Namesake Ministry

So I have had the idea about Namesake, Inc. for a while now, but I figured I would share it with the world! As you can see in "About Me" I will graduate with a Master's in History this year. Part of my training has included conducting Oral Histories. Oral History, in a nutshell, is the collection of memories of individuals through interviews. Once the interviews are taken, they are preserved and storied in an institution like a school or library.

Basically, I want to start my own oral history business that focuses on American churches. Thousands of churches were planted after WWII, and many of the founding members are dying. So many things happened from 1945 to now, and there are so many stories being lost! We often hear from war vets, professionals (like doctors), politicians, etc, but there aren't many church stories told.

For example, our little congregation began in 1949 with a few members meeting under an oak tree. One day they decided to make themselves into a church, thus Bridgedale Baptist Church was born. What was some where around 20 members grew into more than 600 at one point. Unfortunately, there have been hurricanes, church splits, and normal membership decline that have placed the congregation almost exactly where it started. Only now there is a building in stead of an oak, and the members are 50 years older. Yet through the years, there have been some absolutely amazing stories to come from this church!

So to put an end to this post, I want to start a business with the name mentioned above that focuses on collecting and publishing oral histories of individual churches. If you know of any congregation that might like this, let me know!