Genealogy According to Mormons
by L. Tyler Hains
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Later-day Saints (Mormons) are prolific genealogists.
Genealogical societies aside, one would be hard-pressed to find
another religious, social, or political group that engages in more
genealogy per capita. The two main reasons for this are rooted in the
culture and doctrines of the Church.
Culture. Mormons conduct genealogy for many of the same
reasons others do. It can be very interesting to learn about one's
ancestors, how and where they lived, and what they experienced. We can
learn much about our culture, heritage and traditions by researching
our ancestors. It can also bring family closer together, and help
reunite family branches.
Additionally, since the early years of the Church (1830s-1840s),
members have been encouraged to document their lives and experiences
through journals and other family records. As a result, members who
have Mormon ancestors often have much more information with which to
begin their research.
However, if culture were the only reason Mormons researched their
genealogy, the proportion of Mormon-genealogists would probably be no
more than that of any other group. The most significant difference is
rooted in Church doctrine surrounding the afterlife and the "saving
ordinances."
Doctrine."Ordinance" is the general term used by the LDS
Church for what many other Christian denominations term "sacraments."
They are the basic rituals performed by church members, often becoming
rites of passage through life. "Saving ordinances" are the ordinances
required for salvation; they include baptism, confirmation, endowment,
and sealing. Sealings are the LDS version of marriage - instead of the
more common "till death do you part," a couple is "sealed" for time
and all eternity to each other and to any children they might have
under such a union. Endowments have no equivalent that I am aware
of. While regular baptisms and confirmations are held in chapels,
where anyone may attend and observe, endowments and sealings are
performed only inside temples
of the Church.
The Church's doctrine states that the saving ordinances must be
performed with the proper (LDS) authority, and - significant to our
discussion of genealogy - must be made available to every person who
has ever lived. Therefore, to make them available to people who did
not have the opportunity while living, they may be performed upon a
living member of the church as a proxy for a deceased
person. Ordinances for the dead may only be performed inside a temple
for a known individual or, in the case of sealings, for a known couple
or family. Through genealogy, we can find individuals and link them to
their families.
Public Relations. Here is where some of the unintentional
side-effects begin. Because the doctrine states that every person must
have the opportunity to accept the saving ordinances in either life or
death, Church members were eager to perform as many of these
ordinances as they could. When the church operated in relative
obscurity, they were able to perform ordinances for most any deceased
individual they could find. Hardly anyone in mainstream society cared
what Mormons taught or did, and the Mormons of that time gave little
thought to what the rest of society might have felt if they had known
who the Mormons were baptizing by proxy. Many early church leaders and
members performed "temple work," as saving ordinances for the dead are
often called, for figures such as the Forefathers of the United States
of America and Columbus, and ancestors of people of other
religions. They would often select candidates who had contributed to
the conditions that allowed the Church to come into being, or
arbitrarily by the availability of the genealogical information.
With the Church becoming more mainstream, non-Mormons have taken
more note of the actions of the Church and its members. Some whose
ancestors have been baptized by proxy have been offended. Some feel
that their ancestors would not have wanted any relations with the
Mormon church. Others feel that they should have been asked
permission. Others are offended by the Church's claim that it has the
only valid authority to perform baptisms, and that baptisms into other
Christian faiths should be recognized. While the Church makes no
apology for the doctrine or the performance of such ordinances, we
understand the emotions. Even though the doctrine states that a
deceased individual has the right to accept or reject the ordinances
done on their behalf, the Church leaders have reacted to outsiders'
complaints and decided temple work should be done only for ancestors
of Church members.
However, it is still possible that someone who is not a Church
member may find that an ancestor has had temple work done for
them. Usually, this indicates that you may have a distant relative who
is Mormon. Sometimes, however, it may mean that the temple work for
that individual was done before the Church asked members to only do
the work for their own ancestors.
An immense resource network has been made available to all
genealogists-a result of the Mormons' zealousness for genealogy. None
of this would have happened without the additional doctrinal
motivation. Hopefully, the misunderstandings that have arisen due to
the practices of the Church can be overcome by conversations and
articles such as this one.
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