In 1943, Father Harold Baxter Liebler "retired" from his Episcopal congregation in Connecticut and made the trek west to Bluff, Utah, to establish a mission to the Navajos. Founding the mission was a culmination of his two passions in life: Native American cultures and the Episcopal religion. He sought, unlike past Christian missionary traditions, to preserve the beauty of the Native American culture. Hence, he incorporated the Navajo culture into his religious activities by preaching in Navajo, composing a mass to American Indian melodies, using Navajo sandpaintings to communicate Christian ideology, composing original songs for the Navajo people, and adorning the church building with Navajo rugs, a Navajo Madonna, and a Navajo nativity scene.

St. Christopher’s Mission was the established headquarters, but Liebler quickly reached out across the Utah section of the Navajo Reservation. He established several outstations at Oljeto, Montezuma Creek, and Navajo Mountain. Starting in 1954 he also broadcast a weekly radio program "St. Christopher’s Hour."

I had ideas about how to work with Indians. These ideas were largely the result of many years of study and of some slight contact with the Indians. Also with the observation of many Christian missions, I say this not critically but factually, which seemed to have an idea that there was some essential connection between our American culture and way of life on the one hand and the Christian religion on the other. And that it would be impossible for Indians to live Christian lives and still remain in any real sense Indians. I didn’t see any sense to that. I thought the Indians had a great deal of beauty, a great deal of true philosophy, a great deal of spiritual reality in their lives which could be laid at the feet of our blessed Lord and be made a true offering to him. —Father Liebler, Tape 165
Religion Photos
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Special Collections & Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-3000