I’ve combined Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge, and Steve Little’s The 2025 AI Genealogy Do-Over, to create a unique 52 AI ancestors in 52 weeks party!
52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 30: Religious traditions
Boomerangs and Belief: Tracing the Faith Footprints of My Ancestors
Introduction
What makes a person fall away from their religious institution? What kind of a schism must there be for a person to no longer publicly worship?
Discussion
My family has many instances of parting ways with their churches. The oldest one I know of is my great-grandfather, who was upset that the Roman Catholic church wouldn’t bury his mom because she hadn’t been active in their (new?) hometown. My grandmother disagreed with the Church over birth control, and my father over divorce.
Some of them rejoined; others joined different denominations, and others stayed away for their lifetime.
Robert Frost, in his poem “The Death of the Hired Man,” said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” I think your religious home operates in a similar manner – our Creator welcomes us back into the fold, whenever we are ready.
So while it may be said that my family’s religious tradition is boomeranging, it may also be knowledge and confidence in God’s love and acceptance.
How AI can help
Religion is such a personal thing, I struggled to come up with telling the reader how to use it in terms of religion! So ChatGPT and I came up with several options.
AI may not know the state of your soul, but it’s pretty handy when you’re tracing where your ancestors stood on Sunday mornings. Here’s how it can help:
- Translation of Old Religious Records
Found a Latin baptism record or a German church book? AI translation tools like DeepL or Google Translate (with a little human double-checking) can help you read the meaning behind the ink smudges. - Summarizing Church Histories
Want to know what the Methodist split was about in 1844 or why some churches stopped performing baptisms? Paste those long historical documents into AI tools like ChatGPT to get a plain-English summary. - Writing Sensitive Stories
Struggling with how to write about a family member who left a faith community? AI can suggest gentle, neutral phrasing that keeps the focus on your ancestor’s journey. - Identifying Denominational Shifts in Census and Directories
Ask AI to help you spot changes in religious identity over time from records. Did “Catholic” become “None” in a later census? That’s a story spark. - Generating Maps of Religious Migration
Use AI-assisted tools like Mapbox or even ChatGPT plugins (for premium users) to visualize how your ancestors moved—and how their religious affiliations may have shifted regionally. - Creating Devotional or Reflective Writing Prompts
If you’re writing a memory book or family devotional, AI can suggest prompts like “Describe a time your ancestor might have questioned their faith” or “What church rituals did your grandmother pass down?” You might be surprised what you – or family members – know.
Challenge for Readers
Try one of these:
- Option 1: Paste a church newsletter or old religious diary into ChatGPT and ask it to summarize key events or beliefs.
- Option 2: Ask ChatGPT to help rephrase a story about a family religious split in a more compassionate or neutral tone.
Want to Learn More?
A few resources, all free:
FamilySearch Wiki – Church Records by Country
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page
Great for learning how to find religious records across different traditions and regions.
Internet Archive – Denominational Histories
https://archive.org
Search for books like A History of the Baptist Churches or Roman Catholicism in America for church context.
ChatGPT Prompt Directory for Genealogists
Want more prompt ideas? Check out Steve Little’s AI prompt guide for genealogists (available via his site or podcast).
Pictured: Rev. Dr. Dale D. Hansen after baptizing my son — one of our family’s returns to church.
Figure 1 Rev. Dr. Dale D. Hansen and my older son
Next Week’s Topic: “Earliest ancestor”
AI Disclosure
This post was created by me with the help of AI tools. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own.
The Ancestor Whisperer 