About Christ the King Mission · La Veta, Colorado
Christ the King Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the rural mountain town of La Veta, Colorado, about 150 miles south of Denver and well within view of the Spanish Peaks. It is one of four parishes that together form the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community within the Diocese of Pueblo. Mass is offered twice a week — Sunday midday and Wednesday morning — and the mission hosts periodic Eucharistic Adoration for the faithful of the surrounding Huerfano County communities.
- Patron
- Christ the King
- Rector
- Father Isaac Mungai Kariuki (as administrator/pastor of the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community, which includes Christ the King Mission)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Pueblo
Why belong here
Christ the King Mission is the smallest of the four linked parishes in the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community, but it offers something precious to the faithful of La Veta and surrounding Huerfano County: a steady, intimate liturgical presence in a rural mountain setting. Parishioners can attend a Sunday midday Mass without driving over the mountains, gather for weekday Mass on Wednesdays, and pray before the Blessed Sacrament on second Thursdays during Eucharistic Adoration. As part of a multi-parish cluster, the mission is supported by a diocesan priest who also personally visits the homebound — a true close-knit rural Catholic community under the patronage of Christ the King.
Mass times at Christ the King Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Adoration times
- Thursday 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (2nd Thursdays of the month)
About Christ the King Mission
Christ the King Mission is a Roman Catholic mission church located in the small mountain town of La Veta, Colorado, in Huerfano County and within clear sight of the Spanish Peaks. As a mission rather than a parish, it cannot sustain a resident priest of its own, but is served by the priest of the larger Spanish Peaks Catholic Community in the Diocese of Pueblo. Mass is celebrated twice weekly — Sunday at 12:30 PM and Wednesday at 9:00 AM — and Eucharistic Adoration is offered on the second Thursday of each month, 4:00–5:00 PM. The mission welcomes visitors, seasonal residents, and long-time local Catholic families seeking the sacraments in this scenic southern Colorado setting.
Mass & Liturgical Schedule
Public Masses are celebrated on Sundays at 12:30 PM and on Wednesdays at 9:00 AM. There are no permanent daily Masses at the mission; however, the priest of the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community travels between La Veta and the three other linked parishes in the cluster, ensuring that each church, including Christ the King, has consistent Sunday and weekday Mass coverage.
- Sunday: 12:30 PM
- Wednesday: 9:00 AM
- Eucharistic Adoration: 2nd Thursday of the month, 4:00–5:00 PM
Spanish Peaks Catholic Community
Christ the King Mission belongs to the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community, a 'family of parishes' serving the Catholic faithful across southern Colorado's Huerfano County and adjacent areas. The four linked churches are St. Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows in Walsenburg (the cluster anchor), St. Anthony of Padua in Aguilar, Sacred Heart in Gardner, and Christ the King Mission in La Veta. A single diocesan priest serves as pastor/administrator of the entire community so that every church can share in regular Mass, Adoration, and sacramental ministry.
- St. Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows — Walsenburg
- St. Anthony of Padua — Aguilar
- Sacred Heart — Gardner
- Christ the King Mission — La Veta
Pastor and Parish Leadership
The Spanish Peaks Catholic Community, including Christ the King Mission, was most recently pastored by Father Isaac Mungai Kariuki, ordained for the Diocese of Pueblo in 2015 and a native of Kenya. A son of six children whose vocation was first kindled as a six-year-old altar boy, Fr. Isaac trained with the Consolata Missionaries in Kenya before further studies in Uganda, Kenya, and the United States. He is described in regional reporting as deeply scriptural in his preaching and committed to visiting the homebound and hospitalized. He reworked the cluster schedules to ensure each of the four churches — including Christ the King — receives both weekday and Sunday Mass.
Former Pastor: Father Stephen Olamolu
Before Fr. Isaac's assignment, the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community was led by Father Stephen Olamolu, originally of the Diocese of Minna in Nigeria. Ordained in 1989, Fr. Stephen came to the Diocese of Pueblo and first served in Lamar, Holly, and Springfield before being assigned to the Spanish Peaks cluster. He was widely credited with steering major building renovations — new church doors, pew cushions, and kneelers — and with spearheading a capital campaign for a new parish hall at St. Mary in Walsenburg. Members of all four parishes in the cluster, including Christ the King, have been described gathering for community celebrations around their shared priest.
Sacraments & Pastoral Care
Because Christ the King is a mission church without a resident priest, most sacramental preparation (matrimony, baptism, anointing of the sick, etc.) is coordinated through the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community's central office. Confessions are typically available by appointment and may be scheduled at St. Mary in Walsenburg on Saturdays. Homebound and hospitalized visits are an explicit pastoral priority of the cluster's pastor, ensuring that elderly or shut-in members of the La Veta community remain connected to the Church.
- Mass — Sunday & Wednesday
- Eucharistic Adoration — monthly (2nd Thursday)
- Confession — by appointment
- Visits to the homebound and hospitalized
Parish Life & Community
Parish life at Christ the King is small-scale and personal. Local parish bulletins from recent years reference simple, warm gatherings such as the annual 'ladies' luncheon' and parish potlucks that bring together the four linked communities. Because La Veta is a tourist and second-home town near the Spanish Peaks, the mission also welcomes seasonal visitors and vacationers who join in Mass when they are in the area.
Diocese of Pueblo
Christ the King Mission is a member of the Diocese of Pueblo, the Roman Catholic diocese covering much of southern Colorado, headquartered in the city of Pueblo. The diocese provides the priestly personnel and oversight for the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community and the dozens of other parishes and missions scattered across the region, from Walsenburg and Trinidad to Pueblo and Alamosa.
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Stephen Olamolu
Served as pastor of the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community (which includes Christ the King Mission); came to the cluster from parishes in Lamar, Holly and Springfield. Spearheaded renovations and fundraising for a new parish hall.
- Rev. Isaac Mungai Kariuki
Ordained in the Diocese of Pueblo in 2015; born in Kenya. Assigned as administrator/pastor of the Spanish Peaks Catholic Community, shepherding St. Mary (Walsenburg), St. Anthony of Padua (Aguilar), Sacred Heart (Gardner), and Christ the King (La Veta).