About St. Anne · Acomita, New Mexico
St. Anne is a Catholic mission church serving the village of Acomita on the Acoma Pueblo Reservation in western New Mexico. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup and is canonically a mission of San Esteban del Rey Church in the Sky City of Acoma, with pastoral supervision provided through St. Joseph Parish in Laguna. The present church was built in the late 1930s under Franciscan pastor Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM, to plans drawn by famed Southwestern architect John Gaw Meem, and is celebrated for its stone walls and extraordinary hand-carved wooden beams and furnishings. Weekends bring a Saturday Vigil and a Sunday Mass to a tight-knit community of Acoma (Keresan-speaking) Catholics, with the wider Acoma/Acomita/McCartys parish cluster served by the Franciscans.
- Established
- 1939
- Patron
- Saint Anne (Santa Ana), mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Diocese
- Diocese of Gallup (Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico)
Why belong here
St. Anne is the spiritual home of the Acomita Catholic community within the Acoma Pueblo, where Mass is celebrated weekly and the patroness Saint Anne is honored at the annual Santa Ana fiesta each August 10. Worshippers belong to a centuries-old Keresan Catholic tradition — the mother church of the wider parish, San Esteban del Rey in Sky City, has been in continuous use since 1641 — and they gather in a small mission church whose hand-carved beams, choir loft and communion rail were made by Acoma parishioners themselves. It is a place of deep Pueblo-Catholic devotion, ongoing restoration care, and close Franciscan pastoral accompaniment.
Mass times at St. Anne
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Half an hour prior to Mass
St. Anne Mission, Acomita — Overview
St. Anne is a Catholic mission church in the village of Acomita on the Acoma Pueblo Reservation in western New Mexico, within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup. It is a mission of San Esteban del Rey Church in the Sky City of Acoma, with pastoral supervision through St. Joseph Parish in Laguna. The mission is home to an Acoma (Keresan) Catholic community and gathers for Mass each weekend in a small stone church celebrated for its hand-carved wooden interior.
- Type: Mission church
- Diocese: Gallup
- Canonical parish/mission link: Mission of San Esteban del Rey, Acoma; supervised through St. Joseph, Laguna
- Patroness: Saint Anne (Santa Ana)
History of the Parish
Catholic missionary presence at Acomita dates to 1888, when a mission dedicated to San Lorenzo was established alongside a Mission Santa Ana school. The school did not last, but the village's Catholic identity grew. Under the direction of Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM, the present St. Anne church was constructed and dedicated on Christmas Day, 1939. A parish hall was added in 1967 and priest's quarters in 1970, with a trailer-convent purchased in 1971 to house the sisters teaching CCD to local children.
- 1888 — San Lorenzo mission and Mission Santa Ana school established at Acomita
- 1939 — Present St. Anne church dedicated Christmas Day, built under Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM
- 1967 — Parish hall constructed under Father Conran Runnebaum, OFM
- 1970 — Priest's quarters constructed
- 1971 — Trailer purchased as convent for CCD sisters
- 2020s — Phased restoration completed March 2025
The Lammert–Meem Church and Its Woodcarvings
St. Anne is one of four New Mexico pueblo churches designed by architect John Gaw Meem and built under the supervision of Franciscan pastor Father Agnellus Lammert during the 1930s — alongside Santa María de Acoma at McCartys (1933), St. Mary Margaret at Paraje (1935), and Sacred Heart at Mesita (1936). The Acomita church is especially celebrated for the interior woodwork, with thirty-three hand-carved ceiling beams each depicting the iconography of a saint, and extraordinary carvings on the choir loft and communion rail, produced largely at night by Acoma parishioners after their day jobs.
- Architect: John Gaw Meem
- Supervising pastor: Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM
- Dedicated Christmas Day, 1939
- 33 carved ceiling beams, each with the iconography of a saint
- Carved choir loft and communion rail
Connection to San Esteban del Rey and the Diocese
St. Anne Mission is canonically a mission of San Esteban del Rey Mission Church on the Acoma mesa — a Spanish-Pueblo church built between 1629 and 1641, named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1970. Diocesan records (Diocese of Gallup) list St. Anne's supervising parish as St. Joseph in Laguna, with mail directed there. Sacramental records for Acomita Catholics are held alongside those of San Esteban del Rey and Santa María de Acoma at McCartys.
- San Esteban del Rey Mission Church — mother church of the parish (1629–1641)
- Supervising parish: St. Joseph, Laguna
- Cluster: San Esteban del Rey (Acoma), St. Anne (Acomita), Santa María de Acoma (McCartys)
The 2020s Restoration
Beginning in the 2020s, the Pueblo of Acoma partnered with Nuevo Mexico Profundo, the Diocese of Gallup, and Acoma contractor Jackhammer Construction on a phased restoration of St. Anne. Work included emergency intervention against water damage, a new roof, repair and sealing of the parapets, and repair of interior damage. The project was guided by a parishioner Restoration Group and led on the parish side by Mark Thompson, an Acoma tribal member. The work was completed in March 2025.
- Partners: Pueblo of Acoma, Nuevo Mexico Profundo, Diocese of Gallup
- Contractor: Jackhammer Construction (Acoma-based)
- Parish Restoration Group led by Mark Thompson
- Pastoral collaborator: Father Joseph Madanu
- Completed March 2025
Devotions and Fiesta
The annual village patron feast — the fiesta of Santa Ana (Saint Anne) — is celebrated on August 10 each year. Other feasts in the wider Acoma/Acomita/McCartys cluster include San Estevan on September 2 and December 26 (in the Sky City church) and Santa María de Acoma on the first Sunday in May.
- Santa Ana fiesta — August 10
- San Estevan fiesta — September 2 (at Acoma)
- San Estevan second feast — December 26 (at Acoma)
- Santa María de Acoma — first Sunday in May (at McCartys)
Religious Education and Parish Life
Sisters have lived and taught CCD religious education to the children of Acomita since at least 1971, when a trailer was purchased to serve as their convent. Parish life is small and lay-led, with active parishioner involvement in stewardship and preservation — including the Restoration Group that has guided the 2020s repair campaign.
- CCD religious education for children
- Trailer-convent in use for the sisters since 1971
- Parishioner Restoration Group
Visiting Acomita
St. Anne sits within the Acoma Pueblo Reservation in western New Mexico. Visitors should plan for travel on Indian Service Route 30 and observe Pueblo of Acoma visitor protocols. Mail for the parish is directed to the Laguna address (PO Box 1000, 1 Friar Rd, Laguna, NM 87026-1000).
- Physical address: Indian Service Route 30, Acomita, NM 87034
- Mailing address: PO Box 1000, 1 Friar Rd, Laguna, NM 87026-1000
- Phone: +1 (505) 552-7464
- Diocese of Gallup page: dioceseofgallup.org/parishes/new-mexico-parishes/st-anne-acomita/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Agnellus Lammert, OFM1930s–1940s
Franciscan pastor at Acoma and Laguna; collaborated with John Gaw Meem on St. Anne (dedicated Christmas 1939) and three other pueblo churches.
- Father Conran Runnebaum, OFM1960s–1970s
Directed construction of the Acomita parish hall (1967) and priest's quarters (1970); also built the parish hall at McCartys.
- Father Wayne Gibbeaut, OFM
Listed as pastor of the Acoma/Acomita/McCartys cluster by Voice of the Southwest.