The following column is written by Bryan L. Mulcahy, and was received from him in this weeks’ newsletter. I found it interesting, and as he asks us to share his columns, I thought I’d pass it on. The column brought back memories from the dim past…
I was raised as a conservative Seventh-day Adventist, and still attend church occasionally, now considering myself to be a “liberal” Adventist. But that’s not what I set out to write about here…
I can remember as a child, being very impressed with the church business meeting where the man for whom I was named (Leland), went through a church trial and got tossed out of the church for leaving his wife, and marrying a local lady to whom he had been giving Bible studies. It was all rather traumatic, as all the folks were our friends. Then years later, a similar situation arose where I was actually on the church board when a similar thing happened. I don’t remember a full church business meeting where the “tossing” took place, but I imagine there was one. I found out that I didn’t like being a board member.
Anyway, if you’re looking for the more interesting stuff (also known as “dirt”) on your ancestors, I’ve found that the records of the Church Board, as well as those of the Church Business Meetings in general can be rather eye-opening.
The following column by Bryan Mulcahy expands on the excommunication idea.
During my recent lecture on Catholic Church Records, several patron evaluations raised questions about ex-communications. While many
identify this action solely with the Catholic Church, many other denominations practice the same procedure, even if they don’t call it an ex-communication.
The Catholic Church, in most instances, maintains no formal records on this action. However, in historical terms, some records were maintained by the parish or diocese if the action or incident was significant in nature. If the ex-communication involved a divorce, that may add certain complications since strict Catholic doctrine usually mandated an automatic ex-communication. In the case of most ex-communications within the Catholic Church, avenues exist where the act can be reversed under a variety of situations. In some cases, this simply meant moving to another parish in another state. Some parishes and priests will interpret situations differently than others. Even if you have technically violated a doctrine of the church, if there are mitigating circumstances, and/or you show repentance, there are many roads to overcoming an ex-communication.
In Judaism, the equivalent action would involve the issuance of either a Cherem or Sirav. In most historical Protestant denominations, ex-communications often followed the same general pattern as those in the Catholic Church. However, the same penalty among the Quakers, Mennonites, Huguenots, and some fundamentalist Christian denominations not only meant the termination of membership and fellowship rights within the congregation, often it includes permanent spiritual condemnation as well. Historically, those members excommunicated may have faced additional sanctions including banishment, shunning of the entire family, regardless of their involvement or lack thereof, and economic retaliation. This was particularly true if the church exercised influence over the economic priorities of a town, village, or region. References to ex-communications may be found in a variety of sources including church minutes, congregational or parish registers, dairies or journals of priests and other clergy, church or congregational disciplinary meetings or reports, etc.
If you wanted to check to see if some form of a record concerning an ex-communication took place, here are some suggestions based on feedback from patrons and classes that I have attended:
- Determine the date and name of the priest, pastor, rabbi, or representative of a bishop who issued the directive.
- Contact the church, parish, or designated archives and inquire about a records search.
- Contact someone in a local genealogical or historical society. They often have members who are familiar with churches in the area and how to search for records.
Bryan L. Mulcahy, Reference Librarian, Fort Myers-Lee County Library
