St. Florence Mission plans 25th anniversary celebration

Friday, Aug. 21, 2015

HUNTSVILLE — Saint Florence Mission in Huntsville will celebrate its 25th anniversary Sept. 13 with a Mass and reception. The Diocese of Salt Lake City is invited, especially former parishioners. 

St. Florence Mission is under the direction of St. Joseph Parish in Ogden. The little white church, as it has become to be known, is a landmark in the mountain setting across from Pine View Reservoir in the Ogden Valley. 

The mission began when the late Deacon Doug Sliger was asked to start something for Catholics in the Ogden Valley and “he literally went door to door to find Catholic families and seek pledges,” said Tooky Schuyler, a parishioner of 28 years. “We started going to Mass at the monastery, and fundraising while the church was being built. Before that, people in the area would go down Ogden Canyon to Saint James or Saint Joseph.”

A large part of the funding for St. Florence was provided by the Catholic Extension Society in Chicago through donor Dorothy Alexander; the mission was named in honor of Alexander’s sister, Florence Koester. The church was dedicated on Sept. 16, 1990 by Bishop William K. Weigand; Father John Kokal was the pastor at the time.

St. Florence Mission has about 150 families and includes Ogden Canyon, Huntsville, Eden and Liberty in the Ogden Valley and Mountain Green and Morgan. Some of the parishioners are seasonal because Huntsville is a resort area. 

“People come in the summer to boat on Pine View Reservoir, or they come in the winter to ski at Snow Basin,” said Schuyler. “The Ogden Valley is also a bedroom community for Salt Lake City. There are also farmers in the area and people who have moved in from California and back east.” 

The demographics of St. Florence’s congregation have changed over the years; parishioners are aging. 

“There are more professional people who move in and out,” said Nancy Waiss, a parishioner since its beginning. “It’s wonderful that it’s small because we really get to know almost everybody at church.” 

Before the church was built, the parishioners could attend Mass at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity in Huntsville, but the Trappist monastery wasn’t available for weddings, baptisms, First Communions, confirmations, scheduled confessions, funerals and religious education, said Father Charles Cummins, St. Joseph Parish pastoral associate and Weber State Newman Center pastor, who was pastor of St. Florence for 20 years.

“People would have to travel 11 miles down the canyon to go to Mass and CCD,” he said; once the church was built, CCD was held in between the two Sunday Masses so parishioners didn’t have to travel back and forth, especially in inclement weather.

Fr. Cummins recalled a Super Bowl weekend a couple of years ago when more than 4 feet of snow fell in four days. 

“We had 14 people at the first Mass and 14 more at the 10:15 Mass; there were really rugged conditions,” Fr. Cummins said. 

Fr. Cummins and the parishioners boast about a sign on the three-mile road that leads to Snow Basin Ski Resort, which hosted ski events in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The sign reads: ‘This road is policed by St. Florence Mission.’ 

“St. Florence cares for the upkeep of the road by removing trash,” said Fr. Cummins, adding that the community was proud that people from all over the world saw the sign and visited the church.

What: St. Florence 25th Anniversary 

Where: St. Florence Mission, 6461 E. Highway 39, Huntsville

When: Sept. 13, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m., followed by a free lunch, music, entertainment and games. 

RSVP requested; visit 

https://stflorence.wordpress.com.