Orthodox Church in America (OCA): Difference between revisions

{{Block indent|a. Enter your state name in the '''"Place"''' search field of [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog '''FamilySearch Catalog.'''] You will see a list of topics and, at the top, the phrase "Places within United States, [STATE]".  |3}}

{{Block indent|b. Click on '''"Church records"''' in the topic list. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.|3}}

{{Block indent|c. From the original page, click on '''Places within United States, [STATE]''' and a list of counties will appear.|3}}

{{Block indent|d. Click on your county.|3}}

{{Block indent|e. Click on the '''"Church records"''' topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.|3}}

{{Block indent|f. From the list of counties, click on '''Places within United States, [STATE], [COUNTY]''' and a list of towns will appear.|3}}

{{Block indent|g. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.  |3}}

{{Block indent|h. Click on the '''"Church records"''' topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.|3}}

{{Block indent|i. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. [[File:FHL icons.png|75px]].  The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.|3}}

{{Block indent|"The Archives of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) are the official repository for the inactive records of the Central Church Administration, documenting the All-American Councils, the Holy Synod, the Metropolitan Council, dioceses, monasteries, seminaries, parishes, clergy, departments, boards, commissions, and a variety of other external and internal matters affecting the Church."|2}}

{{Block indent|"Additional collections preserved with the OCA Archives include some 90 sets of personal and institutional archives of hierarchs, clergy, lay leaders, and Church-related entities, as well as photographs, films and videos, computer discs, and other media, periodicals, Church directories, and anniversary and historical publications and artifacts from throughout the world."|2}}

{{Block indent|"These rich and unparalleled historical collections include original documents handwritten by the North American Orthodox saints and documentation chronicling the history of Orthodox Christianity in North America dating back to the Alaskan mission in 1794."|2}}

{{Block indent|"Individuals and groups are always welcome to visit the OCA Archives to familiarize themselves with the collections or to conduct research on a particular topic.  Historical questions may also be directed to the OCA Archivist by e-mail, phone, fax or mail."|2}}

'''Carefully evaluate''' the church records you find to make sure you have really found records for your ancestor and not just a '''"near match"'''. If one or more of the details do not line up, be careful about accepting the entry as your ancestor. There are guiding principles for deciding how to resolve discrepancies between records that are seemingly close. For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, [[Evaluate the Evidence|'''Evaluate the Evidence'''.]]