Churches?

[Renee.S]

Question for you experts 

If I were to research what church my great-grandmother may have gone to prior to her death in 1941/2 how would I go further in finding out if that church still exists?

I hope that doesn't sound like a stupid question... I guess I'm just thinking, what if that church doesn't exsist anymore?  do they keep records that far back?  are they going to think I'm crazy calling up and asking about a possible former member of the church??

   Many, many thanks in advance.

[suttontrust]

It should be simple enough to find out if the church still exists - a call to the local library or information centre would be the quickest way.  However, if it's still there the current church council may well not have records that far back, though they would do their best to find out.  If the church has gone, then depending on the denomination I should try local diocesan office / circuit office etc. and ask where records might be kept.  Usually churches deposit their archives in the local record office.  No one will think you're crazy - it's becoming common, after all 

[Bill749]

Hi Renee

To find out where the registers of any church are kept, and the years for which they exist, the definitive source is Philimore's Atlas and Index of Parish Registers.  The latest edition usually costs around £50, but I have seen them on sale at family history fairs for arounf £40.

Your local public library may have a copy in the reference section (maybe not in the Netherlands!).

I have a 20 year old edition, which is a bit out of date, but it is still fairly reliable.  If you find the church, I can look up the location of the records for you.

Regards, Bill

[behindthefrogs]

You will find most churches which no longer exist didn't just disappear but merged with another one.  Simply putting into Google the name of the church and the place where it was, will usually bring up details of the merger in the history of an existing church.

If you put strings of words in quotes in your search it will reduce the number of results

[Renee.S]

many thanks suttontrust, Bill & behindthefrogs!

She was in the US at the time so I guess a Parish directory won't be much help.

Silly, but I *just* googled "church" + "allegheny" + "1941" and got some handy links!

Kind Regards,
Renée

[Nick Carver]

The GENUKI county boards are a wealth of information on this sort of thing. They usually give the details of parishes and location of records amongst many other things. A very good starting point. To find out if the church is in use today, try the appropriate diocesan web page e.g. www.ely.anglican.org

Happy hunting