Holy Myrrhbearing Women Orthodox Mission Currently meeting at: Windermere Real Estate Office 5932 Main St, Suite 100 Bonners Ferry, Idaho V.Rev.Fr. Gregory Horton, Pastor Home: (208) 267-0897 Church: (208) 267-3693  E-mail: Fr. Gregory

Church Affiliation
The Church of Holy Myrrhbearing Women is a Mission of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.  Holy Myrrhbearing Women is part of the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch, headquartered in Damascus, Syria, under the leadership of His Beatitude Patriarch IGNATIUS IV.  In North America, His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP (Saliba) heads the Archdiocese from Englewood, New Jersey.  Holy Myrrhbearing Women Mission is directly subject to His Grace, the Right Reverend JOSEPH (Zehlaoui), who is responsible for the Diocese of the West, headquartered at the Chancery in Los Angeles.

As we sat mesmerized, we began hearing the question “Where’s Bonners Ferry?”, first in whispers and then in shouts.  This scene unfolded at the 2008 Diocese of Los Angeles Parish Life Conference during the Bible Bowl competition.  A record number of teams competed, but it was the team from Holy Myrrhbearing Women Antiochian Orthodox Mission in Bonners Ferry, Idaho that actually took first place with a perfect score.  As the competition progressed, the poised team of Benjamin Horton, Cindy Matthews and Stephanie Matthews quietly answered every single question correctly.  We were later told that this had never before happened in the history of the Diocese.  People began asking “Where’s Bonners Ferry?”, and we were very happy to tell them that it is just east of Moyie Springs, south of Porthill and north of Naples (in the state of Idaho).  In fact, one cannot miss the town as there is only one road that passes through it!

One might ask how the Orthodox Christian Church has found its way to a town with a population of maybe 3,000 people (there are just over 5,000 people in all of Boundary County, Idaho).  One might also ask how on earth a Bible Bowl team from the Orthodox Mission Parish in that town won the diocesan competition and went on to compete (and win) at the national competition in July at Antiochian Village.  And, of course, one might also ask the proverbial question “Where IS Bonners Ferry anyway?”  Let’s begin with this last question.

Bonners Ferry is located in the Panhandle of Idaho…near the very top of the state.  A drive to the nearest town in Canada takes less than 30 minutes.  Northwest Montana is easily reachable by car and even the major city of Spokane, Washington is less than two hours away.  In fact, one might say that Bonners Ferry lies within the center of the action.  For all of this convenience, however, this quiet little town is nestled in the mountains along the Kootenai River, far away from the maddening rush of crowds and traffic.  It is still a rural place where one can find farms, hunters, fishermen, loggers, hikers and, for the last year or two, Orthodox Christians!

The Orthodox Christian presence began in earnest in 2006 when I began traveling to Bonners Ferry once a month or so in order to celebrate the Divine Services and to gather the faithful already living there.  The story really begins in late 1995 when I joined a pioneering group of Orthodox Christians to help found St. John the Baptist Antiochian Orthodox Church in Post Falls, Idaho.  About eight years later, these efforts were duplicated and Christ the Savior Antiochian Orthodox Church was born just across the border from Post Falls in Spokane Valley, Washington.  So this is the third new Orthodox Church being built from the ground up in this area in the last 13 years.  My family and I moved to Bonners Ferry in August of 2007 and have now helped to establish a permanent Orthodox presence here.  It is truly an exciting time for the Orthodox Church in the “Inland Northwest”.

Holy Myrrhbearers Mission embraces members and seekers from Canada, Montana, Washington and other places in Idaho.  These include families that were already living in the area as well as others who have moved from as far away as California to join us.  Recently, I have received contacts from folks in Arizona and Oregon that are interested in possibly relocating to beautiful north Idaho.  Some are looking for the peace and serenity that this area affords.  Others are excited about assisting a new Orthodox Mission Parish as she takes her first steps.  They want to experience what it means to be a “missionary family”.  Whatever the reasons for each of us, God is bringing together a group of Orthodox Christian believers in this place.  Until the Church came here, this area never experienced the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church in all of its fullness.  As a result of the presence of the Church, the first group of catechumens already meets regularly for instruction in the Faith and for inspirational discussions.  The community of Holy Myrrhbearers stands ready to welcome anyone who wishes to share this incredible mission to the great Northwest with us.  More information is available at www.holymyrrhbearingwomen.org.

Getting back to the original story, the courageous Bible Bowlers from Bonners Ferry ventured forth to Pennsylvania and faced stiff competition from the other teams of the Antiochian Archdiocese.  Once again, however, as the contest progressed and the Bonners Ferry team prevailed, the now famous cheer of “Where’s Bonners Ferry?” permeated the room.  The team members humbly accepted their award and spent a few days relaxing in Pennsylvania (including a day at Ligonier Beach, complete with an oldies band where I sat and sang the entire afternoon away).  They have now returned to their quiet (yet busy) lives in the Cabinet Mountains of North Idaho.  They do receive visitors by request…but first, one must be able to answer that formidable question: “WHERE’S BONNERS FERRY?”