About San Juan Nepomuceno Mission · Canjilon, New Mexico
San Juan Nepomuceno Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the village of Canjilon, in Rio Arriba County, northern New Mexico. It is a mission of St. Patrick Parish in nearby Chama and is one of the five worship sites that together form the tri-parish Catholic community of "El Valle Católico, Nuestra Señora del Valle." The mission sits in the rural Hispanic and Hispano farming and ranching communities of the upper Rio Chama watershed and serves Catholics who would otherwise travel a considerable distance to attend Mass. It is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe and is named after St. John of Nepomuk, the 14th-century Bohemian martyr.
- Patron
- St. John of Nepomuk (San Juan Nepomuceno)
- Rector
- Rev. Teddy W. Butler
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
San Juan Nepomuceno Mission offers the small, traditional mission-church experience at the heart of Hispano Catholic life in northern New Mexico, with weekly Mass and the same liturgies celebrated at the larger parishes of the El Valle Católico community. It is the closest Catholic church for families in Canjilon and the surrounding ranches and villages, and it gathers them alongside fellow parishioners from San José (Los Ojos), Santo Niño (Tierra Amarilla), St. Patrick (Chama) and the Santo Niño de Atocha mission in Cebolla. Worshippers are welcomed in both English and Spanish, and confession is offered right after the monthly Mass. Belonging here means being part of a centuries-old mission tradition still faithfully kept alive by its small but devoted congregation.
Mass times at San Juan Nepomuceno Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays, following Mass at San Juan Nepomuceno Mission
About San Juan Nepomuceno Mission
San Juan Nepomuceno Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the village of Canjilon, New Mexico (population around 250), serving the Hispano Catholic families of the upper Rio Chama valley. It is a mission of St. Patrick Parish in Chama and one of the five worship sites of El Valle Católico, Nuestra Señora del Valle, a unified pastoral community serving the Catholic faithful in and around Chama, Los Ojos, Tierra Amarilla, Cebolla and Canjilon.
Our Parishes — El Valle Católico, Nuestra Señora del Valle
San Juan Nepomuceno Mission belongs to a tri-parish Catholic community that brings together three parishes and two mission churches under one pastoral team. Together they keep the sacramental life of the upper Rio Chama alive across a wide, rural stretch of Rio Arriba County.
- San José Parish — Los Ojos, NM
- Santo Niño Parish — Tierra Amarilla, NM
- St. Patrick Parish — Chama, NM (the parent parish of the missions)
- Mission Church of Santo Niño de Atocha — Cebolla, NM
- Mission Church of San Juan Nepomuceno — Canjilon, NM
Staff and Clergy
San Juan Nepomuceno Mission is served by the clergy and staff of the El Valle Católico tri-parish community, headquartered at St. Patrick Parish in Chama.
- Rev. Teddy W. Butler — Pastor
- Dcn. Joseph Valdez — Deacon
- Leslie Ulibarri — San José Parish Office Secretary
- Nicole Martinez — Director of Religious Education
- Robin Dominguez — St. Patrick's & Missions Secretary
- Edwinia Rivas — Parish Book Keeper
Faith Formation
Religious Education for the children and families of San Juan Nepomuceno Mission is coordinated at the tri-parish level through the Director of Religious Education for El Valle Católico.
- Tri-parish Religious Education program overseen by Nicole Martinez
Parish Resources & Daily Devotions
The parish website links visitors to daily Mass readings (English and Spanish), the Saint of the Day, a reading meditation, and a number of Catholic publications to support daily prayer and formation.
- Daily Readings / Lecturas del Día
- Saint of the Day
- Reading Meditation
- People of God Magazine
- Magnificat
- The Kids Bulletin
- National Catholic Register
- Pilgrimage for Vocations / Men Under Construction
Visit San Juan Nepomuceno Mission
Visitors are warmly welcomed at the mission. Those driving in for Mass should note the rural location and allow time, especially in winter, as roads in northern New Mexico's mountains can be slow. The church is on the southeast corner of the crossroads of NM-115 and NM-110, three miles east of US-84.
- Address: 10 Co Rd 295, Canjilon, NM 87515
- Phone (St. Patrick Parish office): (575) 756-2926
- Website: http://nuestrasenoradelvalle.org
- Diocese: Archdiocese of Santa Fe