North Dakota Church Records

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in North Dakota were Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches.

The Family History Library has histories of the Dunkards (Church of the Brethren), Episcopal, Presbyterian, Catholic, and other churches in North Dakota. For Methodists, Presbyterians, Dunkards, and Lutherans you can also consult the various volumes of The Collections of The State Historical Society of North Dakota Seven Volumes. (Bismarck, North Dakota: Tribune State Printers, 1906—; FHL book 978.4 B2h; films beginning with film 1697422).

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Collection includes some North Dakota church records for Barnes, Burleigh, and Towner counties (FHL films 859737-40).

The Family History Library has very few North Dakota church records. Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located.

Lutheran
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA Archives) 8765 W. Higgins Road Chicago, IL 60631-4198 Telephone: 800-638-3522 or 773-380-2700 Fax: 773-380-1465 Email: [mailto:archives@elca.org archives@elca.org] Web Site: http://www.elca.org/contactus.html

The Archives has records of many congregations on microfilm. These can be borrowed for a small fee. For a list of church records in their collection as of the 1970's see FHL fiche 6330690-93; the fiche with the North Dakota list is 6330692.

Many Lutheran Church records for Germans from Russia are at:

Institute for Regional Studies North Dakota State University Libraries P.O. Box 5599 Fargo, ND 58105-5599 Telephone: 701-231-8914 Fax: 701-231-5632 Email: [mailto:archives@www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu archives@www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu] Web Site: http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs/bio&amp;genealogy/index.html

Methodist
United Methodist Church North Dakota Conference Wesley United Methodist Church 1600 4th Ave North Grand Forks, ND 58203 Telephone: 701-772-1869

Web Site: http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/library/Collections/og446.html

Dakotas United Conference Archives
McGovern Library Dakota Wesleyan University Box 460 1200 West University Avenue Mitchell, SD 57301-4398 Telephone: 605-995-2134 Fax: 605-995-2893 Email: lalangla@dwu.edu Web site: http://www.dakotasumc.org/archives_history.html

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society United Presbyterian Church in the U.S. 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Telephone: 215-627-1852 Fax: 215-627-0509 Email: refdesk@history.pcusa.org Web Site: http://www.history.pcusa.org/famhist/general.html

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Bismarck Chancery Office Box 1575 420 Raymond Street Bismarck, ND 58502-1575 Telephone: 701-223-1347 Fax: 701-223-3693 Web site: http://bismarckdiocese.com/diocese/

Diocese of Fargo Chancery Office 1310 Broadway Box 1750 Fargo, ND 58107 Telephone: 701-235-6429 Fax: 701-235-0296 Email:'web@fargodiocese.org Web Site: http://home.att.net/~Local_Catholic/CatholicUS-StPaul-MnaplsMN.htm