Over the past year, I've been working in a chuch calling as a Family History (FH) Consultant. In April 2007, the Bishop called & organized five member FH Committee w/presiding High Preist (Brother P), 2 brethren (Me and Brother G), 2 sisters (Sister C and Sister N). me and Brother G were already comfortable with Personal Ancestral File (PAF) and the church’s “familysearch.org” website.
We three initial goals:
- Accredit the committee members as FH consultants.
- Identify the ward members with “unfulfilled interest” in FH for immediate focus.
- Develop a plan for involving the committee members with rest of the ward.
Surveying the ward. Bro. P developed a survey for ward members, asking about past involvement in FH and current interest in getting started in FH. He mailed the survey and tallied the results. The survey identified: 5 Families actively and proficiently involved in their own FH work; 16 Families who have PAF (or other genealogy program) installed at home but needed help getting started in FH; 19 Families who do not have PAF installed at home and wanted help getting started; and, 4 Families desiring no assistance.
Developing a Plan. The committee decided to focus on two initial priorities. First, to get PAF installed in the homes of all interested members and provide initial, and where needed, individual teaching on using PAF. Second, develop and teach a FH class for interested members; focusing on the practical use of PAF and online resources, basic research techniques and preparing names for temple submission.
Execution
Training and in-home visits. It took about 6 months to get all of the called consultants feeling comfortable with their role. During this time, pairs of committee members (usually one experienced and one novice) made several visits to four families, helping install PAF and introducing the family to research at the church website, http://www.familysearch.org.
Sunday Classes. By January 2007, the committee had developed a six-lesson FH class and invited three families, who had PAF installed at home but needed help getting started in FH, to attend the class. Couples attended the class, using either their own notebook computers or those belonging to committee members. The course taught the families:
- How to set up PAF preferences.
- Navigating the PAF menus and screens.
- Starting a PAF database.
- Sharing data by importing and exporting records.
- Recording source references in PAF (footnoting).
- Evaluating information for Temple submission.
- Submitting names to the Temple.
Gift of Family History Program. Several months ago, Bro. H presented the “Gift of Family History” (GFH) program to the committee. The GFH program began in a California Sacramento Mission and provides a service to investigators. Missionaries and members can give out a card to investigators that has a simple blank pedigree chart printed on one side. Once completed, the card is assigned to a ward FH consultant, who conducts some basic research into the investigator’s pedigree and prepares a personalized FH Packet for the investigator, using readily available data sources and preprinted materials that include a gospel message. I successfully built two of these packets for investigators and I'm providing training to ward and full-time missionaries about the program.
The Way Forward
Ward Temple Activities. The committee is encouraging the families it is teaching to prepare and submit names to the temple in time for various ward Temple activities. For example, almost 100 names of ward members are already assembled and approved for baptism in an upcoming ward youth temple trip. Once the baptisms are complete, the committee will be trying to get groups of ward members to attend to the initiatory ordinances over a four-month period so as to have a ward temple activity in October or November where all the ordnances are performed for the ancestors of ward members.
Continuing individual attention. The committee will be working to learn of new families, as they move in, and have them complete a FH survey—adding them to the records kept by the committee. Committee members are encouraged to visit at least one family per month that wants additional help.
Monthly Group Activity. I'm beginning to host a monthly “FH Special Interest Group” meeting in his home, inviting those interested in FH to receive instruction and discuss FH. Hopefully, the committee members and the graduates of the class just ending will form the nucleus of a social group that can encourage other ward members and that the chance to meet and discuss FH each month will keep their interest fresh. The group will make periodic visits to the major libraries in the region.
Continuing Formal Training. I was recently called as committee chair and hope to identify another three families interested in FH and, after a break of about six weeks, begin another six-week class similar to the one just completed.
Missionary Work with the GFH program. Hopefully, the opportunity to create the packets for investigators will bear fruit while providing ward FH consultants to hone their own skills. The GFH program is a great training opportunity for committee members.
Encouraging Volunteer participation. The Church is actively engaged in an effort to index major historic genealogical collections, including US, UK, European, Canadian and US State Census records; parish, state and local vital records; and immigration records. The project is based at http://indexing.familysearch.org. I've begin participating in the effort and will begin demonstrating the project at the monthly meetings at his home.
The New FamilySearch.org. FamilySearch is going through a “beta test” of a new website. Once released, members will be able to approve names for Temple submission over the internet, from home. The committee is preparing to use the new website as the basis for a series of talks and handouts at church, to highlight the new capabilities, encourage their use and increase awareness of FH.
