Pedigree Chart - With a ChristianTwist

My family is mixed – religiously.  While both my husband and I come from long lines strong Christian ancestors, he was baptized Lutheran and I was baptized Roman Catholic.  One thing we both agreed on was the importantance of to us taking our future family to church together, so I am now a Lutheran.  Our children, raised Lutheran, are adults and (I am happy to say) making their own decisions about churches that are comfortable for them.  Many people are in the same situation as my husband and I were, and end up with a great story about the religious paths their lives travelled.

Between my husband and I, our ancestors have come from many religious denominations:  Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, 7^th Day Baptist, Free Baptist, Christian Scientist to name just a few.  In the mid-1800’s, our Alsace Lorraine ancestors left their Lutheran home town of Oberhoffen-sur-Moder, France and  built two Lutheran churches in their new homes of Boston, NY and Colden, NY.  Another ancestor, Gustave Schattner, (German) donated his hard earned money for stained glass windows in his new Lutheran church in West Seneca, NY.  Barney Coffey (Irish Catholic) built a house for a priest in the 1870’s in Kansas.  Hiram and Jemima Dunbar, joined a Congregational church in Princeton, IL which strongly supported the underground railroad.  They named a son, Owen Lovejoy after a minister with the same name whose brother was killed for his anti-slavery beliefs.

For many of us, our families’ histories (and our research) come from church records.  So with that in mind I’d like to show you a chart that I have used many times that you can easily make in your database (such as Family Tree Maker) yourself.  It will help you in understanding the religious path your family has walked by using a pedigree chart.This is the one that I make and I hope it will be helpful to you.  You can fill out their religion at the various times in their lives:birth, confirmation, marriage, death. 

 

First I created an unrelated family with the surname “NAME”.  I find this “family” helpful when I am teaching beginning genealogy.  In this family are the following “people”:

NAME, Your

NAME, Father's
NAME, Mother’s Maiden
NAME, Father’s Father’s
NAME, Father’s Mother’s

 

I think you get the idea.  So my NAME pedigree chart looks like this:

To take this chart to the next stage I did the following in my database [1]starting with the person “ Name, Your”. As with any pedigree chart start by using “Publish” and selecting “Pedigree Chart”  and “Create Chart”.  (Pick the formats you like the best. You may vary the number of generations, overlap etc.)  Next to change the fields from the normal birth, marriage and death, you go to “Items to Include” which in this case is by clicking on notebook page icon right below the “P” in Pedigree. (circled)

I keep the name and blank lines but use the red “X” to delete what items are currently there (usually birth, marriage, death) and using the blue “+” sign and holding down the control key add:  Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage  (or Marriage Fact) and Religion and then hit the OK button.

You can add the corner decorations and change the name of the chart to your satisfaction. 

Next hit generate chart.  You might have to try this, using variations of the instructions to make it the way you’d like to see it.  Here's a snapshot of what my instructions look like in Family Tree Maker:

 

By filling out this chart, you will be able to follow your ancestors’ religious changes and paths travelled. I hope I have not offended any non-Christian readers.  I’m sure with these instructions and a little creativity, you can, if you like, create charts that meet your needs also.  You could also fill in the information on your family members already in the database and print it out.

 I have used this chart for all sorts of events.  When I teach genealogy at churches, I give a copy to each student in the class. I’ve used it while teaching confirmation classes, and as a craft at church picnics etc.  If you prefer, and you like the chart just the way it is, you can print the chart or email me for a PDF copy.(2) I hope you enjoy using it as much as I do.

---

[1] I use Family Tree Maker but you can do something similar in most an genealogical database programs.

[2] Please, it’s for personal use only, not for sale.