New book -- resources for major Christian denominations before 1900

Sunny Jane Morton and I have just published How To Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records: A Genealogist's Guide, with specific resources for major Christian denominations before 1900 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2019). It includes five chapters on family history research in these records in general, and twelve more on specific denominations or groups of denominations:

Anglican/Episcopal,
Baptist,
Congregational,
Dutch Reformed/Reformed Church in America,
German Churches: Reformed and Sectarian,
Latter-Day Saint (Mormon),
Lutheran,
Mennonite and Amish,
Methodist,
Quaker (Religious Society of Friends),
Presbyterian, and
Roman Catholic.

Obviously this is not a complete book on records of all US religions from the beginning until now. In the introduction we wrote,

"To include all faiths and carry them through the 20th century would have doubled the size of the book and postponed its completion indefinitely. Recognizing that perfection is the enemy of completion, we encourage others to extend and improve upon this work. Many important faiths that have grown up in the U.S. or been brought here by immigrants are not represented in this book; their stories and records deserve to be respected, described, explained, and cataloged as well." We hope it will help genealogists at all levels.

A touch of theology

"Families are, as Latter-day Saints like to say, forever. What they don't say is that the church is not forever."

That's historian of religion Kathleen Flake of Vanderbilt University, writing at "Sightings," an occasional web publication of the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago. As genealogists we benefit from the long-standing and highly motivated work of the Mormons, but few of us non-believers know the beliefs undergirding that work. Here's a taste of Flake's account of prophet Gordon Hinckley's recent funeral, but read the whole thing:

Cameras followed the mourners, focusing on his five children, twenty-five grandchildren and sixty-two great-grandchildren who formed the cortege to the cemetery. There, possibly most surprisingly, the eldest son dedicated the grave without fanfare. Notwithstanding the presence of the entire church hierarchy, the son stepped forward to pronounce: "By the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, I dedicate this grave for the remains of Gordon B. Hinckley, until such time as thou shall call him forth." Then, church leaders were "dismissed" ..... As the church teaches is the case in the afterlife, only the family remained.