Armenia Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Armenia, go to the Religious Records page.

Historical Background
Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, an event traditionally dated to AD 301. The predominant religion in Armenia is Christianity. The roots of the Armenian Church go back to the 1st century. According to tradition, the Armenian Church was founded by two of Jesus' twelve apostles – Thaddaeus and Bartholomew – who preached Christianity in Armenia between AD 40–60. Because of these two founding apostles, the official name of the Armenian Church is Armenian Apostolic Church. Over 93% of Armenian Christians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a form of Oriental Orthodoxy, roughly comparable to the Coptic and Syriac churches.

The Armenian Evangelical Church has a very sizeable and favourable presence among the life of Armenians with over several thousand members throughout the country. It traces its roots back to 1846 which was under patronage of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople the aim of which was to train qualified clergy for the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Other Christian denominations practicing faith based on Nicene Creed in Armenia are the Pentecostal branches of Protestant community such as the Word of Life, the Armenian Brotherhood Church, the Baptists which are known as of the oldest existing denominations in Armenia and were permitted by the authorities of Soviet Union, and Presbyterians.

Catholics also exist in Armenia, both Latin rite and Armenian rite Catholics. The Armenian Catholic denomination is headquartered in Bzoummar, Lebanon.

Armenia is home to a Russian community of Molokans which practice a form of Spiritual Christianity originated from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Information Recorded in the Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which might be found (best case scenario):

Baptisms
In Catholic and Anglican records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might give:

Marriages
Marriage registers can give:

Burials
Burial registers may give:

Online Records
Primarily Armenian Apostolic Church records, but also includes some records for other religious denominations

1. Use the Locality List for Armenian Parish Registers, listed by historic name and former Russian Empire jurisdictions. Partially in Russian.

2. Use the fond, opis, and item number(s) (see the two far-right columns from the link above) to locate the records in the Family History Library catalog: The red link in the FHL catalog to the digital records is incomplete. Scroll to the list of microfilms to view the digital images.
 * State Historical Archive of Armenia: Fond 47 or Fond 62
 * State Historical Archive of Armenia: Fond 53 or Fond 357. (Example: fond 53, opis 2, file 109 = Ֆ: 53՝ ց: 2՝ մ: 109)

Armenian Apostolic Church
The forms below reflect a typical church record form for the Armenian Apostolic Church, but there will be some variation in column headers over time.

Baptism Record Form
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMD-N6T6?i=101&cat=2526331

Marriage Record form
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMV-N729-Y?i=23&cat=2526331

Burial Record Form
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMD-NXKQ?i=227&cat=2526331

Armenian Catholic Church
The Armenian Catholic church in the Transcaucasian region had four deaneries, (Akhaltsykh-Atskhur [previously part of the Tiflis province of Russia, now in Georgia], Akhalhalak [previously part of the Tiflis province of Russia, now in Georgia], Lori [previously part of the Tiflis province of Russia, now split between Georgia and Armenia], and Alexandrapol [previously part of the Erivan province of Russia, now in Armenia) within the the Diocese of Tiraspol. This diocese was originally created on 3 July 1848 and was called the Diocese of Kherson until 1852. Prior to 1848 the area belonged to the Archdiocese of Mohilev.

Armenian Catholics in the Ėrivan province of the Russian Empire lived primarily in the Aleksandrapolʹ district (uyezd).

Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholics in Armenia belonged to the Tiflis deanery which was also in the Diocese of Tiraspol.

Roman Catholics in the Ėrivan province of the Russian Empire lived primarily in the Sharur-Daralagyoz district (uyezd).