Saint Petka Church, Lakeshore

Mar 5, 2025 - 13:16 Updated: Oct 27, 2025 - 18:00

Saint Petka Church, Lakeshore

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

Website: www.facebook.com/Stpetkalakeshore

Priest: Fr. Marko Dimic
Phone: (226) 724 7185
Email: fr.markodimic@gmail.com

Fr. Marko Dimic was born in Pristina on June 14, 1996, to father Miodrag and mother Dusica. He finished elementary school in Gornji Matejevac near Nis, and in 2012, with the blessing of the-then Bishop of Canada Georgije, he enrolled in the Theological Seminary of Sts. 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 Bishop of Canada Dr. Mitrofan in 2017, and successfully graduated in 2021. He married Lana Dimic (née Pavlicic) in November 2022. Then, on April 2, 2023, in the Saint Nicholas Church near Chicago, he was ordained to the holy order of deacon by Bishop Mitrofan. 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 Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Milton, he was ordained to the holy order of presbyter. With the blessing of Bishop Mitrofan, Fr. Marko has been serving in the parish of St. Petka in Lakeshore, Ontario since September 1, 2023.

History

The Saint Petka Church in Lakeshore is a missionary parish in the Diocese of Canada. It belongs to the Eastern Canadian Deanery. It was founded in 2014, at the request of the faithful in this town. Lakeshore is located in Essex County, Ontario. It was incorporated in 1999 by the merger 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 and is part of the urban area of Windsor. The parish has 60 families. In addition to Sunday and holiday services, the parish organizes a church school every week where religious education, Serbian language and folklore classes are taught. The parish also has its own Circle of Serbian Sisters called Carica Milica (Empress Milica).

The location of the property is the former Maidstone Central Public School, bult from 1962 to 1964 and designed in the postmodern style by architect John Peter Thomson. The building is unique for its orientation to landscape, horizontal clean lines, flat facade as well as the main entrance doors which are surrounded in glass and decorative ceramic tiles. By purchasing the property, the faithful soon began to organize themselves and convert the interior spaces into a place of worship. Two classrooms, a library, a large and small kitchen, as well as a large and small hall were built. His Grace Bishop of Canada Dr. Mitrofan consecrated a new iconostasis in 2019, and a new bell tower in 2021. A new gate at the entrance was installed in 2024. This parish celebrated its first great jubilee, ten years of existence, in 2024.

The following have served in this parish so far: Fr. Miroljub Todorovic, Fr. Drago Knezevic, Fr. Dusko Markovic and Fr. Marko Dimic.