Colorado Church Records

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Colorado were the Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Baptist.

An inventory that can help you find church records is:


 * Guide to Vital Statistics Records in Colorado, Volume 2. Church Archives. Denver: Colorado Historical Records Survey W.P.A., 1942; book 978.8 A3h; film 897482 item 9. This book lists churches that existed about 1940.

The Family History Library has records of some Catholic and Presbyterian congregations and pre-1949 LDS ward records, but few other church records. Check the FHL catalogfor a complete listing of church records in the collection. The library also has histories of the Episcopal, Latter-day Saint, Presbyterian and other religious groups in the state.

For Conejos County, some of these church records are available online. http://cogenweb.com/conejos/cr/churches.html

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located:

Baptist
American Baptist Historical Society P.O. Box 851 Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 Phone: (610) 768-2374

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church records for Colorado Ward and Branch records can be found on microfilm at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers for each ward are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog. A good reference is:


 * Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507 2 fiche).

These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Episcopal
Diocese of Colorado 1300 Washington St Denver, CO 80203-2008 Phone: (303) 837-1173

Methodist
Rocky Mountain Conference Historical Society Ira J. Taylor Library Iliff School of Theology 2201 S. University Boulevard Denver, CO 80210-4798 Phone: (303) 744-1287 Fax: (303) 777-3387 or (303) 777-0164 email: [mailto:info@iliff.edu info@iliff.edu]

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Phone: (215) 627-1852 Fax: (215) 627-0509 [mailto:refdesk@history.pcusa.org refdesk@history.pcusa.org]

Roman Catholic
Archives of the Diocese of Colorado Springs 228 North Cascade Ave. Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Phone: (719) 636-2345

The diocese includes the counties of: Chaffee, Cheyenne, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Kit Carson, Lake, Lincoln, Park and Teller

Archives of the Archdiocese of Denver 1300 South Steele St. Denver, CO 80210-2599 Phone: (303) 722-4687 Fax: (303) 331-8071

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Denver, Eagle, garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Jefferson, Larimer, Logan, Moffat, Morgan, Phillips, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Routt, Sedgwick, Summit, Washington, Weld and Yuma

Diocese of Pueblo 1001 No. Grand Avenue Pueblo, CO 81003 Phone: (719) 544-9861 Fax: (719) 544-5202

The diocese includes the counties of: Alamosa, Archuleta, Baca, Bent, Conejos, Costilla, Crowley, Custer, Delta, Dolores, Fremont, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Huerfano, Kiowa, Las Animas, Mesa, Mineral, Montezuma, Montrose, Otero, Ouray, Prowers, Pueblo, Rio Grande, Saguache, San Juan and San Miguel

For a history of the Catholic church in Colorado, see:


 * Salpointe, Rev. Jean Baptiste. Soldiers of the Cross: Notes on the Ecclesiastical History of New-Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Banning, Calif.: St. Boniface's Industrial School, 1898; digital version at Google Books; 1967 reprint: book 973 K2sj