Virginia Church Records

Before 1900, the largest religious groups in Virginia were the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches. The Family History Library has histories of the Baptist, Christian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed, United Brethren, and other groups.

The Family History Library also has many parish records of the Episcopal Church and some church records for smaller denominations, notably minutes of various Baptist conferences, Society of Friends meeting minutes, and German Reformed and Lutheran parish registers.

The Library of Virginia also has many church records. These are described in:

Clark, Jewell T., and Elizabeth T. Long. A Guide to Church Records in the Archives Branch, Virginia State Library. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia State Library, 1981. (Family History Library book 975.5 K23c.) Includes the history, location, and record inventory of 11 denominations and congregations. In 2002, an updated edition entitled A Guide to Church Records in the Library of Virginia was published. (FHL US/CAN Book 975.5 K23g).

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located, or read more about them in the following publications.

Baptist
Virginia Baptist Historical Society Boatwright Memorial Library 28 Westhampton Way University of Richmond, VA 23173 Telephone: (804)289-8669

http://www.baptistheritage.org/

Episcopal
Before the American Revolution, the state church of Virginia was the Episcopal Church. Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. In many instances, parish registers containing baptism, marriage, and death records have not survived when vestry books have.

Some early parish registers are incomplete or missing. Those still existing are available at the Library of Virginia and the Family History Library. Many have been published.

The Church of England (called the Anglican and then the Protestant Episcopal Church) was the established church in Virginia from 1624 to 1786. You may need to study parish boundaries to determine which parish an ancestor attended. There are three excellent sources, which include maps, written by Charles Francis Cocke that can help you identify parish boundaries. These are listed in the Author/Title Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the author's name.

The following sources also have information on churches, officials, and members of the Church of England:

Axelson, Edith F. A Guide to Episcopal Church Records in Virginia. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing, 1988. (Family History Library book 975.5 K27a.) Includes parish register and vestry book inventories.

Goodwin, Edward L. The Colonial Church in Virginia. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Morehouse Pub., 1927. (Family History Library book 975.5 K2g; fiche 6088014.) The appendix includes biographical sketches of the clergy.

Meade, William. Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia. 1857. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1966. (Family History Library book 975.5 K2m 1966, fiche 6087788-89; film 896897.) Mostly histories of early parishes but includes 6,900 names of individuals.

Huguenot
See The Huguenot in the “Periodicals” section of this outline.

Methodist and Methodist Episcopal
The Library of Virginia has some Methodist church records in manuscript form and some on microfilm. See the guide by Jewell Clark mentioned previously.

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church Archives Union Theological Seminary in Virginia 3401 Brook Road Richmond, VA 23227 Telephone: (800)229-2990 or (804)355-0671 Fax:(804)355-3919

http://www.union-psce.edu/