Baptist Church in the United States

United States   Church Records   Baptist Church Records

History in the United States

 * In 2010, 100 million Christians identify themselves as Baptist or belong to Baptist-type churches. In 2017, the Baptist World Alliance has 47 million people. Not all Baptist groups cooperate with the Alliance, notably the Southern Baptist Convention (which actually participated in its founding) does not cooperate with the Alliance, having withdrawn in 2004.


 * Both Roger Williams and John Clarke, his compatriot and coworker for religious freedom, are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in North America. In 1639, Williams established a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island, and Clarke began a Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island.


 * The Great Awakening energized the Baptist movement, and the Baptist community experienced spectacular growth. Baptists became the largest Christian community in many southern states, including among the black population. The Baptist religion became the largest Protestant denomination in the United States by the early 1800's, when many Baptist churches were organized throughout the middle-Atlantic and southern states.

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, and the second-largest Christian denomination in the United States, smaller only than the Catholic Church according to self-reported membership statistics (see Christianity in the United States). The word Southern in Southern Baptist Convention stems from it having been organized in 1845 at Augusta, Georgia, by Baptists in the Southern United States who split with northern Baptists over the issue of slavery. After the American Civil War most freedmen set up independent black congregations, regional associations, and state and national conventions, such as the National Baptist Convention, which became the second-largest Baptist convention by the end of the 19th century. Source:Wikipedia

Baptist Family Tree

 * This Baptist Family Tree diagrams the development and relationship of all the various groups within the Baptist category of churches. Each of the resultant groups could preserve records differently, whether in archives or local churches.

Finding Aids

 * The Ministerial Directory of the Baptist Churches in the United States of America. Oxford, Ohio: Ministerial Directory Co., 1899. Digital version at Google Books.

Websites

 * Baptist History Homepage, A Source for Original Baptist Documents has digital versions of many Baptist histories, biographies, and other items of interest to genealogists who discover Baptist ancestry in the United States of America.

Correspond with or visit the actual churches.
Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available.
 * Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
 * To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
 * Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
 * A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
 * If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
 * See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.

Addresses:


 * Google using "Churches near ________" or the name of a specific church
 * Find a Southern Baptist Church
 * National Baptist Convention, USA Directory of Churches
 * National Association of Free Will Baptists
 * North American Baptist Conference Church Locator German background
 * Baptist General Conference Church Locator Swedish background
 * American Baptist Churches in the USA Church Finder
 * Conservative Baptist Association of America Church Finder
 * Association of Regular Baptist Churches Church Finder'''
 * Baptist Missionary Association of America Churches

Check the church records collections in archives and libraries.
Some church records have been deposited for preservation in government archives or in libraries. Watch for links to digitized, online records offered by the archives. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher.

"Baptist" is a type of religion, not the name of a specific religion. There are many organized groups of Baptist-type religions. Archives for the largest organizations are here. However, the local church your ancestors attended might not have belonged to any of these. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher.

American Baptist Historical Society 2930 Flowers Rd, South Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30341 Telephone: 678-547-6680
 * Website
 * Pdf:ORIGINAL CHURCH RECORDS at the AMERICAN BAPTIST HISTORICAL SOCIETY
 * Genealogy Guide Link: guide for genealogists and family historians
 * These archives have biographical information for ministers, historical and business narratives, and a few marriage logs kept by individual ministers.
 * This archive holds records for many immigrant churches: Danish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Slovakian, and Swedish.

National Association of Free Will Baptists Executive Office 5233 Mt. View Road Antioch, TN 37013-2306 Mailing Address: FWB Executive Office P.O. Box 5002 Antioch, TN 37011-5002


 * Website

Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archive 901 Commerce Street, Suite 400 Nashville, TN 37203-3630 Telephone: 615-244-0344


 * Website
 * Church Records on Microfilm Includes information on ordering records.

Information Found in the Records
Baptismal Records: Baptists historically have practiced believer’s baptism, instead of infant baptism. A person is baptized when he or she professes faith (often as a young adult) not soon after birth. Finding a record of an ancestor’s baptism in a Baptist church, therefore, does not document the birth date or approximate age of the person in question. Further, Baptist records normally record only the person’s name and date of baptism. Baptist church records do not record date or place of birth, age, names of parents, siblings, or children.

Marriage Records: Because marriage is not regarded as a sacrament, Baptist churches traditionally have not kept marriage records as part of their church records. Some ministers have kept a private log of marriages performed

Membership: Membership in Baptist churches is recorded only at the local church.

Information about the baptism, marriage, death, or moving in and out are more likely to be found in business meeting narrative minutes than in separate registers. Source: ABHS Genealogy Guide

Carefully compare any record you find to known facts about the ancestor
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 gathering in advance as many of these exact details about the ancestor as possible:
 * 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 approximate 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.