Iowa Church Records

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Church Records and Archives

Church records have been kept in Iowa since the 1830s. Information from church records varies greatly, depending upon the denomination and the record keeper. Records may contain such information about members of the congregation as age, dates of baptism, christening, or birth, marriage information, wife’s maiden name, and death dates. Records may include names of other relatives who were witnesses at church events or members of the congregation. The members of some churches were predominately of one nationality or ethnic group. Knowing this may help you find the foreign town from which your ancestors immigrated.

Before 1900 the largest religious groups were the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran churches along with The Society of Friends (Quakers) and other small groups were also early settlers.

German Immigrants in Western Iowa Protestant Church Records

German Immigrants in NE Iowa Protestant Church Records

Iowa Published Church Records
Periodicals have published records of many Iowa churches. These are referenced in the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) described in the "Periodicals" page. Many denominations have collected and stored their records in central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located:

Baptist
North American Baptist Conference 1 South 210 Summit Avenue Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 Telephone: 630-495-2000 Fax: 630-495-0333 Internet: North American Baptist Conference

Episcopal Church
Trinity Episcopal Church, Muscatine IA, has Parish Baptism Records online.

Lutheran
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Wartburg Theological Seminary 333 Wartburg Place Dubuque, IA 52001 Telephone: 319-589-0200 Fax: 319-589-0333 Internet: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Wartburg Theological Seminary has Lutheran records from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and upper Michigan. Many of the records in this repository can be borrowed for a small fee. For a list of some of the records, see:


 * ALC Congregations on Microfilm. The list is alphabetical by state and then by city. Fiche 6330690 has records from Iowa.
 * American Lutheran Church Shelf List Index to Their Church Records
 * St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Montpelier Twp, has Baptism and Death records online.

Methodist
Iowa Wesleyan College Library Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641 Telephone: 319-385-6317 Fax: 319-385-6324 Internet address: Iowa Wesleyan College Library

You can find two of the library’s collections in:


 * Iowa Churches: A File at the Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa This file consists of church histories, anniversary programs, and newspaper clippings. It is arranged by towns or by the name of the church.
 * Ministerial Biographies: A File in the Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa These films contain biographies, mainly of Methodist ministers.

Presbyterian
The Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Telephone: 215-627-1852 Fax: 215-627-0509 Internet: The Presbyterian Historical Society

Many of the biographies and church records of this society have been microfilmed. The society and the Family History Library are continuing to collect Iowa Presbyterian church records.

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints World Headquarters P. O. Box 1059 Independence, MO 64051 Telephone: 816-833-1000 Fax: 816-521-3089 Internet address: Community of Christ

Records of most Iowa congregations of this church have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library.

Roman Catholic
Local Catholic Church History and Catholic Ancestors of Iowa Diocese of Davenport 2706 N. Gaines Street Davenport, IA 52804 Telephone: 319-324-1911 Fax: 319-324-5842 Internet: Diocese of Davenport

Diocese of Sioux City 1821 Jackson Street Sioux City, IA 51105 Telephone: 712-255-7933 Fax: 712-233-7598 Internet: Diocese of Sioux City

Diocese of Des Moines 610 Grand Avenue Des Moines, IA 50309 Telephone: 515-243-7653 Fax: 515-237-5070 Internet: Diocese of Des Moines

Society of Friends (Quaker)
Friends Historical Library Swarthmore College 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, PA 19081 Telephone: 610-328-8496 Fax: 610-328-7329 Internet address: Friends Historical Library

Magill Library Haverford College Haverford, PA 19041-1392 Telephone: 610-896-1161 Fax: 610-896-1102 Internet address: Magill Library

Two collections of the Iowa Society of Friends records are:


 * Index to Iowa Quaker Meeting Records
 * The William Wade Hinshaw Index to Quaker Meeting Records in the Friends Library in Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. has an index to surnames and indicates in which monthly meetings those surnames are found. These microfilms contain records of many Iowa monthly meetings.

Websites for Quaker Genealogy Helps:


 * American Friend Obituary Index
 * Friends Historical Library
 * The Quaker Corner
 * The Quaker Research Guide

Family History Library
The Family History Library has: While the majority of church records remain with the local churches, the Family History Library, and Iowa Historical Society Library, have copies of local records from some churches. See A Guide to Manuscripts at the Iowa Historical Society, described in Iowa Archives and Libraries.

Many of the local church records available at the Family History Library have been microfilmed at various archives and libraries. Whenever possible, these are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under IOWA, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS. While no listing of Family History Library films by repository is available, the Family History Library Catalog identifies when and where each record was microfilmed. Example: Family History Library List of Iowa Churches


 * Records of churches, including Catholic, Presbyterian and the Society of Friends (see the Family History Library Catalog).
 * Histories of denominations in Iowa, including Mennonite, Congregational, Quaker, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist-Episcopal.

A useful list of books and articles about the various religious groups of Iowa is found on pages 116–125 in:


 * Iowa History Reference Guide. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1952. This bibliography includes sections about American Indians, immigration, land, government, courts, military, schools, churches, businesses, history, and biographies. It is arranged by subject and has an index.

Iowa Church Locators
There are different websites that list churches in Iowa.


 * Flock Finder
 * Iowa Churches
 * Iowa Church Director