Resources for LDS Church Records

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has accumulated a huge number of records important to family history. These records, if available, are in the form of books, microforms (microfilm and microfiche) and online databases. Some of these records are available only to members of the Church and further, only to those members who possess a Temple recommend after passing through a series of interviews with Church leaders. However, there are a lot of records that are available for use by anyone who is interested.

Most of the available records are listed in the FamilySearch.org Catalog by locality or topic. I suggest looking by locality or place and then looking in the resultant lists for "Church Records." Most of the available LDS records will show up in this type of search. There are also a number of books and microforms listed in various library catalogs around the world. I would suggest a careful search in the WorldCat.org catalog for "LDS Records" and other similar search terms. Here is a sample list of some of the records I have located:

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bear River Stake (Utah). Church Records,. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the LDS Church Historian’s Office, 1969.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Genealogical Department. LDS Church Records and Research Aids. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Department, 1978.

———. Major Genealogical Record Sources: Series F: LDS Church Records and Research Aids. Salt Lake City, Utah: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Genealogical Society., ///.

———. Research Aids and LDS Church Records. [Salt Lake City, Utah: The Department, 1976.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Genealogical Society. LDS Church Records and Research Aids,. [Salt Lake City, 1968.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Utah Stake. Church Records, 1856-1912. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1956.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wairoa Branch (Hawke’s Bay). Church records,. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1959.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Weston Ward (Idaho), and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Oneida Stake (Idaho). Church Records,. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1950.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whangarei District (New Zealand). LDS Church Records. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1987.

This list gives you an idea of the types of records that might be available. Larger libraries, especially university libraries in the western United States, will likely have records and histories of specific Church units. It is very important to carefully search the university catalogs, especially those libraries with Special Collections.