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 April 2025)
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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 a great resource as well. In the BMD Records section of this website, there are about 15,000 collections of civil records that are available online. Yes, that’s a lot, but we need to also search church records as well.
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 as well if the event information has been digitized.
Here are a couple of articles that you might find useful:
- U.S. Church Records Research Guide
- United States Church Records
- A Genealogist’s Guide to Using Catholic Records in Genealogy Research
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 to the right of the name (in the Format column), then the collection’s 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.
Montana Church Records
- Billings, Catholic Church. St. Joachim; St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Baptisms up to 1907
- Billings, Baptisms up to 1907 Copied from the Records of the three Oldest Churches in Billings
- Blackfeet Agency, Agency Church Records, 1876-1952
- Bozeman, Christening Records from First Presbyterian Church, 1872-1897
- Bozeman, First Presbyterian Church Records from the Church Register, 1872-1897
- Cascade County, First Methodist Church Marriages of Cascade, Deer Lodge and Yellowstone Counties
- Chouteau County, St Paul’s Episcopal Church Records
- Chouteau County, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Records
- Glasgow, Marriage, Cemetery and Bible Records
- Havre, Early Church and Cemetery Records of Montana
- Helena, Catholic Church, Book of Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths and Confirmation from 1866 to 1882 and in Hellgate and Frenchtown
- Helena, First Baptist Church, Church Record, 1886-1898
- Lewistown, First United Presbyterian Church, Church Records, 1890-1930
- Lewistown, Zion Lutheran Church
- Madison County, Church Records, 1874-1904
- Missoula, Catholic Church. Missoula Mission Church Records, 1877-1907
- Montana, Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations, 1941
- Montana, Inventory of the Vital Statistics Records of Church and Religious Organizations, 1942
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!