Church Records
A listing of Swedish-American and Swedish-Canadian church record holdings on microfilm
About Church Records
Swedish-American and Swedish-Canadian church records are used frequently for family history research.
Jump to Swedish-American Church Records Listing
Jump to Swedish-Canadian Church Records Listing
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We have records of congregations from the following denominations:
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Augustana Lutheran
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Mission Covenant
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Evangelical Free
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Swedish Methodist
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Swedish Baptist
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Swedish Episcopal
Researchers should keep in mind that the quality of the individual church records varies. If the church books were complete and accurately kept, the following information can often be gained about members:
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Date and place of birth and baptism
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Year of arrival in America
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Date of confirmation, marriage, death (not place of burial)
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Previous and subsequent residences in the United States
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Date received as a church member
To search the church records, one must know where one's immigrant settled in North America. In the case of a city with a large Swedish population like Chicago or Minneapolis, the name of a specific church, a street address, or even a neighborhood of residence is essential for search purposes. If your immigrant ancestors settled in an area that was not well populated with Swedish immigrants, it is possible that there was no Swedish church there.
Do you have an Ancestry.com subscription?
Most of the Lutheran, Covenant, and Free churches listed below are also indexed and available to search on Ancestry.com. Search these churches with your Ancestry account.
This was made possible by a collaboration between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Covenant Archives at North Park University, the Evangelical Free Church of America, the Swedish Emigrant Institute in Växjö, Sweden, and the Swenson Center.
Tips
Abbreviations:
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D = Denomination
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F = Year founded
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HIST = Congregational history
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MINS = Meeting minutes
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MEMB = Membership records
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M/A = Ministerial acts (baptisms, confirmations, marriages, funerals, etc.)
Denomination:
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L = Lutheran
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C = Covenant
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B = Baptist
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F = Free
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M = Methodist
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E = Episcopal
Note on sorting: Google Spreadsheets does not appropriately sort the Swedish letters ÅÄÖ as following Z. Browse for these letters under either A or O.
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Swedish-American Church Record Listing
Use the yellow search bar or browse by scrolling.
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To request a search in these records, see Genealogy-For-Hire, Genealogy Research Visits or contact us.