Determining the Church Your Ancestor Attended

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 of closely estimated dates of birth, marriage, and death
 * names and approximate birthdates of children
 * all known places of residence
 * occupations
 * military service details

Search home sources.
Thoroughly go over all home sources available to you in your home, older relatives homes, relatives who might have received the effects of deceased ancestors, including:
 * family history papers,
 * pictures, hopefully with a church in the background
 * old letters (i.e. with an old address),
 * family Bibles,
 * journals/diaries,
 * copies of birth, marriage, or death certificates,
 * funeral programs.
 * church records, memorabilia etc.

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

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 funeral notices to see where the funeral took place.
 * Newspaper websites:
 * FamilySearch Catalog for your town, county, or state of research.
 * See the Online Genealogy Records page for your state at United States Online Genealogy Records by State.
 * Chronicling America
 * World Vital Records.
 * Google Newspapers
 * USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project
 * Ancestry.com United States Obituary Collection
 * Fold3.com: Newspapers are in Non Military Collections.
 * United States Online Historical Newspapers
 * Do a Google search with keywords: "town name", "newspaper" or "state", and "digital newspapers".

Look for clues in cemetery records.
If your ancestor was buried in a church cemetery, they would have belonged to that church at some time. Also look for sexton records of the cemetery and funeral home records, if it is possible. Cemetery websites are:
 * Findagrave.com
 * Billiongraves.com
 * NamesInStone.com
 * 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.
 * FamilySearch Catalog county histories.
 * Find the Wiki page for the county for listings of online and printed county histories.
 * For county histories at Ancestry.com, click on search, click on the state you are searching, and click on the county you are searching.

For large cities, find clues in 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.

Consider nationality clues.
If you know your ancestor's country of origin, it can give you a clue as to their religion. Some individuals immigrated to avoid religious persecution, and may have belonged to a church not popular or common in their home country. The following table gives the more prominent churches of a particular country and the first denomination you should research for you ancestor. It also gives the American name of the church, if it changed.