Found this on the Archdioce of Newark website. Thought it might be helpful to some. It was to me
Help with Your Search for Sacramental Records
Adapted from information posted on the web site of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles .
Here are some suggestions that may help with your search for Sacramental Records:
1. Assuming you are looking for your baptismal certificate, did you ever receive First Communion, Confirmation, or Matrimony in the Catholic Church? Parishes celebrating these other sacraments are supposed to send that information (a notation only, not the certificate) back to the parish of baptism, so if you contact the parishes of these other sacraments that may point you back to the parish of baptism. Please note that the parish of baptism cannot give you your certificate for First Communion, Confirmation, etc.; it would just have a notation that you received that sacrament (elsewhere). Sacramental certificates are only available from the parish where you celebrated that sacrament.
2. For birth or marriage records, you can also contact the County's Vital Statistics Office or Hall of Records.
3. Where were your sisters and brothers baptized? Sometimes siblings were baptized together, or at least at the same parish.
4. What address did you live at when you were baptized? Knowing this may be helpful in locating the parish that address geographically belongs.
5. Is there any remembrance of the parish (examples: it was named after Mary; it was in Newark, Elizabeth or Jersey City; it was run by the Franciscan or Carmelite priests, or another religious order)?
6. Was it in the a city or one of in the suburbs? The cities in the Archdiocese have many parishes, while each suburb usually has only one or two.
7. Were you baptized on a U.S. military base, either in the U.S. or abroad? If so, your records are probably at the Military Archdiocese:
Archdiocese of the Military Services, U.S.A.
415 Michigan Ave., N.E., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20017-1518
E-mail: info@milarch.org
Web site: http://www.milarch.org
Please send a written request to the Military Archdiocese, either by postal mail or e-mail.
It takes two to three weeks to receive the certificate.
