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Father John's parish included the island of Unalaska and the neighboring Fox Islands and Pribilof Islands, whose inhabitants had been converted to Christianity before his arrival, but retained many of their pagan ways and customs. Father John often traveled between the islands in a canoe, battling the stormy Gulf of Alaska.
His travels over the islands greatly enhanced Father John Veniaminov's familiarity with the local dialects. In a short time he mastered six of the dialects. He devised an alphabet of Cyrillic letters for the most widespread dialect, the Unagan dialect of Aleut and, in 1828, translated the ''[http://www.asna.ca/alaska/aleut/gospel-saint-matthew.pdf Holy Gospel of St. Matthew]'' and other church materials into that dialect, which were eventually published in 1840 with the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1829, he journeyed to the Bering Sea coast of the Alaskan mainland and preached to the people there. In 1836, his travels even extended to the south, to the Ross Colony north of San Francisco and to the Spanish missions of northern California. At Ross Colony he conducted services at its small, wooden [[Holy Trinity Chapel (Fort Ross, California)|chapel]].
In 1834, Father John was transferred to Sitka Island, to the town of Novoarkhangelsk, later called Sitka. He devoted himself the Tlingit people and studied their language and customs. His studies there produced the scholarly works ''[http://www.asna.ca/alaska/research/zamechaniya.pdf Notes on the Kolushchan and Kodiak Tongues]'' and ''Other Dialects of the Russo-American Territories, with a Russian-Kolushchan Glossary''.
[[Image:Innokentii, Metropolitan of Moscow.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Innokentii(Innocent), Metropolitan of Moscow (1797-1879), called the "Apostle of Alaska"]]
In 1838, Father John journeyed to St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, and Kiev, Ukraine, to report on his activities and request an expansion of the Church's activities in Russian America. While he was there, he received notice that his wife had died. He requested permission to return to Sitka. Instead, it was suggested that he take vows as a monk. Father John at first ignored these suggestions, but, on [[November 29]], 1840, made his vows. He chose the name ''Innocent'' in honor of Bishop Innocent of Irkutsk.
On [[December 15]], 1840, [[Archimandrite]] Innocent Veniaminov was consecrated Bishop of Kamchatka and Kuril Islands in Russia and the Aleutian Islands in Russian America. His see was located in Novoarkhangelsk, which he returned to in September 1841. He spent the next nine years in the administration of his see as well as on several long missionary journeys to its remote areas. On [[April 21]], 1850, Bishop lnnocent was elevated to Archbishop. In 1852, the Yakut area was admitted to the Kamchatka Diocese, and in September 1853, Archbishop Innocent took up permanent residence in the town of Yakutsk. Innocent took frequent trips throughout his enlarged diocese. He devoted much energy to the translation of the scriptures and service books into the Yakut (Sakha) language.
In April 1865, Archbishop Innocent was appointed a member of the [[Apostolic Governing Synod|Holy Governing Synod ]] of the Church.
On [[November 19]], 1867, he was appointed the Metropolitan of Moscow, replacing his friend and mentor, Filaret, who had died. While there, he undertook revisions of many Church texts that contained errors, raised funds to improve the living conditions of priests and established a retirement home for priests.
{{succession|
before=?|
title=Bishop of KamachatkaKamchatka, the Kuril Aleutian Islands|
years=1840-1853|
after=[[Peter (Ekaterinovsky) of Novoarkhangelsk|Peter (Ekaterinovsky)]]|}}
[[Category:American Saints]]
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Metropolitans 19th-century bishops]][[Category:Bishops of the OCAMoscow]][[Category:Bishops of Aleutian Islands]][[Category:Bishops of Yakutsk]][[Category:Bishops of Kamchatka]]
[[Category:Missionaries]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Moscow]]
[[Category:Modern Saints]]
[[el:Ιννοκέντιος της Αλάσκας]][[ro:Inochentie de Alaska]][[Category:19th-century saints]]
