About the Archives
Background
Saskatchewan Conference officially established an archives program in October 1925, soon after the creation of the United Church of Canada and its initial regional Conferences. Through the decades that followed, the archives grew and incorporated records from prior Presbyterian, Methodist, and local union churches, as well as those of newly united congregations. In 2019, Saskatchewan Conference became the Living Skies Regional Council.
Our responsibilities include collecting, preserving and making available for research records within the boundaries governed by Living Skies Regional Council and the former Saskatchewan Conference.
Collections
The archives contains records from Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational and local union churches in Saskatchewan prior to 1925, as well as local, presbytery and Conference records of the United Church of Canada, from 1925 onwards. These include:
- Local Saskatchewan congregations – baptism, marriage, and burial registers; historic membership and communion rolls; meeting minutes of congregations, church councils, boards and committees; printed annual reports; building plans; local church histories, photographs and scrapbooks;
- Saskatchewan-based United Church groups, e.g. United Church Women (UCW), Women’s Missionary Society (WMS), and Women’s Association (WA) – minutes, membership lists, histories and scrapbooks;
- Presbyteries within the former Saskatchewan Conference – minutes, reports, histories, lists and other documents;
- Saskatchewan Conference staff, officers, committees, task groups, and related bodies – minutes, reports and related files;
- Individuals associated with the United Church in Saskatchewan – sermons, photographs, notebooks and other personal papers.
Select publications from the United Church of Canada are also maintained for reference alongside these collections, including a continuous run of Year Books from 1926 through 2016.
For brochures, see Research in the Living Skies Archives (for researchers) or United Church Records and the Living Skies Region Archives (for congregations and other records creators).
Requesting Baptism, Marriage, Burial or Membership Records
If you are looking for information about a particular baptism, marriage, or burial event, please use our Baptism, Marriage, and Burial request forms. For membership information, you can just send us the details in writing.
You can send requests to our e-mail or postal address, at Living Skies Region Archives – The United Church of Canada, c/o Living Skies Regional Council Office, 60A Athabasca St. E., Moose Jaw, SK S6H 0L2.
Please be sure to include
- First and last name of the person requesting the information.
- Contact details, including e-mail and (optionally) your mailing address and/or phone number.
- Full name(s) of the individual in the record requested – first name, last name and name at the time of baptism, confirmation, or marriage.
- Location (city or town) where the baptism, confirmation, marriage or funeral took place.
- Church or other site (e.g. town hall) in that location where the ceremony took place.
- Date of the ceremony – approximate year, if necessary.
- Relationship to the individual in question (e.g. great-grandchild, aunt, sibling).
- Purpose of this research (e.g. family history, passport, research for a book).
Church registers organize information by church, event, and date, so we cannot search based on names alone. Historic rolls generally group names by church and year and these were periodically revised, so confirmation and departure dates from the congregation (if known) can be useful.
For more information and tips, see Requesting Information from Registers and Rolls.
NOTE: Not all records are open to the public. We restrict access to many baptism, marriage and burial registers created from 1923 onwards, in order to protect the personal information of individuals.
Research in the Archives
If you are researching a particular person, church or other topic relating to the United Church in Saskatchewan, we may be able to help. Check the online Memory Sask for some of our published lists and background information. You can also e-mail us for assistance.
Location
Once you have identified which records may be helpful for your research, you may wish to view them in person or request copies.
We provide reference services in partnership with the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (PAS), in their Reference Room, at 2440 Broad Street, in Regina.* Appointments are strongly recommended. For PAS hours and details, see www.saskarchives.com/locations.
*The UCC Region Archivist works part-time from an office not located in the Provincial Archives building. If you have topics to discuss with the Archivist, please let us know in advance.
For more information and tips, click here: Research and In-person Access to Archival Records.
NOTE: Not all records are open to the public. We restrict access to some records, in order to protect the personal information of individuals. This applies to most baptism, marriage and burial registers created from 1923 onwards.
Related Sources
If your research relates to United Church congregations outside of Saskatchewan, you may wish to consult the United Church of Canada Archives Circle.
Depending on your topic, you may want to review research guides, national United Church publications or archival collections held by the United Church of Canada Archives (Toronto), www.unitedchurcharchives.ca.
For other archives in the province, you can check the Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists (SCAA) member list.
Transferring Records to Archives
When records are no longer used by a congregation or other church body, they may be eligible for transfer to the Region archives. If you are looking after these records, we recommend you follow the steps below.
Preliminary Review
- Identify what records you have and determine which should go to the archives. For some guidance in making these decisions, click here: What do the Archives Want? (for congregational records).
- Make a preliminary list of the records you would like to send to the archives. You can use this template (Word format): Preliminary Inventory. For more detailed information and examples, go to Guidelines for Submitting Records.
- Contact the Living Skies Region Archives and send a copy of the list (by email or mail), to let the archivist know what you have. Please also note how many boxes there are and whether there are any serious concerns (e.g. water damage).
The archivist will review the list and contact you to make arrangements for the transfer. The archives office is only staffed part-time, so delivery of records must be arranged with the Archivist in advance.
Document the Transfer
When the records have been organized and the list reviewed by the Archives, complete the transfer form applicable to you.
Active congregations or pastoral charges should use the Transfer of Congregational Records form – board approval may be required. (This does not apply to churches that closed before the records were transferred.)
If the records were created by a now defunct Presbytery or Saskatchewan Conference, use the Transfer of Presbytery Records or Transfer of Conference Records forms.
Complete the Transfer
Deliver records to the Region Archives office and fill-in the Receipt of Records for Appraisal form (or include the already completed form with the transfer). This form must be completed for all records received by the Archives.
Feel free to contact us by e-mail or phone for clarification.
Donating Records to the Archives
In addition to church records, the Living Skies Region Archives also collects papers, photographs and related records from private individuals and organizations associated with (but not directly governed by) The United Church of Canada in Saskatchewan.
If you have private records you would like to offer the Archives, see: Donating Private Records.
For additional information, contact the Archivist by e-mail or mail, at Living Skies Region Archives – The United Church of Canada, c/o Living Skies Regional Council Office, 60A Athabasca St. E., Moose Jaw, SK S6H 0L2. You can also phone 306-704-0181.
If you are dropping off or sending in records to the archives for review, you will also need to fill out the Receipt of Records for Appraisal form. The archives office is only staffed part-time, so delivery of records must be arranged with the Archivist in advance.
Additional Tools & Information
Creating and maintaining church records
- Record Keeping and Privacy
- Privacy Issues: Recordkeeping and Archives
- Sample Records Schedule
- Preparing records for the archives
- What do the Archives Want?
- Guide to Archiving Presbytery Records
- Oral History in the Archives
Remembering our history
Honouring Our Heritage – for information about the United Church’s Historic Commemorations Program.
The Children Remembered – about United Church involvement in the Indian Residential Schools, with histories of schools and photographs. (Saskatchewan schools are included.)
