Reverend Michael Habib, Pastor
Rev. Dn. James Hefner

Weekly Service Schedule
Saturday Night Great Vespers: 5:00 PM
Sunday Morning Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy: 9:00 AM
Wednesday Night Vespers: 6:00 PM
Other services as shown on the parish calendar posted by the door to the church and available in the narthex of the church and on the parish website.

Parish History
“Jesus called unto Him a little child, set him in the midst of the disciples, and said: Truly I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter unto the kingdom of heaven. Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:2-4

Orthodox Church tradition teaches that the child whom our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ took into His arms grew up to be St. Ignatius of Antioch. With this action and these words, our Lord showed His disciples that He would use the unlikeliest of people to build His Church in the first century.

It is fitting that the patron saint of our parish would be our source of inspiration to build our Lord’s Church in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Ordinarily, it would be unlikely that the small city of Twin Falls, Idaho would present an Orthodox Christian witness. But St. Ignatius of Antioch Orthodox Christian Church is proof that Christ will take from the smallest examples to help everyone who seeks Him inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Our parish started in 1993 when Benjamin and Winifred Roberts, along with Greg and Mary Lou Panatopoulos, Kurt and Karen Hefner, and Katina Limberakis sought to build an Orthodox Christian witness in southern Idaho. The nearest churches were two hours away by car in Boise and Pocatello, and three-and-a-half hours in Salt Lake City. Snowy winters would make driving too treacherous to reach any of these places for Sunday worship. Naturally, the parishioners wanted to build a church here in Twin Falls.

Like in the ancient Church, before we had a temple, we worshipped God in a home, the Roberts’ home, specifically. Before we had a full-time priest, the families offered a weekly service of vespers (evening worship). Local television station KMVT even did a story on our beginnings for the evening news. The “home church” was humble but beautiful: a small iconostasis (icon screen) with two icons and candles, a censer and some liturgical books. Benjamin donated the gold-laden chalice, diskos and gospel book, which marked just the start of his generosity in beautifying our church. We had really hoped to find more local Orthodox Christians – and those who sought the true faith – to join us, but we knew that our numbers would grow in God’s time.

We had prayed to God that He would grant us a priest to lead and minister unto us. On October 26, 1993, our Lord answered that prayer in the person of Fr. Philip Nixon. He came to Twin Falls to meet with our newly-organized parish council to establish a full-time Orthodox Christian witness and church under the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. On Sunday, December 19, the eve of the feast day of St. Ignatius, Fr. Philip celebrated the first Divine Liturgy. We had moved out of the Roberts’ home and into the chapel of the Twin Falls YMCA. Fr. Philip, his wife, Theodora, and their children made Twin Falls their home. The entire parish shared in the excitement of starting a new church from the ground floor.

Now that the community had a bigger (albeit temporary) place to worship, it needed a patron saint. Benjamin had submitted two names to the Archdiocese: St. John the Theologian and St. Ignatius of Antioch. Benjamin preferred the latter because he had been inspired by his writings, namely how the third man to preside over the throne of Antioch stressed the center of Christian unity in the person of the bishop, the Apostolic successor of Christ Himself.

In February of 1996, our new local bishop made his first of several joyous visits to our fledgling community. His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH (Al-Zehlaoui) of Los Angeles, Calif. (now Metropolitan of the Antiochian Archdiocese) encouraged us to move out of our temporary chapel at the YMCA to build a permanent Orthodox Christian “home.” Shortly thereafter, Mary Lou Panatopoulos had discovered it at 1830 Addison Avenue East. This location brings greater visibility to seekers of Orthodoxy with the potential to grow even larger.

The former realty office was converted into the parish house, and the garage as the temple. We commissioned Carol Oakes of Boise to write the icons for the iconostasis. Subdeacon Benjamin designed it and added the gold leafing. He also oversaw the design of the holy altar table and sanctuary, prothesis table (where the bread and wine for Holy Communion are prepared), fan holders, processional candle racks, and bishop’s throne. On the Great Feast of the Presentation (Meeting) of our Lord in the Temple, Fr. Philip led us (forty worshippers in all) in the celebration of the first Divine Liturgy in our new temple.

In his second pastoral visit to Twin Falls in August of 1997, Sayidna JOSEPH elevated Benjamin to the rank of subdeacon, and he tonsured Kurt and Greg to the rank of reader/chanter. In his third visit in July of 1998, Sayidna JOSEPH anointed St. Ignatius Church and consecrated our iconostasis and altar table. A priest of Ascension Monastery in Jerome presented us with relics of St. Paul and St. Andrew the Apostles, which were sealed into the altar table. During this memorable weekend, Sayidna JOSEPH also ordained, through the laying on of hands, at this new altar Brian Patrick O’Grady as a deacon. Although he was attached to our parish, Sayidna JOSEPH commissioned him to lead the newly established Holy Transfiguration Mission in Boise.

St. Ignatius Church has been blessed to help in the formation of clergy. Sayidna JOSEPH ordained Deacon Patrick to the holy priesthood on May 27, 2000 so that he could lead Holy Transfiguration. He would be assisted by Mark Fenn, whom Sayidna JOSEPH elevated to subdeacon on March 31, 2002; ordained to deacon on January 18, 2005; and ordained to priest on January 11, 2006.

In July of 2001, our founding pastor, Fr. Philip, and the Nixon family left St. Ignatius Church to eventually take the pastorate of Holy Resurrection Church in Tucson, Ariz. where he led the construction of another new parish and fellowship center. Fr. Patrick assumed the pastorate of both St. Ignatius and Holy Transfiguration Churches, celebrating Divine Liturgies in each place each weekend, although they are 130 miles apart.

During this time, new families came into Orthodoxy through St. Ignatius Church. They had seen their protestant communities taking them “to a place that I didn’t like,” as Pam Nelson, one of our members, said. They had craved a deeper knowledge and experience of God which they could only get through the True Faith. Pam’s husband, Hilber Nelson, said Orthodoxy had grounded him spiritually for his career in counseling and social work.

In 2006, Sayidna JOSEPH appointed Fr. Mark as pastor of Holy Transfiguration Church. That year, another “Fr. Mark,” Hieromonk Mark (Kerr) came to our community at the invitation of Fr. Patrick. One year later, His Grace appointed Fr. Patrick as pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Church in Pomona, Calif., and Hieromonk Mark to lead St. Ignatius Church.

Following this transition in 2007, the parish began its first extensive renovation and expansion. New icons and liturgical accoutrement were added through the generous estate of Winifred Roberts, who fell asleep in the Lord in 2006. A new exterior wall was built to reduce noise coming from busy Addison Avenue. Hilber began the organization and building of the St. Ignatius Church Bookstore which features dozens of titles from authors spanning the Holy Fathers of antiquity to the contemporary clergy and scholars. The Bookstore also has Orthodox greeting cards and compact disks with some of the most beautiful music the world has ever known.

In January of 2012, after five years of service, Fr. Mark (Kerr) retired as pastor. In the past, St. Ignatius Church would have a few months in which it functioned without a full-time priest. Little did it know that it would have to function without one for the next twenty-one months. That could shudder and/or shutter other parishes, but not ours. The diligence and determination of our laity, especially our talented chanters and altar servers, kept our house of worship open to offer divine services every weekend. Thank God, priests like Fr. Mark Fenn, Fr. Michael Molloy and Fr. John Finley would make trips to Twin Falls once or twice a month to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, offer Holy Communion and hear confessions.

We had been praying constantly that God would enable Sayidna JOSEPH (who had now been elevated to Archbishop) to provide the right full-time pastor to lead us spiritually into the future. On October 22, 2013 – almost exactly twenty years to the day of our first Divine Liturgy – Fr. Michael Habib and his wife, Masha, came to St. Ignatius of Antioch Church. Their impact was felt even before their arrival. Fr. Michael had rebuilt our website, reenergized our parish leadership and established basic, immediate goals for the parish even before he and his wife moved from their home in the Los Angeles area. A week after their arrival, we installed a bright electric outdoor sign to announce services, welcome visitors and increase visibility. And Fr. Michael was no stranger to Twin Falls – he had accompanied and served alongside Sayidna JOSEPH as his subdeacon during his episcopal visits.

In his first Divine Liturgy here on Sunday, October 27, Fr. Michael began his sermon by telling us that he is not here to give his own interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, but to “report” on what the Orthodox Church has given her clergy and faithful since our Lord Himself walked on the earth. The parishioners have applauded Fr. Michael’s outstanding organizational skills and vigor, but also his love for the divine services and his loyalty to his flock. Masha has become a mother to our parish, giving tirelessly of her love and service.

The year 2014 meant great, exciting changes for St. Ignatius Church. First, we celebrated the burning of the mortgage for our property. We renovated the nave of the church temple in February, followed by the fellowship hall three months later. In each case, we knocked down walls to fit more worshippers. In recent years, the city of Twin Falls had accepted thousands of refugees from the African nations of Eritrea and Ethiopia, and we have happily welcomed them into our church family. But biggest of all, in May, we purchased the property surrounding St. Ignatius Church, removed its debris and graded it with the dream of one day soon building an even bigger church.

The Sunday of Pascha, April 20, 2014, was the most joyful that St. Ignatius Church had ever seen, because Sayidna JOSEPH came and celebrated our Lord’s Resurrection with us, and we were overjoyed to have him. The church was especially beautiful that day, although Sayidna had already nicknamed it “the cute cathedral.” At the Agape Vespers that afternoon, His Eminence blessed Fr. Michael to hear our confessions and absolve us of our sins by elevating him to father confessor. Sayidna JOSEPH also elevated Kurt Hefner to subdeacon, and tonsured Hilber Nelson and Steven Beck as readers/chanters.

In June of 2014, all of St. Ignatius Church celebrated Subdeacon Benjamin’s 90th birthday. We thanked God for Subdeacon’s longevity, love, labor and leadership in the founding of our parish. And yet, he presented us with a tremendous “birthday gift”: a lending library. Subdeacon Benjamin donated his private collection of 300 books covering Orthodoxy in all aspects: worship, sacraments, prayer, daily life, history and more. Hilber worked tirelessly to catalogue it and make it available for the faithful and those who are seeking Christ and His Holy Orthodox Church.

As parishioner Anna Beck put it, St. Ignatius of Antioch Church is a unique parish with tremendous zeal to be truly Orthodox. It is the only Orthodox Church within hundreds of miles, and that makes it a spiritual oasis in what can be a snowy desert. We pray to God that He will continue to grow our community for His glory and ministry to Twin Falls and beyond, through the intercessions of our patron saint, the Hieromartyr Ignatius of Antioch.