General: The level of responsibility that a family member can assume in calling or is delegated depends and age and maturity. Most members will have a chance to server in these positions a number of times while living at home. This should deepen their understanding to each role and its function in the family. (Most callings other than Presiding members and Secretary should be rotated every six months to a year depending on age.) Family members will need training in their callings. The training can be conduct by the person issuing the call, by the person who held the office previously or by an outside specialist or all of the above.

PRESIDING MEMBER

• The presiding member of the council is the father or if he is not present then the mother. If this is a single person then that parent preside. It is the responsibility of the presiding member to see that the council is called on a regular bases and that the rules of the council are followed in love. The presiding member needs to be sure that the ideas of all are shared and that none of the council members feels slighted and the decisions are carried out and/or returned to the council for reconsideration if not working.

SECRETARY

• The secretary is responsible for the minutes of the Family Council. The secretary can use the standard agenda as an outline for notes by filling in with a brief summary of discussion and action taken. (An outline for minute taking in the forms attached.)



• Minutes should be written legibly so they need not be rewritten or redone. Stop the meeting, if necessary, so the secretary to get ideas down on paper. The minutes should record brief summary of discussions, the plan of action and who is responsible. They should emphasize the positive efforts of family members in the challenges of their lives. They should share the joy of overcoming challenges in the lives of family members.



• The Secretary reads the minutes of the previous meeting at the beginning of the next FC. Only outstanding items should be continued in the agenda. Minutes can be summarized to the critical action items if time is a concern.



• We recommend that an adult member of the family keep the minutes because they can grasp the important points of the discussion and get them quickly on paper.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

• The Executive Secretary is responsible for:
1. Getting out the minute book and agenda book.
2. Developing an agenda buy gathering topic from family members (They may use the standard outlined agenda or develop one of their own. The important thing is to have an agenda.)
3. Leading the meeting following the agenda items. (Keep the agenda moving. If the family gets stopped on an item, propose a special group discussion of the item and report back to the council.)
4. Making assignment for Family Home evening. (Some type of rotation could be considered.)
5. Keeping the meeting moving from one subject to another. (Council meeting should never last longer than one hour for adult and teens - Fifteen to twenty minutes for small children.)

GARDENER

• The Gardener is responsible for:
1. Planning with the parents the family garden.
2. To Identify with other family members, crops to be planted.
3. Caring for the garden including watering and weeding.
(The gardener may enlist the help of other family members in these tasks.)
4. To reports on garden progress in Family Council.
5. Obtaining help in watering, weeding and harvesting of crops.
6. Prepare garden for winter with help.

MISSION LEADER

• The Mission leader is responsible for:
1. Helping family members share the Gospel with others.
2. Reviewing with family members friends they are working with and discuss next step in helping friends to come to Christ.
3. Planning and/or incorporating missionary activities and community service in family events.
4. Correlation family activities with ward mission.

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COORDINATOR

• The Community Affairs Coordinator is responsible for:
1. Identifying events or service projects that the family should be involved.
2. To help family members provide the service.
3. Act as family liaison for community events.
4. Help others in the community get involved.

FAMILY HISTORY ASSISTANT

• The Family History Assistant is responsible for:
1. Helping with Genealogy research by sending out letters and posting responses.
2. Learns how to use the Personal Ancestral File and Family Search software.
3. Helps update important living family member information to computer files- births, baptism, endowments and marriages. Also update paper documents as required.
4. Working with family members to update critical personal data in their Book of Remembrance.
5. Encourage recording in personal journals of family and personal events.

FAMILY ACCOUNTANT

• The Family Accounting Assistant is responsible to:
1. Assist the family bookkeeper in maintaining the family finances and reporting on budget outlays compared to the budget plan.
2. Post budget and expenditures in the ledger or computer file used to record these items.
3. Help teach other family members about good accounting practices.
4. Help identify the different between "wants" and "needs".

RECREATION LEADER

• The Recreation leader is responsible for:
1. Planning and/or coordinating of family recreation activities.
2. These activities may include attendance at family member sporting events and planned family activities - small (Picnic in park) and small.
3. The recreation leader is a key member of any special committee that plans family vacations and major outing.

LETTER SPECIALIST

• The Letter specialist is responsible for:
1. Assigning family member to write to grandparents or missionaries.

PRAYER ASSIGNER

• The Prayer assigner is responsible for:
1. Manages (with a chart if necessary) who says the prayer at the Family Council meeting. (Could also be help with other family prayers as well.)

FAMILY HOME EVENING MANAGER

• The Family Home Evening manger makes the assignments for FHE. (These assignments can vary with the age of the family members and be expanded and contracted based on the size of the unit.)

NOTE: All family members should have a contributing assignment in the Family Council based on their ability. (In smaller families members may need to have several Family Council roles/tasks. The same is true for a single person living alone. If there are roommates, they may share in council tasks. )