Source: Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls Press
December 26, 2018
Rendering courtesy of The James Bryant Group This rendering of a monastery of a Russian Orthodox Church on Vashon Island in Washington’s Puget Sound resembles a Russian Orthodox skete, a smaller version of a monastery, that is planned off Highway 53 west of Rathdrum. The property owner is seeking a conditional-use permit through Kootenai County for the use. For years, Elene Schumacher has wanted to donate land for a quiet place of worship for the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The Rathdrum-area property owner believes the right scenario has surfaced to make that happen.
Schumacher is seeking a conditional-use permit from Kootenai County for a skete and a private cemetery for Russian Orthodox monks on 22 vacant acres in an agricultural suburban zone between Highway 53 and Hidden Valley Road west of Rathdrum.
Schumacher said a skete, which has domes and bells on top of the chapel, is smaller than a monastery and allows for communal services. She plans to donate the land for the purpose.
"I have been wanting to do this since 2000," she said. "I went to several monasteries and asked if monks would be interested in this property and it just didn't work out. All of a sudden, everything fell into place. There's a monk looking for a place and a person (Schumacher herself) who has land with a little chapel already there. It's all worked out by God's providence."
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