New Jersey, Newark, St. Stephan's Grace Community Lutheran Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, memberships, funerals, minutes, and other records from the St. Stephan's Grace Community Lutheran Church in Newark. The collection covers the years 1874 to 1989.

Reading These Records
The records are in German and English. For help reading the records see German Word List and German Language and Languages.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism
 * Full name of person being baptized
 * If adult or child
 * Birth date and place
 * Baptism date and place
 * Residence
 * Names of parents
 * Names of sponsors

Marriage
 * Date of marriage
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Birth dates of bride and groom
 * Names of witnesses

Death or burial
 * Name of deceased
 * If member or nonmember
 * If adult or child
 * Death date
 * Cause of death
 * Age
 * When and where buried
 * Remarks

Confirmation
 * Confirmation date
 * Name of candidate
 * Birth date
 * Other remarks

Communion
 * Name of member
 * Address or residence
 * Year
 * details about the person's knowledge of the doctrine

Inventory
This collection was published in the FamilySearch Catalog as New Jersey, Essex County, Newark, St. Stephan's Grace Community Lutheran Church records, 1873-1978.

The table lists the content of each folder of images in the collection. Click on the link in the DGS column to open a new window to see the images.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * The approximate date of the of the christening or baptism
 * The place where the event took place
 * The names of other family members and their relationships

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use christening and birth records of christenings (baptisms) to identify a person’s birth date and place. These are an excellent substitute for civil birth records.
 * Use confirmation records to identify a person’s birth date and place and his or her age. If only the age is given, use it to calculate the person’s death date.
 * Use death, burial, or funeral records to identify a person’s birth date and place. Use age at the time of death or burial to calculate the person’s birth date. These are an excellent substitute for civil death records.
 * Use marriage records to identify a couple and the marriage date and place and to begin compiling a family group. These are an excellent substitute for civil marriage records.
 * Use church records in general to identify other family members who may have served as witnesses to an event.
 * Use the date of the event along with the locality to find the family in census records and land records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby.
 * An infant’s christening usually took place within a few days or few weeks of the birth, depending on the religion. Some churches, such as the Baptists, baptized only adults not infants. Members of other sects blessed their infants when they were a few weeks or a few months old.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names.
 * Check the records of other congregations in the area or nearby communities.
 * Check the records of other religious sects in the area or nearby communities.

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of New Jersey.
 * New Jersey Guided Research
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Citing this Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.