August was Australian National Family History month, and young people from the Cleveland Brisbane Stake (diocese) have been researching and preparing vignettes of the lives of their ancestors and local pioneers.
These vignettes are being shared through social media using both Instagram and Facebook designed by the Church Public Affairs team. This endeavor is part of leaders desire to develop stronger bonds between youth and their progenitors and as part of strengthening personal identity through family history.
To celebrate these accomplishments, a Devotional was conducted on Sunday 12th August in Cleveland for young people and their parents. The special guest for the evening was local government councilor Mr Paul Golle, who was recently elected to the Redland City Council. Mr Golle, an ex-Australian military officer (not a member of the church) expressed his strong interest in the family history project and commented, “I am very impressed with the confidence, enthusiasm and efforts of the young people of the Church. They are outstanding role models in our community”.
One of the young people who addressed those gathered, Bethany Keily (a third generation member of the Church) provided a beautiful account of her ancestry using visual and digital imagery. Bethany commented, “I wasn’t really interested in family history until I started doing research on my great grandparents and now I feel so connected to them.”
During the program, Mr Golle was presented with a four generation commemorative wall chart to display his own family history which originates mainly from European ancestry. In speaking to the youth and their parents, Mr Golle provided a deeply moving experience about finding spiritual strength through Jesus Christ during his military service in the Middle East.
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Pictured Tasman Barr, Ashley Venables and Mr Paul Golle Redland City Council member
Church leader,Ystyn Francis of Welsh ancestry, explained that "the power of family history transcends all timeframes and ages with the potential to link long past generations with their descendants today." He further explained how the extensive family history efforts of the church across the world are directly connected to the doctrine associated with families being connected after we leave this life.