Hawaii Church Records

Between 1820 and 1850, missionaries of many churches visited Hawaii. By 1900 the largest religious groups in the islands were The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Congregational (United Church of Christ), Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. Later, the Buddhists became a major group.

Histories of Buddhists and other religious groups are available. An excellent introduction to this subject is John F. Mulholland, Hawaii's Religions (Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1970; FHL book 996.9 K2m).

The Family History Library has extensive collections of mission and temple records for the LDS Church, including an index of memberships, 1850 to 1961, on 9 microfilms.

Buddhist records are kept at the individual Buddhist temples. Addresses of other major denominations include:

Congregational
Congregational Library 14 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108 Telephone: 617-523-0470 Fax: 617-523-0470 Internet: www.14beacon.org/

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 Telephone: 215-627-1852 Fax: 215-627-0509 Internet: www.history.pcusa.org/

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Honolulu, Chancery Office 1184 Bishop Street Honolulu, HI 96813 Telephone: 808-533-1791 Fax: 808-521-8428