The Presbytery of Yukon
Alaska
The Presbytery of the Yukon, with 23 churches and 2,616 members, stretches from its offices in Anchorage on Captain Cook Inlet to the village of Barrow, 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Not far from Barrow (in Alaskan miles) is the village of Nuiqsut on the Nechelik Channel of the Colville River Delta, accessible only by ice road in the winter and chartered airplane in the summer. And in Nuiqsut is Kuukpik Presbyterian Church. Originally Nuiqsut was one of the three abandoned Inupiat villages that were identified in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. In 1973, thirty-five families of the Kuukpikmiut, the Kuukpik people, reestablished the village ofNuiqsut, and in 1975, Kuukpik Presbyterian Church received its charter. The church is served by commissioned lay pastor Heather Smith in partnership with the church elders.
For several years, the members of Kuukpik Presbyterian Church discussed the need for better Christian education space in the church and for better fellowship space for the village elders. Their conversations and prayers led to the decision to build an addition to their church building. This project became the 2007–2008 mission focus for the Presbytery of Yukon.
God’s blessings have come in many ways. Church members were able to raise all the money for the purchase of the construction materials and found someone to develop the building design. The delivery of the building materials was both a major hurdle and a considerable expense, and through God’s grace, Carlile Trucking worked with the Kuukpik church to ensure their delivery. With the presbytery’s help, church members from throughout the presbytery are volunteering to come to the village and help with the construction. Some are coming in work teams under the sponsorship of churches in the Presbytery of Yukon while others are coming individually under the presbytery’s sponsorship.
In this vast presbytery, the opportunity for members of the churches to work and worship with each other is rare. This coming together in mutual mission and fellowship is a blessing for all of them.
Presbytery Staff
Rev. Curt Karns, executive presbyter
Sharon Rayt, stated clerk
Mary Kron, treasurer
Jan Burger, administrative assistant
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Mark Crowner, GAC
Elder Sallie Cuaresma, GAC
Rev. Belinda Curry, GAC
Lord of the universe and of the village of Nuiqsut, your grace knows no limits. Thank you for the new Christian education building. We ask that you would use this building to bring warmth, learning, and companionship to your people in Nuiqsut, and that the witness of Kuukpik Presbyterian Church would be a beacon to the world of your enduring presence. Amen.
Ps. 119:73–80, 145 Ps. 121, 6
Deut. 8:1–20
Heb. 2:11–18; John 2:1–12
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