Data Hub FAQs

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All videos and Information Sheets referenced below can be accessed from the Data Hub Info page unless otherwise specified.

People Record FAQs

What individuals should have a record in the Data Hub?

  • Ordained, licensed, and commissioned ministers
  • Individuals with dual standing, ordained ministerial partner standing, lay ministerial standing, or Privilege of Call
  • Persons serving as a pastor in a local church who do not have standing
  • Conference and Association staff
  • Members in Discernment
  • Individuals serving on committees, boards, working groups, etc. at the conference, association, or church level can also be listed. Their group membership must also be reflected on the appropriate organization record (i.e., conference, association or church).

How do I use special characters (e.g., tilde, accent, etc.)?

Some individuals use special characters in their name. These can be entered in the Data Hub, however, it does require special attention to do so. We do encourage these special characters to be used as is appropriate.

In order to enter these special characters any of the following options will work in the Data Hub:

  • Copy and paste these letters with their special character already added.
  • Type the character in Microsoft Word and copy and paste into the Data Hub. (Here’s a Microsoft support document that tells you how to do so.)
  • Use the cryptic code (You can find these by googling “cryptic codes for accents.”)

When searching for a name in the Data Hub that may have a special character please exclude the accented letter from your search criteria. For example, if you are looking for “José González” search using “Jo” in the first name field and “Gon” in the last name field. If you search for “José González” and the name is entered as “Jose Gonzalez” you will not find the name.


When should I request a person record transfer?

Record transfers should only be requested for authorized individuals after their standing transfer has been completed. If they are not transferring their standing or it has not yet been completed, you should not request a record transfer.
If a person does not have authorization a record transfer can occur at any time.

For help please see the video How to Transfer a People Record.


I’m waiting on another conference to accept a record transfer. What should I do?

If you have requested a record transfer that is still outstanding feel free to reach out to the conference that needs to accept the transfer to make sure all the appropriate paperwork has been processed. Just a reminder – this transfer process is not the ecclesiastical transfer of standing but rather an administrative transfer of their record after the appropriate Committee on Ministry has approved the transfer.

How do I add a person as staff in one of my churches if their standing has not yet been transferred to my conference or they are not transferring their standing?

A person may begin serving a church in your conference before the COMs have officially completed the transfer process. This Information Sheet (How to add an individual from another Conference) will walk you through how to indicate they are serving one of your churches before their standing has been transferred.

Do not make a record transfer request until after the COMs have officially completed the transfer process & all necessary paperwork has been exchanged.

An authorized minister has resigned their standing. How do I indicate this in the Data Hub?

Review the Positions tab, Specialized Ministry tab, and Group Member tab on their record and to ensure the information is current and accurate. If they are no longer serving in the capacity indicated on any of these tabs update them accordingly.

Change their Standing (on the Main Info tab) to “No UCC Standing” and select the appropriate reason their standing was changed. If a fitness review was conducted please be sure you have forwarded appropriate information to the MESA team. If they are no longer serving the UCC in any capacity you then mark their record as dormant. Do this by unchecking the Live checkbox on the Main Info tab.

When should I mark an individual’s record dormant?

Marking a record dormant does not indicate a person is no longer involved in active ministry (i.e., a retired minister), but rather that they no longer hold authorization with a UCC Association or are no longer serving the UCC.

Reasons for marking a record dormant include the following:

  • Standing has been terminated or resigned
  • The individual is deceased
  • The individual does not hold authorization and is no longer serving the UCC
  • An individual with No UCC standing is no longer serving in any capacity that is recorded in the Data Hub (e.g., They are no longer serving a committee that you track in the Data Hub, they are a lay person who was serving as a local church pastor but are no longer, etc.)

How do I designate the standing for a person who is not authorized?

If they are authorized by another denomination select that as their Standing. In all other cases, select No UCC Standing.

What does the Specialty Code and Church Staff Position “Designated-Term Pastor” mean?

A designated-term position is for a designated purpose for a designated time. It may or may not become a settled position at the end of the term. Some examples include Revitalization/Turnaround Pastor, Hospice/Legacy Pastor, Redevelopment/Repositioning Pastor, New Church Start Pastor, or Other. The MESA Ministry Team has many helpful resources.

How do I know when a person is deceased?

CARDD does not mark individuals as deceased. If we learn of a death, we may use the “Report data discrepancy” button to alert you to this fact. The Pension Boards posts clergy deaths as reported to them on the Changes and Deaths web page on a monthly basis. Please visit this webpage periodically to stay informed.

You should complete a necrology for an individual as soon as possible.

I learned of the death of a clergy person whose standing is not in my conference. What should I do?

If you know which conference holds their standing, please send them an email with any information you know to assist them in completing the necrology tab. If you have a link to an obituary be sure to forward that as well. If, however, you do not know which conference to contact please contact us at yearbook@ucc.org with all the information and we’ll pass it along to the appropriate conference.

I need help completing a Necrology. What do you want me to do?

In order for us to recognize the ministry of our recently deceased authorized ministers, you must complete the Necrology tab to report their death and provide us with information to publish in the Yearbook. Please see The Necrology Guide for complete instructions.

A Member in Discernment is licensed by and serving a church in another conference. How should this be handled in the Data Hub?

Members in Discernment (MID) may be licensed in a conference that is not overseeing their MID process. In these cases, their standing should be Licensed (not No UCC Standing) and their status should be listed as Member in Discernment. Their standing should be listed in the conference where they are licensed. When their licensure ends, their standing should be changed to No UCC Standing and the record transferred back to the conference overseeing the MID process.

Unfortunately, the conference (or association) that is overseeing their MID process will not have access to their record while they are licensed by another association. We suggest the conference overseeing the MID process provide updates to the conference in which they are licensed and this conference update the MID tab appropriately.

What do I do when a Member in Discernment receives authorization?

When a Member in Discernment receives authorization, their MID tab should be updated to reflect this process has been completed. You should add the Date their MID process was completed and the outcome. If they were Approved for authorization pending a call, please do not forget to update their standing and status (on the Main Info tab) when they are authorized.

There are address changes for my clergy that I didn’t make. Who made these changes?

The Data Hub receives address, phone, and email updates from the Profiles system. Clergy maintain their own records within the Profile system. If the information they save to the Profile system is different than the information saved in the Data Hub their Data Hub record is updated accordingly. If you hover your mouse over the Date Modified for a person’s address you will see the username of the person that made the update. If the update is from the Profile system the username is “Profile Portal: user’s email address.”

Church Records FAQs

When should I mark a church’s record inactive?

If a church is no longer holding worship services, they should be marked inactive on their Main Info tab. This designation is typically reserved for churches that are on the path to dissolving. There is no need to mark a “3 – Removed Church” as inactive.

Marking a church as inactive will remove it from the Find a Church listing on ucc.org.

A church has closed, withdrawn, merged, or is inactive. Do I need to mark their addresses inactive?

No, please do not mark addresses inactive for closed, withdrawn, merged or inactive churches. Updating their standing or marking them inactive on the Main Info tab is sufficient. (Mail should not be sent to churches whose standing indicates they are closed, withdrawn or merged or whose record is marked inactive.) When you mark their addresses inactive it makes it more difficult to do any analysis in relation to location.

How do I handle a Closed or withdrawn church record in the Data Hub?

When a church withdraws (or closes) all staff should be removed from the church pastorate tab.

Why do I need to enter latitude and longitude for churches location campus addresses?

Latitude and longitude are required for the church to be posted on Find a Church on www.ucc.org. Do not look up latitude and longitude using just a zip code or city and state. The results will not locate the church appropriately; rather it will locate the center of the geographic area you’ve searched.

Please see the video How to Update the Church Location Address (Latitude/Longitude) for help.

I need to update a church’s website. What format should I use?

Please do not include http:// in a church’s website. This information is automatically populated by the Data Hub.

What is the protocol for updating the name of a church?

A church’s name should be listed using their legal name. A “doing business as” can be added using the following format:
legal name dba functional name. For example, a church with the legal name of “First Congregational UCC of Any City” that does business as ”First Church” can be listed as “First Congregational UCC of Any City dba First Church.”

A church wants to enter their Yearbook data into the Data Hub, but they can’t login. What should I do to help them?

The Data Hub is only accessible to churches during the beginning of the year (January to mid-March) to submit their Yearbook data. Please see your Yearbook instructions to help them. If it is not during this timeframe, they are not able to access the Data Hub. However, you can update their data. 

How can I correct an error in a church’s annual data report?

Click the edit link next to the row of data that needs corrected. Click the Update or Save button to save the data to the Data Hub. This will update all reports within the Data Hub immediately.

Miscellaneous FAQs

I am receiving emails with the subject “UCC data discrepancy report.” Who is sending these and why are they sending them?

All records in the Data Hub contain a button at the top labeled “Report data discrepancy.” When users of the Data Hub use this button, an email is automatically generated and sent to the persons who have access to edit this record. You should use this information to update the records in the Data Hub as is appropriate. These emails are sent as a courtesy. Please verify any information sent to you using this process.

Our return address (yearbook@ucc.org) is used in sending these emails; however, CARDD does not send these messages nor have access to the contents of the message. Please only respond to these messages if you need assistance in obtaining contact information for the Data Hub user that generated the message.

If you need to respond to the person who provided the details in the Data Discrepancy report, please use their email address that is indicated in the body of the message.

Can I share my Data Hub Account with my colleague?

No. Each user is required to have their own account to the Data Hub as detailed in the Terms of Use. You are the only person authorized to access your account. If additional colleagues need access we are happy to provide them accounts. 

Do you monitor the data I enter? How will I know if I make an error?

CARDD regularly performs overall system monitoring. You may receive an email with a list of individuals or churches and their conference and association with an explanation of what the problem might be. We perform a variety of backend data checks on a regular basis to ensure the integrity of data is maintained.

Is there a way to check all of the conference or association data?

There are several reports within the Data Hub that bring all your church or people data together in one place. Please visit the Data Hub resources page for training videos about reports.