Our goal in this special issue of Ancestry is to educate our readers in some of the most valuable genealogical records available today–religious records. The topic has been a priority for some time now, but determining the best way to present this immense subject has been difficult.
How could we even begin to describe the vast world of religious records available to serious genealogical researchers? At the same time, how could we choose four or five religious affiliations among thousands of religions on the earth? And once that was decided, how could we move into the realm of religion without offending, misrepresenting, or inaccurately portraying special rites, customs, and traditions that are inherent in a religion and, thus, inherently connected to the religion’s records?
After much consultation with some of the most influential and prominent experts in American genealogical research, the editorial staff decided to cover five religious groups. We opted to focus on the religious groups our readers are researching (based on the data from the recent reader survey), and chose to feature Catholic, Jewish, Latter-day Saint, Protestant, and Quaker religions.
Once this decision was made, our biggest challenge became choosing one Protestant religion to emphasize among the many denominations. But how could we determine the largest sect, the most influential branch, or the denomination with the most useful records among the many Protestant faiths? In the end, we concluded that we simply could not choose. Our rather "unorthodox" decision to combine all the Protestant faiths into one main group came after we determined that many of these faiths keep similar records and have similar research methods. (With one exception: Quaker records were singled out because of the religion’s unique record-keeping system.)
After outlining some very specific guidelines for each article, we worked closely with our carefully selected authors to gather the most comprehensive and educational summary of each religion’s genealogical records, as well as to briefly describe the historical background of these religions, as it pertained to the records of the religion. With a list of Web sites and a short list of references, we have worked to provide something of value, and of interest, for our readers among the information in the following pages. We hope you will enjoy this special religion issue of Ancestry.
–eds.
Read the special religion articles as featured in Ancestry Magazine:
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Return to the Ancestry Magazine March/April 2001 Table of Contents.
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