Holy Family

About Holy Family Mission

Holy Family is the Roman Catholic mission church serving the small community of Gustavus, Alaska. It is administered as a mission of the Co-Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Juneau and is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau. Because Gustavus is remote and cannot support a resident priest, the mission is served by a traveling priest who visits roughly once a month.

Frontier Ministry Model

Holy Family operates on a lay-led and itinerant-priest model that has long characterized frontier Catholic ministry in Alaska. On Sundays when the traveling priest is present, Mass is celebrated at 9:30 AM. On the remaining Sundays, a trained lay presider leads a Word and Communion service, allowing the small Catholic community to gather every Sunday even without an ordained celebrant. This model keeps Gustavus Catholics connected to the rhythm of the liturgical year and to the wider archdiocese.

• Traveling priest from the Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau visits about once a month
• Lay presider leads Word and Communion Service on other Sundays
• Sunday worship begins at 9:30 AM
• Everyone — residents and visitors — is welcome

The Community of Gustavus

Gustavus is a small community on the glacial outwash plain across Icy Strait from Juneau, adjacent to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. It began as an agricultural homesteading settlement in 1914, with the founding homesteading family — the A. L. Parker family — staking their claim at Good River in 1917. Originally known as Strawberry Point for the wild berries, the community was renamed Gustavus by the U.S. Postal Service in 1925. Its growth has been deeply shaped by its relationship with Glacier Bay National Monument (est. 1925, expanded 1939) and the National Park Service, which maintains its headquarters in nearby Bartlett Cove. The community celebrated its centennial in 2014.

• Founded as homestead settlement in 1914 / 1917 (Parker family)
• Originally called Strawberry Point; renamed Gustavus in 1925 by the U.S. Postal Service
• Population of only a few hundred year-round residents
• Gateway community to Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

Diocese and Canonical History

Catholic presence in Southeast Alaska traces to May 3, 1879, when Father John Althoff founded Saint Rose of Lima in Wrangell. The Diocese of Juneau was erected June 23, 1951, taking territory from the former Apostolic Vicariate of Alaska, and its first bishop, Dermot O'Flanagan, was ordained and installed on October 3, 1951. Holy Family in Gustavus was established under that diocese as one of its small rural missions. On May 19, 2020, Pope Francis merged the Diocese of Juneau with the Archdiocese of Anchorage to create the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau, and Bishop Andrew Bellisario, appointed to Juneau on July 11, 2017, was elevated to Archbishop. The Gustavus mission was transferred from Juneau to the new archdiocese that same year.

• Erected as Diocese of Juneau on June 23, 1951
• Merged into Archdiocese of Anchorage on May 19, 2020
• Current Archbishop: Andrew E. Bellisario, C.M.
• Mission is canonically tied to the Co-Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Juneau

Visit and Contact

Sunday worship at Holy Family begins at 9:30 AM. Because the mission's full Mass depends on the monthly visit of a traveling priest, anyone planning to attend — especially seasonal visitors and Glacier Bay tourists — should call ahead to confirm whether the upcoming Sunday will be a full Mass or a lay-led Word and Communion service.

• Address: Veneta Road, Gustavus, AK 99826
• Mailing: P.O. Box 7, Gustavus, AK 99826
• Phone: 907-697-2455
• Sunday service time: 9:30 AM