England Nonconformist Church Records: Difference between revisions

Tenets include, among many others: the belief in the immortality of each individual and in the eternal continuity of the families, Sabbath day worship, belief in an eternal Father in Heaven Whose concerns and interests are centered in the details of each individuals' life; a firm belief in the grace and divinity in the infinite Atonement wrought by The Lord, Jesus Christ and in His soon return to earth in a "glorious Second coming" mentioning events leading up to it; a surety that God works the same today as in ancient times--in that His--Christ's ancient Church has been restored and setup with the same foundations as His ancient one--to include a living prophet, a quorum of Twelve Apostles, the restoration of the ancient Priesthood authority, the building of "houses of the Lord", called temples, and that each soul--known or unbeknownst to themselves--are on a progressive journey which promises, through consistent patterns in good choices and decision-making while here in mortality,  to steer each (soul) on a sure course that leads to Eternal joy, or life with The Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith, and the early converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States faced severe opposition and subsequent persecution. In the midst of this oppressive early period, Smith sent missionaries to various parts of the world including first to Canada, secondly to the British Isles, and later, to Scandinavia, Europe and other places. It was within the same month as the commencement of England's Civil Registration of births, marriages and deaths, that the first missionaries landed on England's soil. They first appeared in the Preston, ("Priest-town' as it was anciently called), Lancashire region with considerable success, these missionaries journeyed throughout the realm from there. Thousands flocked to its ranks. About 14 years later, by the time the 1851 Religious Census was taken, there were just over 50,000 "sittings" in approximately 250 different congregations spread throughout the countries of England and Wales. Many of these awaited emigration to "Zion", which was located high in the Rocky Mountain's Great Basin (Utah Territory), in the Western United States. By the time of the 1860 U.S. Federal census, nearly 1 person in 4 that walked the valleys of Utah, spoke in the England/Welsh/Scottish baroque, due to the many converts who had arrived from Great Britain. Charles Dickens, who was commissioned to personally inspect and observe one of the docked 'Mormon emigrant' ships, ''The Amazon'', [https://saintsbysea.lib.byu.edu/mii/account/29 '''wrote some views about his experience'''] with a large group (891) of Latter-day Saints about to embark for "Zion".  

The Church's doctrinal views on the Eternal nature and continuity of each individual and the family, resonated well with many among England's mostly working class. Nothing demonstrates this more since Smith's day, than in its practices of dedicating time, means and other resources towards 1) the building of meetinghouses, and temples and sending missionaries abroad. Then and now, in the temples, devoted members learn about the purpose of life here in mortality, God's interest and Influence in one's eternal progression while here and beyond the grave, the origin and eternal nature of each soul, and a belief that the "restoration" of God's (priesthood) authority, sacred ordinances may both seal on earth and become binding in heaven--through the eternities, couples to each other, and each family member to eternal parentage, such that all may partake of the heavenly gifts. The Prophet Joseph taught that God's richest blessings for each one of His children--and members' ancestors who may have never had the opportunity to receive the fullness of the Gospel and its accompanying saving ordinances--by proxy--were/are to be performed in their temples. Therefore, today the Church allocates numerous resources and man-power 2) to facilitate the operations of their temples in order that ordinances may be performed and of which allows not only themselves, but which grants ancestors as well the opportunity to choose to accept (or reject) these ordinances done in their behalf to progress in, respectively, their own eternal pathway of progression.   

 

By the liberal use of the above "resources", the Church has been and currently is a major player and contributor to the world's genealogical community, by sharing its vast genealogical treasures. Because of its mission, the Church has built the world's largest family history library--and opened all of its genealogical records and resources--free to the world. Family history enthusiasts and genealogists worldwide have used and will continue to freely be allowed to use these records and resources to further their own family historical pursuits. [FamilySearch.org encourages all who have begun a family tree, to share it by uploading it to [https://www.familysearch.org/ FamilySearch.org]' Family Tree. If desired, one can still share a family tree and in a [https://www.familysearch.org/mytrees/ '''way that your data cannot be changed by outside individuals'''].  You can visit the Family History Library, at 35 North, West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT, or, visit its website online to search for your ancestors at:  [[Https:familysearch.org/search|FamilySearch.org]] (both are free).  

Here is a list of the top 10 England counties with the most congregations, by 1851:

 

 

 

Derbyshire:  28

 

County Durham:  28

 

Kent:  28

 

Gloucestershire:  23

 

Cheshire:  20

 

Lincolnshire:  20

 

Monmouthshire:  20

Historical membership records for most of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint congregations (called Wards or Branches) are now located in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. Many additional copies (originals) are found in the Church History Library. Currently, these records may only be viewed in the Family History Library. Digitization for most of these records has not been completed. Dates of living baptisms are mostly available for church members.  These baptismal dates may be viewed in FamilySearch.org's Family Tree. However, there are (yet) many early convert baptisms which have supposedly been indexed (at least), but which are not made conveniently accessible in the Family Tree at this time. There is a hope and expectation that FamilySearch.org will prioritize the completed living early baptismal (indexed) data (the pre-1920 baptisms) by making it available in an accessible online format at some point in the near future. [Note to Church members: Just about all other ordinances for the living and by proxy (for deceased loved-ones) performed in nearly 180 years-worth of temple proxy work, are mostly available and found in FamilySearch.org's Family Tree. The place of baptism is never given. The place and original date[s] of living baptisms are found in the microfilmed branch/ward membership records of the town in which they occurred. Look in census records to help you determine where your ancestor resided in order to help determine in which the likely township or city a person was likely to have been baptized.]