Sandpoint, Idaho, December 8, 2025
Photo: westsrbdio.org
A new Serbian Orthodox parish in Sandpoint, Idaho, recently celebrated its first Liturgy.
His Grace Bishop Maxim of Western America formally established Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in September 2025, appointing Fr. Laurent Cleenewerck as the parish’s first pastor. The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated on November 30, the feast of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Sebastian of Jackson and San Francisco, the diocese reports
The parish grew out of earlier missionary work by Fr. Gregory Horton of Holy Myrrhbearers Antiochian Orthodox Church in Naples, Idaho, who had started an Orthodox mission in Sandpoint several years earlier. The new parish has secured a long-term lease on a historic church building at 400 Church Street in downtown Sandpoint.
Photo: westsrbdio.org
Clergy and parishioners spent several weeks preparing the space for Orthodox worship, installing an iconostasis and icons throughout the building.
Approximately 100 people attended the service, including visitors from nearby Orthodox parishes in Naples and Post Falls.
Fr. Laurent noted that he was received into the Church in Paris in 1995, with Serbian Orthodox priest Fr. Nikolas Crnokrak serving as his Godfather.
The new parish joins St. Herman of Alaska Church in Kalispell, Montana, as part of the Western American Diocese’s presence in the region. Service times and additional information are available at the parish website, www.sandpoint.church.
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