FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject World Survey Church Records

Project Leader
Becca Curtis

Purpose
To create or add to every country Church Records page.

Template
Church Records Template

Instructions
See South Africa Church Records as an example.

Step 1: Copy and Paste Code
 Go to the country. Click on the Societies link in the sidebar (the link will be red because it hasn't been created yet). Copy and paste the following code onto this new page:  For information about records for non-Christian religions in COUNTRY, go to the Religious Records page.
 * Change COUNTRY to the name of the country you are working on (not in all caps).

Add to the bottom of the page: == References ==
 * Change COUNTRY to the name of the country you are working on (not in all caps).



Step 2: Adding Christian Denominations
 Go to the sidebar and click on Religious Records (open it in a new tab). Religious Records lists all of the religions in the country. Find all of the Christian churches (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches) Add all these Christian churches onto the Church Records page in alphabetical order using the following code: == CHURCH/DENOMINATION Records ==
 * Change CHURCH/DENOMINATION to the name of the church (not in all caps).

Under each Church heading add this code:</li> === How to Find the Records === ==== Online Resources and Websites ==== === Historical Background === === Information Recorded in the Records === Also add an "Other Denominations" heading without the subheadings.</li> == Other Denominations == </ol>
 * Take note: After researching each of these denominations, if not a lot of information is found, the church will be moved to underneath the "Other Denominations" heading as a bullet point, its subheadings will be deleted, and a link to Wikipedia will be added.

See Angola Church Records as an example.

Heading: How to Find the Records
Under this heading, add any information pertaining to where the physical records are kept (such as in national archives or individual parishes), how they can be accessed (such as the contact information), and any other information or resources the patron may need to locate the records.

To find this information, go to:  Underneath "Research by Location" click on the African continent and then choose the country you are working on.
 * FamilySearch Historical Records
 * World Survey Church Records 1.png

Look at all the online collections to see if there are any church records.</li>
 * World Survey Church Records 2.png

If there are collections, add them onto the page underneath the ==== Online Resources and Websites ==== subheading in a bullet point.</li>
 * Example: 1787-1957: Cape Verde, Catholic Church Records, 1787-1957 at FamilySearch

</ol>
 * FamilySearch Catalog
 * In the Place search box type in the country and then click "Search"
 * Click on the "Church records" subheading and see if there are any online church records
 * If there are collections, click on each one to determine if the images are online (there will be a camera next to the film number)


 * Ancestry

Subheading: Online Resources and Websites
Only add this subheading if there are actually online collections or resources. If not, delete it. Under this heading, add links (in bullet points) to the various online databases or collections or websites where church records can be found.

Heading: Historical Background
Under this heading, add the history of the church in the country (including the efforts of missionaries) and the record keeping practices of the church.

Heading: Information Recorded in the Records
Under this heading, add each record type kept by the church (usually baptism, marriage, burial, and sometimes membership records). Bold the record type. Underneath each record type add bullet bullet points of the information found in each record.