Church congregations, especially those of certain denominations, such as the Lutherans, maintained communicant lists. A communiant was a member of the congregation who accepted and partook of the sacrament of communion. Comparing the communicant lists of various years provides a way to track certain church members and families. Although the communicant lists seldom provide particular genealogical data such as birth dates for the communicants, they do provide names of members of families, such as women, who would not normally appear on other male-dominated public records, such as tax assessment returns. And although the relationships of the various persons listed as communicants are seldom noted, it is useful to have names which might provide clues to search further.
