by Joy Corey
Ten years ago a young (35-year-old) New-Jersey-born priest from an OCA parish in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania picked up the phone and called Fr. Peter Gillquist, the head of the Department of Missions and Evangelism for the Antiochian Archdiocese. The mission bug had bit. He asked Fr. Peter for possible. locations for Orthodox Missions around the country. When Fr. Peter ran through the list of potential sites, this zealot stopped him when he read the name Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and asked, “Where in the world is Coeur d’Alene, Idaho?” God was already drawing Fr. Gregory Horton to Idaho.
In the middle of August 1995 Fr. Gregory flew out to meet with a handful of faithful who were interested in establishing an Orthodox presence in Idaho’s panhandle. He wasn’t discouraged by the small number of people or by the small amount of money they offered. He made his decision based on the commitment level of the group and on the sacrificial nature of his wife. She was willing to work to help support the family while he planted seeds in God’s Vineyard. God bless her!
Fr. Gregory’s priest-friends in the East tried to discourage him; they felt he was making a big mistake because he had a family of six to support and there weren’t any Orthodox (or very few) in all of Northern and Central Idaho. Since obviously these priests were not called to mission work it never dawned on them that it was not about finding Orthodox Christians; it was about making Orthodox Christians. Not only did this concern prevail in the East, but the handful of faithful in the West who hoped to establish a mission, shared the same concern. God, of course, is much bigger than all of us. Fr. Gregory’s faith, trust in God to lead him, and his love for mission work didn’t leave any room for doubt in his heart. He told Bishop Antoun who shared the same concern to give him one year and if he hadn’t made a go of it by then, he could assign him to a parish. Without Fr. Gregory’s faith, we would not be here today celebrating our 10th anniversary.
With only a pair of borrowed CB radios, in November of 1995 Fr. Gregory, Khoureya Cindy, their four children, Tatiana (now 19), Maximos (now 17), Sebastian (now 16), Benjamin (now 12) and their cat braved the cold weather and ice-slick roads to journey across the country to the unknown. They arrived with all the liturgical supplies (including portable iconostasis), our Choir Director (Khoureya), our first altar boys (Max and Sebastian), all the love, devotion and commitment needed to start a mission and with no material possessions other than their clothing; they had true missionary hearts. They were willing to sacrifice the material for the eternal.
On Sunday, November 19, 1995 we celebrated our first Divine Liturgy at the Board of Realtors’ MLS Building in downtown Coeur d’Alene where we worshipped for 10 months. We celebrated our first Orthodoxy Sunday in this building with the participation of both Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas Churches from Spokane and Fr. Joseph Copeland from Holy Cross Church in Yakima. Because we could only use this building on Sunday, we celebrated Vespers initially at the Methodist Church in Rathdrum. Before long the basement in Fr. Gregory’s home was transformed into a chapel where we celebrated morning and evening prayers. Bishop Joseph made his first visit to us the first Tuesday of Lent in 1996 at the Canon of St. Andrew. We were still in the Realtors’ building.
Our first “Alternative-to-Halloween” party took place October 31, 1996 at Fr. Gregory and Khoureya Cindy’s home. Children were asked to come as their favorite Saint. The kids bobbed for apples, Father told scary stories of the lives of the Saints, they went on a scavenger hunt and left with a bag full of goodies. This party today is called our “Fall Fun Festival” and has grown significantly in size and activities. It takes place in the barn on our property.
After having to leave the MLS building we worshipped at the Iron Horse and Idaho Ruby’s restaurants in downtown Coeur d’Alene until we could find a permanent location. Fr. Gregory arranged for us to worship in a Help-U-Sell building on Northwest Blvd. Our rent-free use of this building was contingent upon our making certain improvements to its structure. Eighteen months from the date of our founding, Khoureya Cindy located a five-acre parcel of land in a cul-de-sac in Post Falls suitable for building a church. Fr. Gregory Cooke, the dean of our region at the time, consecrated the soil at our ground-breaking on May 31, 1997. With a generous anonymous donation, donations from other members of the parish and lots of sweat equity, we were able to build our little church replete with cupola.
On August 16 and 17, 1997 Bishop Joseph was with us to consecrate the altar and our not quite completed church. We celebrated our first Hierarchical Liturgy to the glory of God.
We thought our church was plenty big but we outgrew it within three or four months. In January of 1998 we had to move our fellowship hall from upstairs to the basement to accommodate the huge crowd that attended our Feast Day celebration. From then on the basement became the permanent fellowship hall although it had originally been intended for use as Sunday School classrooms, a library, an office for Father, an office for a secretary and storage. Bishop Joseph returned to Post Falls on April 25, 1999 to elevate Fr. Gregory to the Archpriesthood. Axios!
Our very dynamic, enthusiastic, on-fire-for-God priest knew exactly how to grow our Church. We launched an ongoing evangelistic outreach program throughout the years that included: a television interview with Fr. Gregory which aired in seven cities; articles in local newspapers which included stories about the first Orthodox presence in Northern Idaho, an introduction to Orthodox Pascha, the placing of the cupola atop our newly built church, participation with other local area churches in a baseball competition; choir concerts at our church, at NIC, at the shopping mall, at other churches, the Post Falls Public Library; yearly guest speakers at strategic locations which included Fr. Peter Gillquist (twice), Frank Schaeffer Jr., and Fr. David Hovik; participation in the annual Coeur d’Alene Christmas parade; exposure to the community through Fr. Gregory’s chaplaincy at The Humane Society; active Prison Ministry and annual Spring Bake Sales to the public.
Sunday School began with 8 students in the MLS building. One of the classes was held in the kitchen with the children sitting on the stairs. We grew to about eighty-five students at our peak. Our children have competed at the Western Region Parish Life Conferences over the years and have consistently won the Jr. & Sr. Bible Bowl competitions, Oratorical Festivals, Creative Arts, Writing, Poetry and Photography Festivals. They have brought much recognition to our little parish.
The choir began with 5 members and had grown at one point to eighteen. It continues to perform at holiday concerts.
The ladies’ first bake sale earned $500 gross in December of 1995 although they had not yet officially formed. In January of 1996 they took on the name The Sisterhood of Sts. Martha and Mary and held monthly lunch meetings on Sundays at local restaurants. At these meetings they established the humanitarian projects they would undertake. The Sisterhood’s 2005 Spring Bake Sale grossed $4,500.
The teens were also very active these last ten years having held many ski and snowboarding retreats to which they invited the churches from all over Washington and from Missoula, Montana. They held several spiritual retreats and planned beach and sports outings. They also attended a couple of retreats in Western Washington and Missoula, Montana. Over a two-year period they raised money through Valentine Dinner Dances, car washes, weekly soft drink sales, a bowl-a-thon, and a Christmas bake sale. The proceeds helped to fly a 12-person team down to Mexico in cooperation with “Project Mexico” in July of 2004. The team had to pay for all the building supplies needed for them to build a house for a poor Mexican family. This hands-on experience was a life-changing experience. This first group of teens have pretty much grown up into young adulthood. The second group of teens has now come of age. The boys serve at the altar. The girls are organized under the name of “The Myrrbearers.” They attend to the candle supply, the lighting of the candles, and the overall neatness of the candle stands. They make frequent trips to the monastery in Goldendale.
Although we have had and continue to have a very active Sunday School, Sisterhood, Choir, Altar Servers, and Youth Group our men didn’t become organized until a couple of years ago under the name of St. Theophilus. The men take turns hosting a monthly dinner meeting at which a brother each month shares his testimony about his journey to Orthodoxy.
The five acres we originally purchased in 1997 has grown into thirteen. We purchased an additional adjacent three acres in 1998. In the year 2000 we built a beautifully landscaped cemetery. In 2002 one of our parishioners, Alice Roth, sold her home in Spokane, Washington and with the proceeds made it possible for us to purchase the last five acres. In 2004 we added a charming wooden gazebo to the cemetery behind the church. Our cemetery is the final resting place for five of our beloved brethren: Al Parsons, John Tsalaky, Chuck Garbinski, Susan Paschall and George Kutulus.
Like all adolescents, St. John’s went through its growing pains. In 1998 we were able to convert our basement into a fellowship hall to accommodate our growth; but by March 2003 we had no more options. We had to break through the back wall of the church to make room for the ever-growing choir and overflow of parishioners; that didn’t last very long. Plans got underway to expand the building. We were heading in one direction but God was going in another. We awoke one day to realize that since half our congregation crossed the border from Washington State into Idaho, it made more sense to split and divide much like a cell. With the blessing of Bishop Joseph the parish of St. John was split in two. Who would have guessed that ten years later we would be a “Mother” church? Fr. Gregory would drive to the Corbin Center in Northeast Spokane every Saturday to serve Divine Liturgy for this Body while in its infancy. Khoureya Cindy would trek off with him weighted down with our choir books for the newly forming choir. Reader Matthew Gallatin got busy training new readers and chanters. Vespers would continue on Saturdays at St. John.
On August 1, 2004 the daughter mission of St. John’s celebrated its first Divine Liturgy with its newly assigned priest Fr. Michael Shanbour and his wife, Khoureya Dr. Makrina. The parish was given the name Christ the Savior. We are still one family only in two locations much like our own children when they marry and leave home to establish their own household.
Children in any family reflect the values of their parents. This is no less true at St. John’s. We have grown up with a mission-minded priest and have ourselves become mission-minded like our Father. We hope someday to give birth to other mis-sions. Meanwhile we have been content to send out missionaries from our community to Guatemala, Romania, Mexico and East Africa.
The expansion program that was aborted as a result of having split the church in half is now underway. We are adding 5,000 square feet which will include a lovely and much-needed spacious kitchen, book store and rather large fellowship hall.
It has been a very fruitful ten years to the glory of God. May He continue to bless our community. Meanwhile we wait on His word and His timing that He might be glorified in all things.