About St. Gertrude · Panguitch, Utah
St. Gertrude Catholic Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission in Panguitch, Utah, in the rural high country of Garfield County. It is one of four seasonal and year-round missions administered by Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City and is part of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Weekly Sunday Mass is celebrated at 2:00 pm, and the mission serves Catholics living in and around Panguitch, including the small, widely-scattered communities of southern Utah. It shares its priest-administrator, the Rev. Anil Kumar Kakumanu, and its phone line with the parent parish in Cedar City.
- Established
- 1982 (as Saint Michael Mission; renamed St. Gertrude in 1989)
- Patron
- St. Gertrude the Great (Gertrude of Helfta), Benedictine mystic (1256–c. 1302)
- Rector
- Reverend Anil Kumar Kakumanu (Administrator; resident pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church, Cedar City)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salt Lake City
Why belong here
St. Gertrude is the Catholic home for the small but loyal Catholic community in Panguitch and the surrounding Garfield County high country. Worshipping here means joining a mission-sized congregation served every Sunday afternoon from the larger Christ the King parish in Cedar City — an intimate setting where most parishioners know one another and visiting priests travel up from Iron County. For travelers and seasonal residents in the Bryce Canyon / Panguitch Lake area, it is also one of the few nearby places to attend Sunday Mass, complemented by St. Dominic at Bryce Canyon (Sundays 12:15 pm, Memorial Day to Labor Day) and Duck Creek Chapel (Saturdays 11:00 am, Memorial Day through September).
Mass times at St. Gertrude
Weekly Mass schedule
Saint Gertrude Catholic Mission
Saint Gertrude Catholic Mission is the Catholic community of Panguitch, Utah, listed by the Diocese of Salt Lake City as a mission church served from Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City. Its single weekly service is Sunday Mass at 2:00 pm, celebrated at the mission chapel on Highway 143 (Panguitch Lake Road), about a mile south of town. Because it is a mission rather than a parish, all administrative and sacramental questions are handled through the Christ the King rectory in Cedar City at (435) 586-8298.
- Type: Mission (administered by Christ the King Catholic Church, Cedar City)
- Diocese of Salt Lake City
- Sunday Mass: 2:00 pm
- Clergy: Rev. Anil Kumar Kakumanu, Administrator
- Phone: (435) 586-8298
History
According to the Diocese of Salt Lake City's published history, the mission was founded in 1982 as Saint Michael Mission in Panguitch, one of several new missions established that year under Bishop William K. Weigand alongside Saint Martin de Porres Parish in Taylorsville, Saint Nicolas (Blanding Station), Holy Spirit Mission in Duchesne, and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Mission in Fort Duchesne. In 1989 it was renamed Saint Gertrude in honor of St. Gertrude the Great, the 13th-century Benedictine mystic.
- 1982 — Established as Saint Michael Mission in Panguitch
- 1989 — Renamed Saint Gertrude
- Served from the larger parish in Cedar City (now Christ the King)
Clergy & Staff
Saint Gertrude does not have a resident priest; it is administered by the pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City. According to the diocesan parish directory, the current administrator is Rev. Anil Kumar Kakumanu. All phone and sacramental inquiries are routed through the Cedar City parish.
- Administrator: Rev. Anil Kumar Kakumanu
- Parish phone: (435) 586-8298
Connection to Christ the King Parish, Cedar City
Saint Gertrude is one of four Catholic missions staffed and administered out of Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City, Utah. Together they form a single pastoral family serving Catholics across Iron and Garfield Counties, including the communities of Cedar City, Panguitch, Escalante, Duck Creek Village, and Bryce Canyon.
- Christ the King Catholic Church — Cedar City (parent parish)
- St. Gertrude — Panguitch (Sunday 2:00 pm, year-round)
- St. Sylvester — Escalante (Sunday 5:00 pm)
- Duck Creek Chapel — Duck Creek Village (Saturday 11:00 am, Memorial Day through September)
- St. Dominic — Bryce Canyon (Sunday 12:15 pm, Memorial Day through Labor Day)
Patron: St. Gertrude the Great
The mission takes its name from St. Gertrude the Great (Gertrude of Helfta, 1256 – c. 1302), a German Benedictine nun and mystic of the Monastery of Helfta. A pioneer of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she was declared Patroness of the West Indies in 1609 by King Philip IV of Spain. Her feast is celebrated on November 16 in the General Roman Calendar.
- Benedictine nun and mystic at Helfta, Germany
- Pioneer of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Declared Patroness of the West Indies (1609)
- Feast day: November 16
Location & How to Get There
Saint Gertrude sits along Utah Highway 143, known locally as Panguitch Lake Road, the scenic byway that climbs east out of Panguitch toward Panguitch Lake and the Markagunt Plateau. From downtown Panguitch, it is roughly one mile south on Highway 143. Travelers and seasonal visitors in the Bryce Canyon / Panguitch Lake area should call ahead to (435) 586-8298 to confirm the schedule, especially during the winter months.
- Highway 143 (Panguitch Lake Road), Panguitch, UT 84759
- About 1 mile south of Panguitch on Highway 143
- Phone for directions and times: (435) 586-8298