Free Maryland Online Church Records

The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is September 2024)
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Another underutilized genealogy resource is Church Records. We tend to focus our research on civil records but need to be aware that often church records pre-date civil records and are also a great resource. In the BMD Records section of this website, about 15,000 collections of civil records are available online. Yes, that’s a lot, but we also need to search church records

What can we find in church or synagogue records? Here’s just a short list of what nuggets we can find:​

  • Baptisms and Christenings
  • Marriages
  • Deaths
  • Burials
  • Confirmations​​
  • ​Membership lists
  • Church Minutes
  • Church Directories
  • Transfer Letters
  • Bar or Bat Mitzvahs
  • Sunday School lists
  • Church newsletters​

​In addition, many folks also documented important events in family bibles, so they need to be searched if the event information has been digitized.

​Here are a couple of articles that you might find useful:​

There is a large number of Free Online Church Record collections; the links for the state are below:

Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.

Maryland Church Records


For all Free Maryland Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on Maryland, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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