Photos as Church Records

Jellybaby1

Here is a crazy suggestion for all those churches out there. I think Churches should request families involved in church events to hand in a photo of the person or people involved to be kept as a church record. It could cover marriages, baptisms, communions, confirmations, blessing ceremonies and even funerals. You would have the names, dates and places. I would love it to happen. It could be done digitally so not much space necessary. Researchers of the future would really thank us for it!:)

KildareFan

As far as I know you now need to provide photo ID on booking a wedding ceremony.

pedroeibar1

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Here is a crazy suggestion for all those churches out there. I think Churches should request families involved in church events to hand in a photo of the person or people involved to be kept as a church record. It could cover marriages, baptisms, communions, confirmations, blessing ceremonies and even funerals. You would have the names, dates and places. I would love it to happen. It could be done digitally so not much space necessary. Researchers of the future would really thank us for it!:)

Actually what would be simpler (albeit in a much smaller way) is for people to name/list details on the back of all photos they already hold - I had one Victorian album in which the 'glue' died and there was a muddle of photos between each of the leaves with text written on the pages Took quite a while to figure out what related to whom.

Jellybaby1

The reason I thought of this is that I inherited some old photos with absolutely no information on them and even those who left them with me didn't know who they were either. Though I spend a lot of time delving into the past, I thought I should also think about the future so I'm going to do the decent thing and label all our photos. A lot have already been done. It will be done on computer but I'd like to put some details by hand on the back of photos too but ball-point doesn't work on the photo paper and pencil isn't much better, besides the writing tends to mark the front too. Any ideas, anyone?

I'd really like the churches to do it, and let's go really mad, and the registry offices too! I might know where my ggparents were married but I've no idea what they looked like. I'd just love to know what they looked like.

pinkypinky

Sharpies - permanent marker will work on the back of photos.

mickmackey1

Nice idea Jellyb but I don't think there's any need for it, researchers of the future will just click a button and find out more than enough about us

Jellybaby1

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Nice idea Jellyb but I don't think there's any need for it, researchers of the future will just click a button and find out more than enough about us

I expect you are right. I'm probably living in the past! So we get all the fun of brick walls then.

mickmackey1

Maybe Facebook etc. should introduce a rule that all accounts will become public after 50 years, now that would be fun

pinkypinky

I don't think FB will still exist in 50 years*


*optimistic face

Hermy

As an adopted person struggling to find my past I'd prefer if the church had as little to do with recording our future history as possible.

pinkypinky

And as an atheist, I have no intentions of ever using a church for any ceremonies of importance in my own life.

What we really want here is, as usual, a time machine.

Hermy

Amen to that!:p