Hawaii Church Records

Between 1820 and 1850, missionaries of many churches visited Hawaii. By 1900 the largest religious groups in the islands were The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Congregational (United Church of Christ), Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. Later, the Buddhists became a major group.

Histories of Buddhists and other religious groups are available. An excellent introduction to this subject is John F. Mulholland, Hawaii's Religions (Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1970; Family History Library book 996.9 K2m).

The Family History Library has extensive collections of mission and temple records for the LDS Church, including an index of memberships, 1850 to 1961, on 9 microfilms.

The State of Hawaii has compiled many of the Vital Records from Churches and holds these records in the state archives. For more information see Hawaii Vital Records- Civil Registration under the section on State Records.

Buddhist records are kept at the individual Buddhist temples. Addresses of other major denominations include:

Congregational
Congregational Library 14 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108 Telephone: 617-523-0470 Fax: 617-523-0470 Internet: www.14beacon.org/

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 Telephone: 215-627-1852 Fax: 215-627-0509 Internet: www.history.pcusa.org/

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Honolulu, Chancery Office 1184 Bishop Street Honolulu, HI 96813 Telephone: 808-533-1791 Fax: 808-521-8428