Mormon Genealogy & Family History

August 2, 2011 in Church Names Tags: , , ,

www.youtube.com is a video describing how to learn more about the Mormon Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the largest genealogical library in the world. This is evidence of the importance the Church puts on genealogical work (now more commonly referred to as Family History). The reason for such interest in ancestors comes from doctrines of the Church. Mormonism teaches that after death, a person’s spirit still has the opportunity to learn about the gospel, and accept Jesus Christ as his Redeemer. But in order for him to become a member of Christ’s Church, he must be baptized and have other saving ordinances performed in his behalf. This is the job of those who are still living. In temples, members are baptized, or have other ordinances done, on behalf of those who have passed away (such work is said to be done “by proxy”). This gives that person, if he chooses to accept it, the opportunity to become a member of the Church. Every person who has ever lived has a right to make such an important choice. Members of the Church are strongly encouraged to only perform ordinances for people from their own family lines, and to obtain permission from surviving descendants of the recently deceased. The LDS Church gathers genealogical information in two ways—through people who submit names of members of their own families, and from public records (as governments allow). These two ways of gathering information are called “submitting names” and “extracting
Video Rating: 5 / 5


3 Responses to “Mormon Genealogy & Family History”

  1. omiolo Says:

    @shatros The need for it started in the early 1830′s in Kirtland, OH with the visitation of Elijah the Prophet, who turned the hearts of the children to their fathers. The research I believe it started in the late 1830′s in Nauvoo with a revelation too.

  2. omiolo Says:

    In that spirit, perhaps the Prophet would approve of the South Point Family History Center at the men’s facility of the Utah State Prison, arguably one of the busiest and most productive among the thousands of family history centers operated by the Church. This month, it is observing 20 years of existence, commemorated by a recent fireside held at the prison.

  3. shatros Says:

    Can someone tell me at what point in Mormon history did the practice of performing genealogical research begin? When did the IGI begin? When did they first have a central library to store genealogical information of it’s members?

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