Nome Covenant Church is a
Rural Western Alaska, only accessible by air (jet service twice per day.) Population of Nome ~
3700. Multi-ethnic congregation. Strong Christian presence but, in many ways, like going to a
foreign mission field. Applicants should be interested in stepping out in faith and adapting to a
new culture. Hub for 15+ surrounding Alaska Native villages. For great aerial footage and
information about Nome, see the Nome Convention & Visitors Bureau website:
visitnomealaska.com. For further details on living in Nome see the City of Nome website:
nomealaska.org. For a map of Norton Sound and surrounding villages see:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Norton_Sound.png
The Swedish Covenant Missionaries started work in our region in Unalakleet in 1887 and later
in Koyuk, Elim, Shaktoolik, and Golovin. The city of Nome began out of a gold rush in the late
1800s-early 1900s. Prior to that, Alaska Natives primarily utilized the area as fishing and
hunting grounds. The Nome Covenant Church started in 1943 as many of the area village
residents moved to Nome. The first church services were orally translated into the Inupiaq
language. In addition to the various dialects of Inupiaq, the indigenous languages used in our
region include Central Yup'ik and St. Lawrence Island Yup'ik (also known as Siberian Yup'ik.)
In the 1950s-1960s, there were many women's ministries and scouting programs operated by
the church. In 1960 the Easter service was aired on the Nome-based Covenant radio station
KICY. This was KICY's debut on AM-850, and KICY is still in operation today, broadcasting our
Sunday service to Western Alaska. (For further information about this radio ministry, see
kicy.org.)