Good morning, I have had to research family from a defunct church that was absorbed by another nearby. I found that the records also moved to the new congregation along with the new members that elected to join the new congregation. I don't know if this is true in all cases. This brings up another point that I have also run into researching some Lutheran Churches. Basically, the refusal of the minister to give out information from past members that could have been your ancestors. Is there an "official" church law that leaves it up to the individual church ministers to make a decision? I understand that this decision could be tempered by "I can't do it all". But with youth groups in the churches, I would think that most youth would be willing to do lookups for genealogists along with donations to help defray the cost of materials. Any thoughts or insights on "official rules" governing this sort of thing? Regards, Robert Lipprandt rloss@bellsouth.net Researching: Lipprandt, Buscher, Hamann, Munzel, Obschernings, Rudau, Ohlendorf, Schneidereit. ----- Original Message ----- From: Betty Haworth <woolspinner@hotmail.com> To: <LUTHERAN-ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2000 8:57 AM Subject: [LUTH-ROOTS] Luthern Church Records > Posted on: Lutheran Roots Queries > Reply Here: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/Special/LutheranRoots/81 > > Surname: GRANT > ------------------------- > > I would like to know how to locate the master list of church members since > the church I seek no longer exists.. > Thank You > Betty > >

rloss@bellsouth.net wrote: > Good morning, > > I have had to research family from a defunct church that was absorbed > by another nearby. I found that the records also moved to the new > congregation along with the new members that elected to join the > new congregation. > > I don't know if this is true in all cases. Yes, that would be true. If a congregation dissolved, all records would be turned over to the local judicatory. > > > This brings up another point that I have also run into researching > some Lutheran Churches. Basically, the refusal of the minister to > give out information from past members that could have been your > ancestors. Is there an "official" church law that leaves it up to the > individual church ministers to make a decision? No official church law. Pastors might be suspicious by nature but genealogical requests shouldn't be too off putting. If there are members of the family who still belong to the congregation, they probably should be consulted by the pastor before any info is offered. > > > I understand that this decision could be tempered by "I can't do it > all". But with youth groups in the churches, I would think that most > youth would be willing to do lookups for genealogists along with > donations to help defray the cost of materials. PErhaps what is needed is to have some of these folk computerize the records. That would make the searches easier. Also, the records couldbe catalogued better than they are. > > > Any thoughts or insights on "official rules" governing this sort of > thing? Again, it is all up to local custom. Please understand that the records might not be in very good shape to begin with. > > > Regards, > Robert Lipprandt > rloss@bellsouth.net > Pr. John Dornheim