a member many years ago and went inactive. I wrote to my local ward and asked to be taken off their membership records but don't recall getting a letter confirming this was done. I was inactive many years prior to doing this.

There were two wards in the stake, which merged into one - in other words, a branch - because of declining membership. This merge happened sometime after I went inactive but I think it took place before I sent my letter.

So, how long does the church keep an inactive member's record on file? If the local ward/branch/stake no longer has it, would Salt Lake City hq have it?

Lastly, it is possible to check my membership status online? Thank you.

It seems the church doesn't delete your info. Just moved you to a different category.

If you lived in Europe their privacy laws could force a deletion of records in the EU. But I suspect a master copy resides in the US as well.

Absolutely correct. You are moved from a local ward to the biggest ward on the computer. Your record is never removed.

Although European data protection laws say they have to remove you, they keep a record in SLC which is illegal in Europe, but they ignore the law.

Bottom line, you never become a non-member until you are 110 years old (but even that is suspect).

Tom, you’re being too clever here. When you resign, you are no longer a member. Full stop. Yes, they still have a record that you were a member, but that does not make you a member.

Yes, things like temple marriages may continue in force for “eternity”, as far as LDS Inc is concerned, but actual real legal systems never recognize Mormonism’s “forever” contracts. That’s why you can’t go to court to get a “cancellation of sealing”.

I also think EU privacy laws are far more nuanced with respect to archival information than they are usually presented in discussions like this. I don’t know the details, but I can’t believe things like genealogy libraries are somehow illegal in the EU now.

To me, the main thing is they no longer have the right to contact and harass you.

Biggest pebble in their shoe..

Felt with every step.

this is why I tell people it is easier to just quit participating.
Sometimes I get the feeling that resigning is more of an ego trip than anything else although I understand why disassociation is very important to others



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2021 01:19PM by thedesertrat1.

You can have your records removed from the ward/branch by resigning but you need to make sure your bishop actually forwarded your request to central membership records at SLC Headquarter.

Since you didn’t get a confirmation by membership records in the mail or email, your bishop may not have forwarded your resignation request. If you haven’t been contacted by the ward since then, this might be a sign they removed your records from the local level.

If they can’t track you down, they count you as a member as part of their membership until you either die or would reach the age of 110, at which point, they assume you are probably dead and stop including you in the membership count.

If you resign,

A) your record at headquarters is put into the former member file and

B) your records disappear from the ward’s database and membership lists

Don’t even involve the bishop. Send your resignation straight to SLC. That’s where it ends up anyway. SLC is generally competent. Bishops are a crap shoot (in more ways than one).

Get a turntable!

Turn the tables-

They will quickly inform you if you're in the database :)

Simple.....call the missionaries...they can find out and tell you

LOL, I assume this is a joke :)

We live in the age of you can be anything you want to be. Just self-identify as someone else. You can even be a smart ass and use the name they gave you in the temple and that becomes your religious identity.

If the church contacts you simply say I’m not that person. I don’t know who that is. I go by a different name.