St. Louis was the welcoming home for people of many religions. In this portion of Research in St. Louis, you will find information about these religious groups and the records they produced. Genealogists often find the names of their ancestors’ congregations in baptismal or marriage documents but are unable to locate the actual records. Each congregation for which we have history and data is included in this part of the website with the date of formation and their addresses.

A listing of St. Louis congregations is available along with a little background about the denomination and its records. A link to an active congregation is provided, if it is available.

StLGS is updating a list of St. Louis clergy with the data provided from various sources. Genealogists often locate a vital event document that includes the name of the clergy. If the congregation is unknown, the name of the clergy may lead the researcher to the proper congregation and neighborhood. Click here to go to the list of St. Louis clergy.

Catholic churches usually were established and stayed at one location. If two parishes merged, the church selected a new name. Usually the new church does not use the name of either of the two old parishes.

Many Protestant and Jewish congregations established themselves at one location and then moved west within the City of St. Louis or eventually into St. Louis County as their congregation members migrated. Protestant churches often used street names as part of the name of their church.

St. Louis Genealogical Society volunteers compiled this information for you and will continue to search for more data. Please support our efforts with your membership.

Congregations Project

St. Louis Genealogical Society has embarked on a long-range project to collect, preserve, digitize, and index historical records from St. Louis City and County congregations of all denominations. As you can see by using the hundreds of congregations pages on this website, we have made great strides. However, thousands of birth, baptismal, confirmation, marriage, and death records still remain within churches and synagogues, many in conditions that do not ensure their longevity. We are asking for the active participation of fellow genealogists to help us reach leaders of churches and synagogues in St. Louis City and County so we can assist them to preserve and share their precious genealogical records. If you are interested in talking with a congregation leader, please download a copy of our Congregations Project flyer and then let us know if we can assist you further by sending an email to projects@stlgs.org.

Bibliography

Huisinga, Joan. The Churches of Soulard: Celebrating 14 Churches in and Around the Historic Soulard District of Saint Louis. St. Louis: Churches of Soulard Foundation, 1998.

Missouri Historical Records Survey. Church Bibliography: Baptist Bodies of Missouri; Associational Minutes. St. Louis: Historical Records Survey, Works Progress Administration, 1941.

Rothensteiner, Rev. John. History of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in Its Various Stages of Development, from A.D. 1673 to A.D. 1928. 2 volumes. St. Louis: Blackwell Wielandy Co., 1928.

Schild, James. House of God: The Historic Churches and Places of Worship of the St. Louis Area. Florissant, Missouri: Auto Review, 1995.

Stiritz, Mary M. St. Louis: Historic Churches & Synagogues. St. Louis: St. Louis Public Library and Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc., 1995.

Last Modified: 10-Feb-2021 11:02