About Sacred Heart · Clark Fork, Idaho
Sacred Heart Chapel is a small Roman-Latin Catholic mission church in Clark Fork, Idaho, situated on the east side of Lake Pend Oreille in Bonner County. Built in 1931, the approximately 450-square-foot chapel serves as a mission of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sandpoint, sharing its pastor and gathering a small but devoted congregation. Saturday Mass is celebrated at 4:00 p.m., and the chapel is currently served by Fr. Rob Cook, pastor of St. Joseph's, alongside the Diocese of Boise. With its growing seasonal visitor population in summer, Sacred Heart is a quiet, faith-filled presence in the Clark Fork valley that depends heavily on volunteer labor for upkeep.
- Established
- 1931
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Father Robert (Rob) Cook
- Diocese
- Diocese of Boise
Why belong here
Sacred Heart Chapel offers a small, warm Catholic community on the east side of Lake Pend Oreille, where weekly Saturday Mass is celebrated at 4:00 p.m. by the pastor of nearby St. Joseph's in Sandpoint. It is the kind of place where multi-generational families know each other, where members pitch in to repaint the exterior and re-glaze the windows themselves, and where summer visitors are welcomed alongside the year-round faithful. For Catholics in Clark Fork, Hope, and the surrounding Bonner County communities, it is the nearest regular weekend Mass and a true neighborhood parish, sustained for nearly a century by its own laypeople.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
History of the Chapel
The Sacred Heart Chapel was built in 1931 in the small community of Clark Fork on the eastern shore of Lake Pend Oreille in Bonner County, Idaho. For nearly a century it has served the Catholic faithful of the upper Lake Pend Oreille region as a mission of what is now St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sandpoint. The chapel has always been maintained by its small congregation rather than diocesan funding, a tradition that continues today.
- Chapel constructed: 1931
- Building size: approximately 450 square feet
- Long-time member Lorry Haflich recalls decades of involvement, including altar-server children and a 2009 family wedding believed to be the chapel's last.
Community & Volunteer Life
Sacred Heart has the strong character of a small-town mission church: members know one another by name, and the physical upkeep of the building rests almost entirely on volunteer labor. The 2024 renovation in particular showed how the parish cares for its home — inside, windows were re-glazed, doors and crosses refinished, and the altar ceiling painted, while outside the entire church was repainted by Sacred Heart volunteers.
- Winter attendance: roughly 20–25 people
- Summer attendance: 35–45 people
- 2024 exterior painting team: Keith and Kere Delahanty, Tom Stevens, Vern Roof, Tom Vittelli, Derek Kinninger, and David Banning
- 2024 structural work under the chapel: volunteer George Geoffroy (of St. Joseph's, Sandpoint) removed pickup-loads of dirt to level the ground for a moisture barrier.
Parish Staff & Pastoral Care
Sacred Heart Chapel does not have a resident priest or its own parish staff. Pastoral care, sacraments, and administration are provided by St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sandpoint, whose pastor celebrates the Saturday Mass at the chapel and is the primary contact for the mission's faithful.
- Pastor: Father Robert (Rob) Cook
- Parochial Office: St. Joseph Catholic Church, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Sandpoint, ID 83864
- Parish office hours: Monday–Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Parish phone: (208) 263-3720
Our Pastor: Father Robert Cook
Father Robert 'Rob' Cook was appointed pastor of St. Joseph, Sandpoint — and with it Sacred Heart Chapel in Clark Fork as a mission — by Bishop Peter F. Christensen effective July 6, 2021. A native of Boise, he studied at Boise State University and St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California, and was ordained on June 5, 2003, by Bishop Michael Driscoll.
- Parochial Vicar, St. Paul's, Nampa (2003–2004)
- Parochial Vicar, St. Anthony's, Pocatello (2004–2005)
- Administrator, St. Agnes, Weiser (2005–2008)
- Chaplain, Bishop Kelly High School (2008–2011)
- Vocations Director, Diocese of Boise (2008–2013)
- Pastor, Sacred Heart, Boise (2011–2021)
- Pastor, St. Joseph, Sandpoint (2021–present), including Sacred Heart Chapel, Clark Fork
Diocese & Catholic Identity
Sacred Heart Chapel is a Roman-Latin Catholic mission within the Diocese of Boise, the Latin Catholic diocese that covers the entire state of Idaho outside the Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Portland (which covers most of Oregon). The chapel belongs to the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Boise and is listed in the diocese's official parish directory.
- Diocese: Diocese of Boise
- Rite: Roman-Latin
- Patron: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Parent parish / mission of: St. Joseph Catholic Church, Sandpoint
Plan Your Visit
Visitors to Sacred Heart Chapel will find a friendly, low-key mission church on West 5th Avenue in Clark Fork. There is no parish office on site; for directions, sacrament inquiries (baptisms, weddings, funerals, anointing of the sick), or to speak with a priest, contact St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sandpoint during weekday office hours.
- Address: 125 W 5th Avenue, Clark Fork, ID 83811
- Phone: (208) 263-3720
- Website: st-joseph-church.net
- Weekend Mass: Saturday 4:00 p.m.
- Closest weekday Masses and confession are at St. Joseph, Sandpoint (Tuesday–Friday 12:00 p.m.; Saturday vigil 6:00 p.m.; Sunday 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.; Confession Friday 5:00–6:00 p.m. or by appointment).
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Robert (Rob) Cook2021–present
Appointed pastor of St. Joseph, Sandpoint (which includes Sacred Heart Chapel in Clark Fork as a mission) by Bishop Peter F. Christensen effective July 6, 2021; previously pastor of Sacred Heart, Boise (2011–2021). Ordained June 5, 2003 in Boise by Bishop Michael Driscoll; earlier assignments include St. Paul's, Nampa, St. Anthony's, Pocatello, St. Agnes, Weiser, chaplaincy at Bishop Kelly High School, and vocations director for the Diocese of Boise.