GENERAL INFORMATION FOR FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCHERS

Lutheran records are maintained and organized by and for local congregations, and are usually composed of chronological listings of pastoral acts, such as Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials. In some cases, records of communions and membership lists may be included. Other parish records include congregational annual and council meeting minutes, financial and legal documents, parish newsletters or other printed items, including congregational histories, as well as similar records for congregational organizations, such as women's, men's or youth groups.
 
Most of the information essential to tracing your family genealogy will be contained in congregational records, especially in the records of pastoral acts. Since these records are maintained only by the congregation, no centralized lists of members exist at churchwide/synodical offices or archives. Therefore, it is essential that your letter of request contain as much information as possible, including full names, relevant dates, and place names. If you do not have this information, it is highly recommended that you turn to other resources, such as federal census records, state tax rolls, or similar sources, before you contact a Lutheran archives. This would be especially true if you are not sure that your relatives were Lutheran. Do not assume that because you are Lutheran, or some of your relatives may have been Lutheran in the past that all family members were Lutheran. Also do not assume that because your relatives were German, Swedish, Norwegian, etc., that they were Lutheran. Be prepared to find that your relatives may not have belonged to any church. Furthermore, the term "evangelical" does not guarantee that a congregation was Lutheran. Reformed and other Protestant groups also use this term.
 

Please use the following checklist to make sure that your letter includes as much of the following information as possible:
 
1. Full name of person(s) to be researched.
 
2. Known or approximate date(s) of birth or Baptism, marriage, death, etc.
 
3. Name of state, county and town where your family lived. (If a large city is involved, include a street address, since may cities would have numerous congregations from which to choose.)

4. Name(s) of congregations(s) where your family were members.
 
5. Name(s) of pastors who performed Baptisms, marriages, etc. (Often on certificates that you may have among family papers.)

6. Ethnic group of your family, i.e., German, Swedish, Finnish, etc. (Prior to the 1920's most Lutherans attended congregations founded by a particular ethnic group because worship services and congregational activities were in those languages.)
 
Supply as much information as possible, including all dates relevant to the given items of information. Records are not usually indexed and are often in a language other than English, so that each item of information you have becomes very important in saving time and effort.
 
While the ELCA Archives may be able to assist in identifying the congregation where your family most likely held membership, this can take a significant amount of research time. The staff of the archives will do one of three things to assist you:
 
1. Notify you that the records of the congregation you are seeking have been microfilmed and are available at the ELCA Archives. Congregational microfilm is available for loan on a fee basis. You would also be informed about on-site research and available research services, as well as current applicable fees charged by the ELCA Archives for such services.
 
2. Refer you to another archives which may have the original or microfilmed copies of the relevant congregational records.
 
3. Refer you to the relevant congregation, since their records are not available on microfilm and the original records they hold would have to be consulted.