The following Q & A have been designed to assist you in using this online information update application. if you do not find an answer to your question here or on the update screens, you can contact the Office of Rosters and Statistics.

Q: Is my information secure and private?
Q: I do not see my District, assignments, or positions anywhere. How do I update these?
Q: Why does it take so long to get from one screen to the next?
Q: What do I do if I get a "Page cannot be displayed" message?
Q: What do I do if I do not have any updates?
Q: I received a message that my record is blocked from this site. What do I need to do?
Q: I am trying to edit a college name in my record (or add a new one). I click on the button and nothing happens. What should I do?
Q: I don't have time to finish right now. Will I lose all the updates I have made so far if I come back later to finish?
Q: After logging into the update application, one of the screens had a lot of gibberish on it that looked like some sort of coding. What should I do?
Q: What are the minimum system requirements to use this application?
Q:What do I do if I get a “Page cannot be displayed” or a “Page is unavailable” message?

Q: Is my information secure and private?

A: Updating your information on this site is secure as long as you do not share your User ID and Password with others. If someone tries using your User ID for access, after three failed attempts your account is locked and the password reset, so that no more attempts can be made to get to your information. You will be notified by mail that a lockout occurred and given a new password.

While access to your records for online updating is private, some of the information you provide is published elsewhere. Your name and basic demographic information appears in the Lutheran Annual and on the Church Worker Locator.

Q: I do not see my District, assignments, or positions anywhere. How do I update these?

A: Certain Roster information can only be updated by the District offices. If you have an update to any of this information, please contact your District Office about sending corrected information to the LCMS Office of Rosters and Statistics.

Q: Why does it take so long to get from one screen to the next?

A: When you click on a button to go to another screen or submit changes, there can be anywhere from a 5 to 90 second delay depending on the speed of your internet connection. Your current information, which appears on the left hand side of the screen, is being pulled in from many different tables in a database. Some of this information takes longer to compile on the screen than others.

Please be patient and do not click the buttons multiple times, as this will cause the computer to register a series of commands that will take even longer to complete. If a page will still not load for you after a couple minutes, please contact the Office of Rosters and Statistics.

Q: What do I do if I get a "Page cannot be displayed" message?

A: This message usually indicates a problem in the connection. It could be an issue with the web server at the LCMS, or it could be a problem with your Internet service provider. Try it again later in about an hour or so. If you still get the same message, contact the Office of Rosters and Statistics.

Q: What do I do if I do not have any updates?

A: Thank you for checking. You can click on the [Review & Finish] button, follow the instructions, and complete the survey at the end. Or, you can simply navigate your web browser to the LCMS Home Page to catch up on all the latest news .

Q: I received a message that my record is blocked from this site. What do I need to do?

A: Only Ordained and Commissioned Ministers can access this update application, and only if their status is Active, Candidate, Non-Candidate, or Emeritus. If you get the message that your record is blocked, and you believe your status or Roster classification may be in error, please contact your District Office about sending corrected information to the LCMS Office of Rosters and Statistics.

Q: I am trying to edit a college name in my record (or add a new one). I click on the button and nothing happens. What should I do?

A: The [Click Here] button used to look up a college, university, or seminary opens a small, new window called a "pop-up". You may have a "pop-up" blocker installed on your PC that will not allow this to open. Check to see if you have a pop-up blocker and whether or not you can change its settings to allow certain pop-ups. If not, contact the Office of Rosters and Statistics to find out how to update your academic record.

Q: I don't have time to finish right now. Will I lose all the updates I have made so far if I come back later to finish?

A: You can come back to the updates later. The changes you have made so far will be stored for you – but only until midnight CST. Beyond that time, you will need to start again.

Q: After logging into the update application, one of the screens had a lot of gibberish on it that looked like some sort of coding. What should I do?

A: Please contact the Office of Rosters and Statistics, and let them know who you are, what happened, and what screen you were trying to access when the gibberish occurred (Personal, Academic, Interests, etc.). There is likely some piece of your information in the database that needs to be fixed before you can use this website.

Q: What are the minimum system requirements to use this application?

A: Can one, or several of you, take a shot at answering that question in a way that will make sense to the users? Let me see it first and then I we can update the FAQ's.


Q:  What do I do if I get a “Page cannot be displayed” or a “Page is unavailable” message?

A: This message usually indicates a problem in the connection or some type of error. It could be an issue with the web server at the LCMS, or it could be a problem with your Internet service provider. Try it again later in about an hour or so. If you still get the same message, do the following:

[NOTE: The following instructions are for the Internet Explorer browser. If you have Netscape or some other browser, you can find where to change these settings by using the Help tool.]

1. Click the [Tools] menu item in your browser.
2. Select [Internet Options…]
3. Click on the “Advanced” tab and you will see a screen similar to the one below.
4. Find the setting titled “Show friendly HTTP error messages”

5. Make sure there is no check mark in the box for this setting.
6. Click [OK].
7. Try the page again where you first received the “Page cannot be displayed” or “Page is unavailable” message.
8. This time, if the page still does not work, you should receive a message that includes the error or reason the page is not working.
9. Copy the error message and send it to the Office of Rosters and Statistics. Include a brief message on what you were trying to do when you received the error.