About the Archives
We have moved! The Living Skies Archives is now located at 505 10 St. E Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (the basement of Grace-Westminster United Church).
With an appointment, in-person researcher visits are welcome at our new location.
As of July 2026, we are completing reference requests from our backlog. We anticipate the backlog of requests will be complete by November 2026. If you wish to inquire about the status of your request, then please email the Archives staff. New reference requests are being accepted and will be added to our queue.
Many of our finding aids (description of the records we hold) can be found on the MemorySask catalogue.
Some of our records are not described on MemorySask. When in doubt, reach out! If you do know what records you’d like to see, then please tell your archivist. We can schedule an in-person appointment so that you can do research yourself, or we can do up to one hour of scanning or research on your behalf. The majority of our baptism, marriage, and burial records are “closed,” so the Archives staff may have to complete the research on your behalf.
The Living Skies Archives is happy to accept transfers of archival records from Communities of Faith! Please reach out to the Archives (email preferred – livingskiesarchives@united-church.ca ) and we will work with you to schedule a drop-off time at our new location in Saskatoon. You must have a confirmed appointment before you drop-off the material to ensure that staff are available to accept the records. If you have records that you think should come to Archives, but you are confused or overwhelmed or just have a few quick questions, then please reach out to us.
There are a number of useful Guides on this website. We have also created a Big-One-Stop-Guide to transferring records: How to Transfer Archival Records to the United Church Archives in Saskatchewan . This Guide includes general information, directions, and some copies of forms that can be found elsewhere on this webpage.
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, 505 10th St. E, Saskatoon SK S7N 0E3
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 1925 onwards, in order to protect the personal information of individuals.
Transferring Records to Archives
When records are no longer used by a Community of Faith or other church body, they may be eligible for transfer to the Archives. If you are looking after these records, we recommend you follow the steps below, or consult this Guide (How-to-Transfer-Archival-Records-to-the-United-Church-Archives-in-Saskatchewan.pdf) .
- 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 by completing a Transfer Form or signing a Deed of Gift. 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.)
- Complete the Transfer by delivering the records to the Archives, and including file lists and any transfer forms. Fill-in the Receipt of Records for Appraisalform (or include the already completed form with the transfer). 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 Archives staff by e-mail or mail, at Living Skies Region Archives, 505 10th St. E, Saskatoon SK S7N 0E3. You can also phone 639-396-0200 to talk to the Living Skies Regional Council Administrative Support who will forward your message to the Archives.
Additional Tools & Information
Creating and maintaining church records
Membership
Historic Roll: Frequently Asked Questions
Meetings
Guidelines for Minutes and Notes of Meetings
Requirements for Minute-Taking (Checklist)
Record Keeping and Privacy
Privacy Issues: Recordkeeping and Archives
Preparing records for the archives
Guide to Archiving Presbytery Records
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.)
