Elevation of the Holy Cross Church

The village of Russian Mission was established around 1836 with the arrival of the first Russian Missionaries to this area.  When Fr Yakov Netsvetov (canonized a Saint in 1994) settled here, he felt this was the area where people in the Kuskokwin area would travel to.  He built the first church in Russian Mission in 1849.  Prior to that, services were held in a tent which was used in various places.  Some of the liturgical items from that time are still being used today.A new church was built in...