About Our Parish
Beginnings
In the spring of 1948, Alice Hansen, the local postmistress in West Yellowstone, approached Bishop Joseph M.Gilmore, the Bishop of Helena, with the idea of building a Catholic church in the community of West Yellowstone, a busy entryway into Yellowstone National Park for the few months of summer, West Yellowstone almost approached "ghost town" status during the winter months. Bishop Gilmore questioned the wisdom of undertaking such a project in these circumstances. Alice Hansen, however, was determined. Her sons had enlisted in the war effort, and she had promised the Lord if they were to return safely from the war, she would see to is that a church would be built in West Yellowstone. Her faith and determination moved the Bishop to approve the project.
In the summer of 1948,Father Joseph Oblinger, then Chancellor of the Diocese, was sent by Bishop Gilmore to provide Mass on the weekends and consult with Alice and others on the project. Father offered the Sunday morning Mass in the lounge of the Stagecoach Inn, a much smaller lodging than it is today. Each summer following, a priest would be assigned to West Yellowstone to offer Sunday Mass and oversee the progress of the new church.
With a gift of a site from James and Otelia Woods, and a grant for the Catholic Church Extension Society, the project went underway. Alice raised building funds, secured an architect, consulted with Bishop Gilmore, hired a building supervisor, purchased materials, kept track of worker's hours and wages, and generally oversaw the construction of the church. It soon became a community project.
The church was completed and ready for occupancy in the Spring of 1950, and Father Emmett O’Neill was on hand to prepare for the day that all had anticipated, the blessing of their new church. On August 20, 1950, Bishop Joseph M. Gilmore formally consecrated and dedicated the new church under the name of Our Lady of the Pines.
Growing
At the time of the dedication, there was a full basement but totally unfinished, there was no heat in the church, since at the time it would only be used in the summer months for the benefit of the tourists who visited the Park. For almost two decades, the church was only used in the summer months.
During the 1970's, under the leadership of Father Joseph Mavsar, Pastor of Holy Rosary in Bozeman, the in-creasing use of the Park in the summer required additional Masses to accommodate the crowds. The winter chapel was constructed in 1972 with a grant from the Catholic Church Extension Society. This enabled the community to have services year-round. In addition to the chapel, living accommodations for a priest were also part of the project. Further improvements to the Church took place in 1980 with an expensive re-roofing project plus the construction of an office area on the main floor of the church.
When Father John Kirsch retired in 1988, he chose to move to West Yellowstone and take over church responsibilities as full-time pastor. At this time the snowmobile business began to develop, which necessitated the availability of Masses throughout most of the winter season. Also associated with his ministry, Father Kirsch organized and conducted the "Living water Contemplative Center': a retreat and prayer ministry. This arrangement continued until the mid 1990's when his health began to fail, and he was forced to give up the parish responsibilities.
Under the direction of Bishop Alex Brunette, in 1996 Fr. Joseph Oblinger volunteered to take care of the weekend Masses and whatever Sacramental needs would arise. He took up residence in West Yellowstone as the Administrator. However, added to the responsibilities here were those of the Big Sky Mission, where the population was growing rapidly and more and more Catholics were in need of these same ministries. From 1998-2002, Sister Anne Marie Burke, SCL, became the Pastoral Administrator for the two communities and Father Joseph Oblinger served as Priest and commuted from Bozeman. In 2002 Sister Patricia Toeckes, SCL became Pastoral Administrator until her retirement in 2019. Father Frank Wright, SMA was appointed as Parochial Vicar for Holy Rosary Parish, and Our Lady of the Pines Parish with St. Joseph of Big Sky Mission, effective July 1, 2019. He was appointed as Administrator of Our Lady of the Pines Parish with St. Joseph of Big Sky Mission, effective July 1, 2020. He returned to his religious community, effective July 1, 2021.
Fr. Val Zdilla has been the current pastor since July1 of the same year.
Jubilee Prep
During the latter part of the 1990's the following projects were undertaken to prepare for the celebration of the Golden Jubilee. The entire building was rechinked inside and out, new carpet was laid in the basement, and a manufactured mobile home became the residence of the priest; the exterior was cleaned and re-stained; radiant heating was installed in June 1998 so that Mass could be held in the upper church year-round. In the summer of 1998, a project to replace the old cathedral glass windows with new stained-glass windows was undertaken and were installed to coincidewith the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary
The New Windows
Our Lady of the Pines Church is set in the midst of a unique forest environment: bordering on the splendors of Yellowstone National Park, the scenic wonders of Gallatin National Forest, and the Targhee National Forest. Reflecting the environment, the windows here depict the changing colors of sky, snow, and foliage and reflect the beau-ty of yearly weather patterns in these mountain woodlands.
The liturgical colors of green, white, red, and shades of purple and gold are integrated into the design giving definition to this space as a place of worship. Note the diagonal coloration which seems to remind us of Divine Light streaming down on earth illuminating all throughout the seasons of the year.
Psalm 96 expresses the great reverence and joy of those who acknowledge that all Creation is the Lord's temple. By these windows, provided by the generous donors, in the Year of Jubilee, we rededicated and redefined this church as holy ground.
Linda Blank, who resides in Kirkwood on Hebgen Lake has been doing stained glass art for a number of years. She was commissioned to provide the windows for Our Lady of the Pines. With the help of her daughter, Kris Opprecht, who designed the windows, Linda has executed the new panels, which are protected in thermopane panels.
The glass used in the windows are a complex of glasses: some mouth blown, some hand rolled, and others machine made, some from Germany, some from France, and others from the U.S. The finished windows are the fruit of much painstaking and delicate work. These are unusually large windows, some with as much as 100 pieces of glass, each piece mounted in its lead mullion. Time and patience are important ingredients in these impressive works of art.
The local Catholic Community has always relied on a small group of faithful people but have relied on outside support over the years. The summer residents and tourist worshippers have been a great support for the church here and have generously provided most of the funds for these annual projects. To them the parish community owes a great debt of gratitude. Thank you all!