California Church Records

--

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.

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

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.
'''Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.


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

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * 1864-1985 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1812-1988 -, index, incomplete.
 * 1850-1945 -, index, incomplete.
 * 1776-2000 -, index, incomplete.

Congregational

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

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

 * 1863-1878 - Church records (California & Nevada), 1863-1878, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Pacific Slopes Mission (California & Nevada), images.
 * 1867-1917 - Church records, 1867-1917, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Northern California District (California), images.
 * 1869-1916 - Church records, 1869-1916, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mount Home Branch (California), images.
 * 1876-1945 - Church records, 1876-1945, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Southern California District (California), images.

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.

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 listed in the FamilySearch Catalog.

 * The Family History Library (FHL) 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 Family History 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.

-

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.

Roman Catholic
'''For most records, records are maintained at the parish level. Local priests can issue baptismal certificates. Diocese records which are available otherwise are listed here. If a diocese was does not have records available for research, it is not listed here.''' -
 * Archdiocese of San Francisco Archives St. Patrick Seminary 320 Middlefield Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: (650) 328-6502 aasf@sfarch.org Hours: Open for research by appointment
 * The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo.
 * Has copies of birth, marriage, and funeral records for all the parishes in Marin, San francisco, snd San Mateo Counties
 * Has microfilm copies of birth, marriage, and funeral records for Oakland, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Stockton Dioceses.


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


 * Diocese of Sacramento Historical Archives 2110 Broadway Sacramento, CA 95818 Phone: (916) 733-0299
 * 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.
 * While most records are found at local parishes, some older records are in these archives. Contact the archivist to learn whether older records exist. They will inform you of search request instructions.


 * Diocese of San Bernardino Archives Office 1201 E. Highland Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92404 Phone: (909) 475-5399
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Riverside and San Bernardino.
 * Has baptism, marriage, and funeral records for the parishes of the diocese for 1852 to about 1980 on microfilm.
 * Has Catholic cemetery records for the diocese

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


 * The diocese includes the counties of: Imperial and San Diego.

Oakland Diocese--microfilms at Archdiocese of San Francisco Archives
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Alameda and Contra Costa.

Diocese of San Jose--microfilms at Archdiocese of San Francisco Archives The diocese includes the county of: Santa Clara.

Diocese of Santa Rosa--microfilms at Archdiocese of San Francisco Archives
 * The diocese includes the counties of: DelNorte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma.

Stockton Diocese--microfilms at Archdiocese of San Francisco Archives
 * The diocese includes the counties of: Alpine, Calaveras, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne.

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

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Region 2 Archives(Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming) Carol Schmalenberger ELCA Region 2 Archives Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary 2770 Marin Avenue Berkeley, CA 94708-1597 (510) 524-5264 E-mail: archives@plts.edu

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Early, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church records for California Wards and Branches can be found on film and are located at the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the FamilySearch Catalog. Or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

California Births and Christenings (FamilySearch Historical Records).