Determining the Church Your Ancestor Attended in Canada

Prepare by Collecting Background Information
You will possibly find many different people with the same name as your ancestor, especially when a family stayed in a locality for several generations, and several children were named after the grandparents or aunts and uncles. Be prepared to find the correct church records by organizing in advance the exact details about the ancestor:
 * name, including middle name and maiden name
 * names of all spouses, including middle and maiden name
 * exact or closely estimated dates of birth, marriage, and death
 * names and closely estimated birthdates of children
 * all known places of residence
 * occupations
 * military service details

Carefully evaluate the church records you find to make sure you have really found records for your ancestor and not just a "near match". If one or more of the details do not line up, be careful about accepting the entry as your ancestor. There are guiding principles for deciding how to resolve discrepancies between records that are seemingly close. For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, Evaluate the Evidence.

Ask family members for clues.
Interview extended family and close relatives as well as former neighbors.
 * Ask about family traditions about churches your ancestor’s may have attended.
 * Ask if people attended weddings or funerals, and at which church.
 * Ask for names of beloved ministers that were favorites of the family, or especially helpful.

Use census records for clues to the residence of a family.
Census records were taken about every 10 years starting in 1851; with some censuses in 1825, 1842, and 1916. They state the exact town where each family lived in those years and the religion of each family member. They are indexed so you can locate your family usually quite easily. You can then look for the churches of that religion in or close to that town. To learn more about censuses and for links to online census records, see Canada Census.

Send for birth, marriage, and death certificates.
Each certificate could narrow down the residence town at the time of event, so you can then look for churches in that town. The marriage and death certificates could name the officiating minister and/or the church where the wedding or funeral took place.

Look for obituaries in newspaper collections.

 * Obituaries can give places of birth or marriage, residence throughout the life, and details on the church were the funeral was held.
 * Find an obituary of your ancestor or one of their siblings. The church your ancestor attended is often mentioned in obituaries.
 * Also look for newspaper funeral notices to see where the funeral took place.
 * Newspaper websites:
 * FamilySearch Catalog for your town, county, or province of research.
 * See the "Newspaper" and "Obituaries" sections of the Online Genealogy Records page for your province at Canada Online Genealogy Records.
 * Indexes to Canadian Newspapers
 * Canada Gazetteer Index
 * ARCHIVED - French-Canadian Newspapers: An Essential Historical Source (1808-1919)
 * Canadian Obituary Links
 * Genealogy Buff canadian Obituaries Forum
 * Canada Obituary Collection, ($), index

Look for clues in cemetery records.
If your ancestor was buried in a church cemetery, they may have belonged to that church. Also look for sexton records of the cemetery and funeral home records, if it is possible. Cemetery websites are:
 * See the cemetery section of Online Genealogy Records page for your province at Canada Online Genealogy Records.
 * CanadianHeadstones.com Index ($). Also at MyHeritage, ($), index
 * Canada, War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty), 1914-1948 Index ($)
 * FindAGrave Index
 * Canada Billion Graves Cemetery Index Index
 * Canada GenWeb Cemetery Index
 * I Dream of Genealogy Canada Index
 * Commomwealth War Graves Commission, index
 * Royal Canadian Mounted Police Graves
 * Do a Google search for other online cemeteries.

Look for geographical and historical clues.

 * Learn what churches were available in towns where the ancestor lived.
 * Some communities only had one church, so most residents would have attended that church.
 * Sometimes an ancestor preferred to attend a church close to his or her home, and was not concerned about the denomination he or she attended. Check churches close to your ancestor's home.
 * On the other hand, your ancestor may have traveled some distance to attend a church in the next town or county, if the denomination was important.
 * There is also the possibility that an ancestor may have started out with one church and converted to another church.
 * County histories can usually cover the history of early or original churches as the towns were settled.
 * Search the FamilySearch Catalog under the county name. Look under topics "Church history" and "History" within that county.
 * Find the Wiki page for the county for listings of online and printed county histories. Go to the main page for the province to find a list of links to county pages.
 * For county histories at Ancestry.com, click on "Search", click on the province you are searching, and then click on the county you are searching.


 * Telephone directories:
 * If your ancestor lived in a large city, check the city directory to see what churches were in the neighborhood. Some denominations had congregations by ethnic type (Irish, German, English, African-American). City directories often list the pastor or priest, and you may be able to determine the ethnicity of the congregation. Use Yellow Pages Business Directory.


 * Societies:
 * Ask local genealogical and historical societies about historical churches in the area.