Uganda Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Uganda, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Resources and Websites
'''Ancestry.com, findmypast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 * UK, Foreign and Overseas Registers of British Subjects, 1628-1969, index ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, Uganda, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, Africa, index and images, ($)


 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages, Uganda, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages, Africa, index and images, ($)


 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, index and images, ($)

Historical Background
According to the national census of 2014, Christians of all denominations comprised 85 percent of Uganda's population. The Roman Catholic Church had the largest number of adherents (39.3 percent of the total population). The largest Protestant church was the Anglican Church of Uganda, a part of the worldwide Anglican communion, at 32 percent. The category of Pentecostal/Evangelical/Born Again made up 11.1% of the population, while Seventh-Day Adventists made up 1.7%, Baptists 0.3% and Eastern Orthodox 0.1%.

Jehovah's Witnesses operate in Uganda under the International Bible Students Association name and are working in a total of ten languages, including Swahili and Luganda. Followers of William M. Branham and Branhamism claim numbers in the tens of thousands, thanks in large part to translation and distribution efforts by Voice of God Recordings.

The Presbyterian Church in Uganda has 100-200 congregations. The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Uganda was a result in a split in the Presbyterian church.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims more than 14,000 members in 27 congregations in Uganda. They also have two family history centers.

The Society of Friends has two yearly meetings, Uganda Yearly Meeting, part of Friends United Meeting and Evangelical Friends Church. There were about 3,000 members between the two in 2001.[8]

A 2015 study estimated some 35,000 believers in Christ from a Muslim background residing in the country at the time.

Information Recorded in the Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which might be found (best case scenario):

Baptisms
In Catholic and Anglican records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might give:

Marriages
Marriage registers can give:

Burials
Burial registers may give:

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of Uganda.
 * b. Click on Places within Uganda and a list of towns will appear.
 * c. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Writing for Records
You will probably need to write to or email the national archives, the diocese, or local parish priests to find records. See Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
 * Maps.me Church Directory for Uganda

Writing to a Local Parish
Earlier records can be held at the diocese, with more recent records still kept in the local parish. To locate the mailing address or e-mail address for a diocese or local parish, consult:
 * The Catholic Directory: Uganda

Historical Background
The Catholic Church in Uganda is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are an estimated 13.4 million Catholics — 39.3% of the total population, estimated at about 34.1 million in 2014.

Online Records
Online information is available to current members, for deceased members and immediate family members who are still living. Sign in to FamilySearch and then select Family Tree in the drop-down menu.

Historical Background
In Uganda, expatriate Latter-day Saints were living and holding meetings as early as the 1960s. The first Ugandan to join the Church was Charles Osinde, who was baptized in Scotland and returned to his homeland. A couple arrived in the country in March 1990 as part of a USAID program. Meetings were then held in their home. A branch (a small congregation) was soon created in Kampala, and in December 1990 the first missionary couple arrived in Uganda. By March 1991 an average of 30 to 35 people attended branch meetings. The first Church-built chapel, in the Kololo Branch was dedicated in 1997, and a second chapel, in Jinja, was dedicated in 1998. Total Church Membership: 16,823. Congregations: 33.

Writing for Records

 * Episcopal (Anglican) Directory for Uganda
 * Google Maps search results for Anglican churches in Uganda

Historical Background
The Church of Uganda is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop. Shergold Smith and C. T. Wilson of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) were the first European Anglican missionaries to Uganda when they arrived in June 1877. They, along with others who arrived later, were based in the court of the Kabaka of Buganda near present-day Kampala. Alfred Robert Tucker was made the third bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa in 1890 and in 1899, the Diocese of Uganda was created and Tucker became the first Bishop of Uganda. In 1893, the first Ugandans were ordained and Buganda was established as a centre for evangelization in the Great Lakes Area. Anglican growth in Uganda thrived by the turn of the 20th century and among the most notable contribution of the Anglican church was in the area of education. In the 1950s, the emergence of a generation of Ugandan Church leaders began to replace the expatriate hierarchy.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Baptist churches in Uganda

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Eastern Orthodox churches in Uganda

Historical Background
Eastern Orthodoxy in Uganda refers to adherents and religious communities of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Uganda. Majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians in Uganda are under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa. The founders of Orthodoxy in Uganda were four men, one of them Obadia Basajjakitalo. In the year 1919, they began to send letters all over the world with the questions on Orthodoxy. Father Spartas and his supporters found a priest from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople who traveled through Africa and baptized and chrismated (anointed) Greek children. He came to Uganda and stayed for about 18 months teaching Father Spartas, Irenaeus Magimbi, Theodoros Nankyama and his friends in Orthodox Faith. It was in the beginning of the 1930s. He advised them to place themselves under the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria in order to be in Canonical Communion. In the year 1946, Orthodox communities of Uganda and Kenya were accepted to join the Patriarchal Throne in full canonical contact.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Jehovah's Witnesses churches in Uganda

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Pentecostal churches in Uganda
 * Google Maps search results for Evangelical churches in Uganda

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Presbyterian churches in Uganda

Historical Background
Presbyterian Church in Uganda is a conservative Reformed Calvinistic denomination in Uganda with almost 100 churches in 5 presbyteries in the late 2000s. The Presbyterian Church in Uganda was founded in the 1970s by the Ugandan pastor Keefa Sempangi. Keefa had to emigrate from Uganda because of persecution and fled to the Netherlands where he was introduced the Reformed faith and later he was invited to study in the United States, become a student of the Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He returned home in 1979 with help of American missionaries began to start the Presbyterian church. The first church was organized in that year in Kampala, Uganda. This was the First Presbyterian Church in Kampala, Uganda.

Writing for Records

 * SDA Directory
 * Google Maps search results for Seventh-day Adventist churches in Uganda