Dimissal by certificate generally implies the congregants were moving away from the area in which their church was located.  The certificate may have served at least three functions: 1) It allowed the congregants to join a congregation in their new locality without juming through hoops, so to speak, that were required of new/incoming members.  2) The certificate served as  notice that the holders were "members in good standing" of a particular denomination; again, a needed requirement for communing membership in a new church of the same denomination.  3) The certificate served as proof of baptism; therefore, re-baptism (which was rare) would not be required should the congregants decide to join a congregation of a different denomination than that which they had left.

I suppose the particulars would depend upon the denomination issuing the certificate to your ancestors.  Hope this helps.

RBJ

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Daryl Lytton<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
  To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 4:19 PM
  Subject: [VA-ROOTS] "dismissed by certificate" ?


  I found a 1822 church record for an ancestor cousin that says,

  "Ralph Letton and wife, Sarah, dismissed by certificate."

  Does that mean they were granted a divorce, or something else?

  Daryl

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