St. Joseph Apache Mission Church
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St. Joseph Apache Mission Church | |
 Altar of St. Joseph's Church, in 1975 | |
   | |
| Location | 626 Mission Trail, Mescalero, New Mexico |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°9′24″N 105°46′3″W / 33.15667°N 105.76750°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1920-39 |
| Architect | William C. Stanton |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival |
| Website | sites |
| NRHP reference No. | 04001588[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 1, 2005 |
| Designated NMSRCP | June 11, 2004 |
The St. Joseph Apache Mission Church is a historic Catholic parish church at 626 Mission Trail in Mescalero, New Mexico, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.[1] Its parishioners are mostly members of the Mescalero Apache tribe.[2]
The church was built upon the stone floor of a prehistoric Jornada Mogollon-culture ruin, estimated to date from 200 to 1400.[3] It was designed in Late Gothic Revival style by Philadelphia architect William C. Stanton.[3] Priest Albert Braun oversaw construction beginning in the 1920s.[2]
The altar of the church features Apache Christ, an 8-foot painting, executed by Franciscan friar Robert Lentz in 1989, that depicts Christ as a Mescalero holy man greeting the sun atop Sierra Blanca; inscriptions around the painting are in both Apache and Greek.[2] In 2024, the Diocese of Las Cruces removed the icon, a smaller work showing Native dancers, and ceramic chalices and baskets donated by the local Pueblo community for use in serving the Eucharist. The removal touched off a debate within the Catholic Church regarding inculturation and the melding of Apache and Catholic traditions.[2] The diocese restored the works after their removal angered Apache parishioners; after the works were reinstalled, Bishop Peter Baldacchino met with the parish council.[2]
