Saint Petka Church, Lakeshore

Mar 5, 2025 - 13:16 Updated: Aug 24, 2025 - 19:56

St. Petka's Church in Lakeshore

Address: 1501 Lakeshore Rd 203 , Maidstone ON, N0R 1K0

Website: https://www.facebook.com/ Stpetkalakeshore

Priest: Father Marko Dimić

Phone: (226) 724 7185

Priest Marko Dimić was born in Pristina on June 14, 1996, to father Miodrag and mother Dušica. He finished elementary school in Gornji Matejevac near Niš, and in 2012, with the blessing of the then Canadian Bishop George, he enrolled in the Theological Seminary of St. Cyril and Methodius in Prizren, where he successfully graduated in 2017 as a second-generation student of the renewed Prizren Theological Seminary. He enrolled in the Orthodox Theological Faculty of St. Sava in Libertyville near Chicago with the blessing of the Canadian Bishop Dr. Mitrofan in 2017, and successfully graduated in 2021. He married Lana Dimić (née Pavličić) in November 2022. Then, on April 2, 2023, in the Church of St. Nicholas near Chicago, he was ordained to the holy order of deacon by Bishop Mitrofan of Canada. During that period, he took on the duties of dean of students at the Faculty of Theology in Libertyville, and on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on August 19, 2023, at the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord in Milton, he was ordained to the holy order of presbyter. With the blessing of Bishop Mitrofan of Canada, Father Marko has been serving in the parish of St. Petka in Lakeshore, Ontario since September 1, 2023.

Church history

The Church of St. Petka in Lakeshore is a missionary parish in the Diocese of the Canadian Serbian Orthodox Church. It belongs to the Eastern Canadian vicariate. It was founded in 2014, at the request of the faithful in this city.

Lakeshore is located in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in 1999 by the amalgamation of the Town of Belle River with the towns of Maidstone, Rochester, Tilbury North, and Tilbury West. It is the largest and most populous municipality in Essex County. However, it is part of the Metropolitan Area of Windsor.

The parish has 60 families. In addition to Sunday and holiday services, the parish organizes a church school every Sunday where religious education, Serbian language, and folklore classes are taught. The parish also has its own Serbian Sisters' Circle.

By purchasing the property, where a school had previously been, the believers soon began to organize themselves and convert the interior spaces into a place of worship. Two classrooms, a library, a large and small kitchen, and a large and small hall were built.

His Eminence Bishop of Canada G. Mitrofan consecrated the new Iconostasis in 2019, and the new bell tower in 2021. The new gate at the entrance was installed in 2024.

This parish celebrated its first great jubilee, 10 years of existence, in 2024.

The following have served in this parish so far: Archpriest-stavrophor Miroljub Todorović, Archpriest-stavrophor Drago Knežević, and Priest Duško Marković.