About Our Lady of the Pines · Cobb, California
Our Lady of the Pines is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel serving the rural Cobb Mountain community of Lake County, California. Tucked just off California State Route 175 in Forest Lake (Cobb), it is one of three worship sites of St. Joseph Catholic Parish in nearby Middletown and falls under the Diocese of Santa Rosa. The mission is celebrated for its outdoor seasonal Mass, an inheritance from its origins as an open-air chapel where worshippers have gathered among the pines since as far back as 1940. It offers a single Sunday Mass for the surrounding mountain neighborhoods.
- Established
- 1940 (outdoor services as far back as 1940)
- Patron
- Our Lady (Blessed Virgin Mary), under the title 'Our Lady of the Pines'
- Rector
- Rev. Lawrence Mendoza (appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Parish on December 31, 2022 by Bishop Robert Vasa; serves all three sites including Our Lady of the Pines)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Santa Rosa
Why belong here
If you live or vacation on Cobb Mountain, Our Lady of the Pines offers the rare grace of Sunday Mass celebrated outdoors among the pines — a tradition reaching back to 1940. As a mission of St. Joseph Parish, it has the stability of an institutional home parish with the intimacy of a small mountain chapel, where the few dozen families of the Forest Lake community gather each summer Sunday to pray together.
Mass times at Our Lady of the Pines
Weekly Mass schedule
Our Lady of the Pines at a Glance
Our Lady of the Pines is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel located at the corner of Highway 175 and Forest Lake Drive in Cobb, California 95461 — a rural mountain community in southern Lake County. It is one of three worship sites of St. Joseph Catholic Parish in neighboring Middletown, within the Diocese of Santa Rosa. The mission is best known for its outdoor summer Sunday Mass, celebrated among the pines of Cobb Mountain. Parishes and visitors from the broader Lake County area make the scenic drive up from Middletown on Highway 175 to attend.
History
Catholic worship at this Forest Lake (Cobb) site predates the modern parish structure. According to records cited on the St. Joseph Parish history page, outdoor services were held at Our Lady of the Pines as far back as 1940, when traveling priests would celebrate Mass in the open air for the scattered Catholic families of Cobb Mountain. In the early 1970s, Our Lady of the Pines — together with the neighboring Our Lady of the Lake chapel at Loch Lomond — was attached to St. Joseph's in Middletown. Until then both mountain chapels had been served from Lakeport. When Bishop Daniel Walsh officially designated St. Joseph's as a parish of the Diocese of Santa Rosa in November 2004, Our Lady of the Pines became part of that combined parish, alongside St. Joseph (Middletown) and Our Lady of the Lake (Loch Lomond). The mission has been served by a succession of pastors and administrators of St. Joseph's, including Fr. James McSweeney (2002–2020), Fr. Adam Kotas (2020–2021), Fr. Marlon Atendido (2021–2022) and the present pastor, Fr. Lawrence Mendoza (appointed December 31, 2022 by Bishop Robert Vasa).
- 1940 — earliest recorded outdoor Catholic services at Our Lady of the Pines, Forest Lake (Cobb)
- Early 1970s — joins St. Joseph's, Middletown (previously served from Lakeport)
- November 2004 — St. Joseph's designated an official parish of the Diocese of Santa Rosa by Bishop Daniel Walsh; Our Lady of the Pines included
- August 17, 2020 — Fr. James McSweeney dies after 18 years as parochial administrator of St. Joseph's
- December 31, 2022 — Bishop Robert Vasa appoints Fr. Lawrence Mendoza pastor of St. Joseph's Parish (Middletown / Cobb / Loch Lomond)
Connection to St. Joseph Parish, Middletown
Our Lady of the Pines does not stand alone — it is served by, and shares pastoral ministry with, St. Joseph Catholic Parish in Middletown. Sacraments, faith formation, fundraisers and parish-wide social functions are organized from St. Joseph's, where the parish office, rectory and main worship site are located. This shared-parish structure is common in rural Northern California and lets three small mountain communities share one priest, one parish council and one set of programs.
- Parent parish: St. Joseph Catholic Church, Middletown (~7 miles southeast of Cobb)
- Sister mission: Our Lady of the Lake, Loch Lomond (~3 miles away)
- Parish office phone: (707) 987-3676
- Parish email: [email protected]
- Website: http://stjoseph-middletown.com/
Clergy
Our Lady of the Pines is served by the clergy of St. Joseph Parish, Middletown. As of the parish's most recent published history (through 2024), the pastor is Fr. Lawrence Mendoza, appointed to St. Joseph's by Bishop Robert Vasa on December 31, 2022 to serve all three worship sites: Middletown, Cobb and Loch Lomond.
- Rev. Lawrence Mendoza — Pastor (appointed Dec. 31, 2022)
- Rev. Marlon Atendido — former co-parochial administrator (2021–2022)
- Rev. Adam Kotas — former parochial administrator (2020–2021)
- Rev. James McSweeney — former parochial administrator (2002–2020, R.I.P.)
Visiting & Contact
Because Our Lady of the Pines is a small mission without staffed offices, all inquiries (sacraments, weddings, funerals, religious education) are routed through St. Joseph Parish in Middletown. The parish office can be reached by phone or email.
- Phone (St. Joseph Parish office): (707) 987-3676
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: 21396 Highway 175, Middletown, CA 95461 (St. Joseph Parish)
- Chapel address: Highway 175 & Forest Lake Dr., Cobb, CA 95461
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. James McSweeneyOctober 2002 – August 17, 2020
Joined as parochial administrator; led the parish through its 2004 designation as an official parish uniting St. Joseph's, Our Lady of the Lake and Our Lady of the Pines. Died of long illness August 17, 2020.
- Rev. Adam KotasAugust 18, 2020 – July 2021
Appointed parochial administrator of St. Joseph's by Bishop Robert Vasa, also serving Queen of Peace in Clearlake.
- Rev. Marlon AtendidoJuly 2021 – December 2022
Appointed parochial administrator by Bishop Vasa; later served as co-administrator with Fr. Lawrence Mendoza.
- Rev. Lawrence MendozaDecember 2021 – present (Pastor since Dec. 31, 2022)
Appointed assistant late 2021, co-parochial administrator with Fr. Marlon, then named pastor of St. Joseph's parish on Dec. 31, 2022, serving Middletown, Cobb and Loch Lomond.