California Church Records

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Historical Background
The largest religious denominations by number of adherents as a percentage of California's population in 2014 were the Catholic Church with 28 percent, Evangelical Protestants with 20 percent, and Mainline Protestants with 10 percent. Together, all kinds of Protestants accounted for 32 percent. Those unaffiliated with any religion represented 27 percent of the population.

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) the largest denominations by adherents in 2010 were the Roman Catholic Church with 10,233,334; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 763,818; and the Southern Baptist Convention with 489,953.

The first priests to come to California were Roman Catholic missionaries from Spain. Roman Catholics founded 21 missions along the California coast, as well as the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. California continues to have a large Roman Catholic population due to the large numbers of Mexicans and Central Americans living within its borders. California has twelve dioceses and two archdioceses, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the former being the largest archdiocese in the United States.

Information Found in the Records
To effectively use church records, become familiar with their content. Click on these links to learn about a specific record type:

Look for online records.

 * Early California Population Project Database of information contained in early mission records.

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * 1864-1985 at FamilySearch; index — How to Use this Collection
 * 1812-1988 at FamilySearch; index — How to Use this Collection
 * 1850-1945 at FamilySearch; index — How to Use this Collection
 * 1776-2000 at FamilySearch; index — How to Use this Collection

Congregational

 * Records of the American Missionary Association (Congregational) among the Chinese : principally in California

Presbyterian

 * 1701-1970 U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970, index and images, incomplete.($)

Lutheran

 * 1800-1947 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947, index and images, incomplete.($)
 * 1781-1969 - U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969, index and images, incomplete.($)
 * 1781-1969 - U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969, index and images, incomplete.($)

Dutch Reformed

 * 1639-1989 U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989, index and images, incomplete.($)
 * 1701-1995 U.S., Selected States Dutch Reformed Church Membership Records, 1701-1995, index and images, incomplete.($)
 * 1856-1970 U.S., Dutch Christian Reformed Church Vital Records, 1856-1970, index and images, incomplete.($)

Look for digital copies of church records in the FamilySearch Catalog.

 * The FamilySearch Library (FS Library) has a substantial collection of original church records and transcripts on microfilm for churches in the United States.
 * Online church records can be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under the state, county, or town.
 * If you find a record that has not yet been digitized, see How do I request that a microfilm be digitized?
 * Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
 * To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of United States, California.
 * b. Click on Places within United States, California and a list of counties will appear.
 * c. Click on your county if it appears.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Click on Places within United States, California [COUNTY] and a list of towns will appear.
 * f. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * g. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * h. 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.

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Consult available finding aids.
These aids generally provide lists of records that are known to exist and information on their location.
 * Temple, Thomas W. An Alphabetical Listing of the California Mission Vital Records. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985. 1307621 item 4; fiche 6047009
 * Weber, Francis J. A Select Guide to California Catholic History. Los Angeles, Calif.: Westernlore Press, 1966. 979.4 K21c
 * Bowman, J.N. "The Parochial Books of the California Missions, 1961," The Quarterly (Historical Society of Southern California)], Vol. 43, No. 3. 979.4 B2s
 * Barton, Noel R. "Genealogical Research in the Records of the California Missions," Genealogical Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1. 973 D25gj v. 3-4 (1974-1975)

Correspond with or visit the actual churches.
Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available.
 * Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
 * To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
 * Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
 * A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
 * If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
 * See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
 * Each denomination page offers an online address directory of local churches for that denomination.

Check the church records collections in archives and libraries.
Some church records have been deposited for preservation in government archives or in libraries. Watch for links to digitized, online records offered by the archives. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher.

'''Here you will find archive information unique to the state. Many more archives are kept by denomination. For denominational archives, go to  Searching for Church Records by Denomination.

Lutheran
South West California Synod / ELCA Region 2 Archives 1300 E. Colorado St. Glendale, CA 91205 Phone:(818) 937-4761 E-mail: archives@socalsynod.org
 * Archives hold records for closed churches. For open churches write directly to the local church.

Methodist
Holt-Atherton Church Archives University of the Pacific 3601 Pacific Avenue Stockton, CA 95211 Phone: (209) 946-2404 Fax: (209) 946-2810

Presbyterian
San Francisco Theological Seminary Library 105 Seminary Road San Anselmo, CA 94960 Phone: (415) 451-2845

Roman Catholic
'''Most records are maintained at the parish level. Check the diocese websites for information on parishes within or if they offer record services.''' -
 * Archdiocese of San Francisco
 * The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo.

The Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco don't keep sacramental records. Use the following Guide to locate genealogical resources:
 * Sacramental Records and Genealogy Research Guide


 * Diocese of Monterey P.O. Box 2048 Monterey, CA 93942 Phone: (831) 373-2127 Fax: (831) 655-4809 Email: Archives@dioceseofmonterey.org
 * Application for Family History Information
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and San Luis Obispo.

Oakland Diocese
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Alameda and Contra Costa.


 * Diocese of Sacramento Historical Archives 2110 Broadway Sacramento, CA 95818 Phone: (916) 733-0299
 * Local parishes
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity and Yolo.


 * Diocese of San Bernardino Archives Office 1201 E. Highland Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92404 Phone: (909) 475-5397 Fax: (909) 474-4907 Email:archives@sbdiocese.org Website
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Riverside and San Bernardino.

Diocese of San Diego 3888 Paducah Drive San Diego, CA 92117

Mailing Address P.O. Box 85728 San Diego, CA 92186-5728 Phone: (858) 490-8200 Fax: (858) 490-8272 E-mail:gperfecto@symbolsdcatholic.org
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Imperial and San Diego.

Diocese of San Jose The diocese includes the county of: Santa Clara.

Diocese of Santa Rosa
 * The diocese includes the counties of: DelNorte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma.

Stockton Diocese
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Alpine, Calaveras, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne.

Catholic Indian Missions

For more historical background on California Indian missions, see Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records Special Collections and Archives Raynor Memorial Libraries Marquette University 1355 W. Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233
 * California Indian Missions, AccessGenealogy
 * Wikipedia: Spanish Missions in California
 * Indigenous Peoples of California

P.O. Box 3141 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-3141
 * Website

Seventh-day Adventist
Loma Linda University 11072 Anderson St. Loma Linda, CA 92350 Phone: 909-558-4550
 * Del E. Webb Memorial Library

Correspond with genealogical or historical societies.
Some church records have been given to historical societies. Also, historical societies may be able to tell you where the records are being held. To find a society near you, consult these lists:

Next, go to the Wiki article for your ancestors' denomination.
There are frequently additional, nationwide or regional archives and online collections for each denomination. Find the article for your ancestors' denomination and follow the instructions there to access these sources.

Carefully compare any record you find to known facts about the ancestor
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 as many of these exact details about the ancestor as possible:
 * name, including middle name and maiden name
 * names of all spouses, including middle and maiden name
 * exact or closely estimated dates of birth, marriage, and death
 * names and approximate birthdates of children
 * all known places of residence
 * occupations
 * military service details

Carefully evaluate the church records you find to make sure you have really found records for your ancestor and not just a "near match". If one or more of the details do not line up, be careful about accepting the entry as your ancestor. There are guiding principles for deciding how to resolve discrepancies between records that are seemingly close. For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, Evaluate the Evidence.