What is a "Family"?

NEW: eAdventist now includes a "Family position" (i.e. Primary, Spouse, Child, Other) to make it easier to enter multi-generation families.

In eAdventist, a Family (or "household") is a group of people who:

live at the same address
receive a single copy of the union paper and Adventist World/Journey

Each family has a Primary Contact, shares addresses and a phone number. Other people in the family can be designated as one of the following:

Spouse
Child
Other

In a nutshell, Family is more about mailing than genealogy.

Primary Contact

In each Family, one person is designated as the Primary Contact. This person's name will be used on mailing labels whenever you choose the "one label per family" option. You can choose another person in the Family to be the Primary Contact by clicking the "Change" button on the "Family" tab.

If you wish to move the Primary Contact to a different Family, you will first need to assign another family member -- if there are any others -- as Primary Contact.

Other Family Positions

The other people in the family can be designated as "Spouse", "Child" or "Other".

Addresses

The addresses on the "Family" tab are shared by all of the people in the Family. Updating them for one person will update them for everybody in the Family. Use the "Default address type" and "Default phone type" to choose which address will be used for mailing labels.

The "Mail/PO Box" address only needs to be entered when it is different than the family's "Street" address. The "Alternate" address is useful for snowbirds who move south in the winter. Choose it as the "Default address type" while they are away and change it back when they return.

Phones

The phones on the "Family" tab are also shared by the Family. Often this is a land line but it doesn't need to be. If the family only uses mobile phones, enter the mobile phone number that will be best for reaching the Family.

Subscriptions

Union papers and Adventist World mail one magazine to each Family that has:

The "Union paper" or "Adventist World" checkbox checked
A complete address that does not have "Stop delivery"
A Primary Contact that is a Member or Nonmember (i.e. not Deceased, Missing, etc.)

The mailing labels will use the Primary Contact's name, except when there is a "Mailing Name" entered.