I was recently reading a list of questions to ask living family members about their family’s religious practices. The questions were geared towards determining what church the family attended, what denomination it was a part of, where it was located. All of those are good things to ask. There were some questions that might get the memories flowing as well:
- Did Grandma ever get mad at the pastor?
- Did Grandpa ever quit going to church?
- Did someone’s church attendance irritate other family members?
- Did Grandpa work on Sundays?
- Were there any funerals where the preacher really called out the deceased for their lifestyle?
I can think of a relative who was irritated at the pastor of her church because his “voice was hard to understand.” Another family switched churches for reasons that are still unknown (or at least not revealed to me). Another self-employed relative avoided doing outside work on Sundays because “people would talk.”
Sometimes asking questions such as these can get more memories flowing than straight-forward “where did they go?” type questions. Getting memories flowing is your real goal. And while the initial answer might not tell you the church they attended, chances are that detail (if the person remembers) is likely to come up as well.
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