680 8th Ave. SW Valley City, ND 58072

Ph. 701-845-0340 Fax: 701-845-0347

www.epworthvalleycity.com

Dayne Zachrison Pastor

pastor@epworthvalleycity.com Office: 701-845-0340 Home: 701-845-0156 Cell: 701-840-7294

Anita Tulp Office Administrator

Newsletter Editor office@epworthvalleycity.com

Office: 701-845-0340 Home: 701-646-2123 Cell: 701-320-9058

Dawn Thomsen Director of Christian Education

christianed@epworthvalleycity.com Office: 701-845-0340 Cell: 701-490-0840

Rydel Samuelson Director of Youth Ministries

youth@epworthvalleycity.com Office: 701-845-0340 Cell: 701-426-2790

VirLyn Hoff Congregational Care Coordinator

virlynhoff@yahoo.com Office: 701-845-0340 Cell: 701-840-9285

August 2020

Epworth Events Living, Sharing, and Growing in God’s Love

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Gratitude and Joy I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,

because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. –Philippians 1:3-6

On July 10, I just couldn’t take it any more. I had been feverish for about six days straight, and I saw no end in sight. It was that morning that I called the clinic here in Valley City and asked what I should do about my illness.

Aimee had been exposed to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 on the Thursday before. She was exposed by someone who showed no symptoms, and was the only one from the meeting of six people who later tested positive. By the next Tuesday, she was miserably ill and tested positive for the virus, and I was about a day behind her in symptoms. Until I wasn’t. I was stuck on fevers, body aches, struggling to catch my breath, and no sense of taste or smell. (Definitely the weirdest symptom!) By Thursday night, more than a week since I started having symptoms, something needed to change.

When I called the Clinic and shared my story, the nurse encouraged me to go to the Emergency Room. That was scary but good advice. A few minutes later, the nurse called me back and encouraged me to go straight to Fargo, if I could stand it, and to expect to be admitted as an inpatient.

That great advice let me take the time to pack electronics, clothes, and my brain around the idea of spending time in the hospital. I knew that once people were admitted, it was several days of treatment. Even though that was very frightening to contemplate, I was ready. We headed to Fargo, informed the Emergency Room we were coming, and I was admitted to the hospital.

My brother, Chad, asked a great question in the first week I was home. He asked me: “When did you first feel better, that you had made the right decision?” That came about two hours after we got to the Emergency Room. They immediately did a test for the virus, a chest x-ray and about three blood draws for different tests. In that first two hours, they also gave me an IV of antibiotics, for fear that I had a bacterial pneumonia on top of my covid-19, and began 6 Liters of oxygen, steroids, zinc and massive doses of vitamin C. I remember thinking, “Well, you wanted something to change, and you have that!” That was really the moment that my healing began.

By midnight (it was a crazy night for ambulances in Fargo) I was in the Covid-19 unit at the Broadway (Old St. Luke’s) hospital, and in the care of the doctors and nurses there. I cannot say enough good things about the care I received in the hospital. The Doctors and Nurses were compassionate, knowledgeable, and incredibly professional. As I asked them questions (surprise, I know) about what their regular specialties were, I came to realize that even though they had volunteered from a number of specialties throughout the Sanford system, they were committed to the specialized care of the Covid unit.

(continued on page 8)

Open 6 am—6 pm, Mon.—Fri.

8 am—4 pm, Sat. Ph. 840-8713

Free Summer Lunch 2020 Bridges BackPack Program

Who: Free to all Kids Pre-School to 18 years-of-age

When: Meals served Monday-Friday,

May 26th-August 14

Time: 11:45am—12:30 pm Where: Current Delivery Sites

No pre-qualification necessary

Come and enjoy a cup of coffee on our new deck!

The next funeral will be served by the August

serving group. Have Questions? Please call: VirLyn Hoff (845-1721)

Serving for August

CHAIRS— Chair needed

Lisa & Don Baasch Denise & Gale Hansen Randie Markuson Kim & Joel Owen Pat & Tom Stoen Shelley & Dave Vareberg Karen & James Zubrod

2nd Mary Lou Weber 4th Jackie Owen 5th Sophia Hansen 7th Hadley Dee Von Eschen 9th Chesney Thomsen Charlotte McKay Addy Lint 10th Ariyana Malec 16th Jan Anderson 17th Easton Hesch Gerri Harris 18th Tyler Clark 20th Dane Grebel Diana Vagle 21st Marshall Pederson Tony Van Dyke 23rd Derek Shape Bill Bertram Kevin Zahn 26th Amy Martineck 27th Gale Hansen Bob Bruns 28th Sue Skarloken 30th Jim Leadbetter Ari Tulp

1st Katie & Derek Woehl 3rd Michelle & Joe DeMasi 4th Sarah & Trevar Hansen 5th Cindy & Kevin Zahn 6th Sheila & Scott Cummings Gerri & Dale Harris 12th Barb & Jon Owen 23rd Holly & Michael Olauson

Evening Prayer on Facebook

Join Pastor Dayne for evening prayer each night on Epworth’s Facebook page. At

7:00 pm, Pastor Dayne shares a brief message, a reading from Scripture, and a prayer by Georgia Harkness, a Methodist theologian and ethicist. You can join during the live post or watch it later.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 10:30am

Worship Online

Socially Distant

Viewing in the

Dining Hall is

Welcome.

3 4

7pm Bridges

Backpack Leader-

ship

5

10am—2pm

Clothing Givea-

way!

6 7

5pm McDonald/

Erlandson wed-

ding rehearsal

8

4 pm McDonald/

Erlandson

wedding

9 10:30am

Worship Online

Socially Distant

Viewing in the

Dining Hall is

Welcome.

10 11 12

11am Theology

Lunch on the

EHG Deck

13

9am Sessions

Committee

14

Last Day of

Summer Lunch

Program

15

16 10:30am

Worship Online

Socially Distant

Viewing in the

Dining Hall is

Welcome.

17

4—6pm Farmers

to Families Pro-

duce Distribution

18 19

11am Theology

Lunch on the

EHG Deck

20

10am Pastor’s

Bible Study

21 22

23 10:30am

Worship Online

In-person

Worship begins

24 25 26

11am Theology

Lunch on the

EHG Deck

27

10am Pastor’s

Bible Study

28 29

30 10:30am

Worship In

person or Online

12:15pm Meals on

Wheels Delivery

31

2020 Evening Prayer with Pastor Dayne via Facebook Live resumes on August 2!

THE GREAT CLOTHING GIVEAWAY!

Wed., August 5 10 am—2 pm Epworth UMC Parking Lot

10 Epworth Events August 2020

June 30—July 30, 2020 Daily Expenses/Maintenance $13,098.60 Building/Trustees 310.00 Glory of God’s House Campaign 2,560.00 Matthew 25 40.00 Memorials 130.00 Parking Lot 200.00 Christian Education 15.00 Upper Room 25.00 Endowment 100.00

Sunday Online Worship Attendance (views) July 5—73 July 12—118 July 19—82 July 26—77 In person—2

THANKS to all who have contributed. We will continue to pay ahead as far as possible. We are paid out to October 2021, about 15 months ahead, but the interest payment is due every month. Please keep debt-reduction in mind as you consider your financial gifts to the church. All of your gifts are greatly appreciated. —Wayne Winkler

August 2020 Epworth Events 3

Ways to continue your regular giving—Gifts may be dropped off at or mailed to the church, checks addressed to Epworth UMC may be

deposited in the drive through deposit box at First Community Credit Union, or you may use the online giving option on our webpage. Go to www.epworthvalleycity.com, choose the giving tab, click on the “Donate” button and follow instructions. Our online giving is managed by PayPal, yet you do not need to have a PayPal account to support our ministries. You may also choose to set up an Electronic Funds Transfer by downloading the EFT Form on the Giving page. Fill it out, sign, and return to the church office.

We Love Washington School As school plans to open and do their best to keep our school children safe and healthy, we have asked how we can help. There is a great need for hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes. So, we have a great opportunity to start a collection for these items! If you are out and shopping, please consider adding some hand sanitizer and some sanitizing or disinfecting wipes to your purchases and drop them off at the church. We will get them delivered to the school!

Mortgage Balance 1 7/20/2020 $ 198,420.03 Pymt Due 10/15/21 $1,983.46 Mortgage Balance 2 7/20/2020 $ 200,000.00 Pymt Due 9/15/20 $ 849.31 Last Principal Payment 7/20/2020 $ 2,929.09 Principal paid YTD in 2020 $ 25,537.92 Interest paid YTD in 2020 $ 8,862.08

Total paid YTD in 2020 $ 34,400.00

Principal paid in last 30 days $ 2,929.09 Interest paid in last 30 days $ 1,814.68 Funds available for payment $ 1.21

Stewardship Update

This message is to keep you abreast of the current financial position of your church. While we are not worshiping in person, the ministries of the church remain on going. These ministries include:

Livestreaming worship. Kudos to the online team.

Men’s sweet corn sale and Women’s drive by bake sale.

Mobile Food Pantry

Bible Studies

Evening prayer via Facebook

These are the activities for this week alone!!

Our YTD giving stands at $107,240 as of the end of June. This is nearly $5,000 higher than the YTD giving as on 6-30-19. Giving saw a drop of at the beginning of this pandemic, but you found a way to continue your giving. Thank You.

On the expense side of the equation our expenses are being kept in check. Half way through the year our expenses YTD are at 46% of the annual projected budget. This shows we have spent 4% less than the budget YTD. Thank you to the stewards of the Epworth funds.

While our giving is higher than last year and expense less than budget we remain short of meeting our church’s full needs. As of 6-30-20 our giving was $26,000 short of meeting full needs. This is at 80% of budgeted needs.

There are many ways you can give in this time of online worship. The church website contains information on options of giving via electronic transfer or PayPal (Debit and credit cards accepted). Other options include dropping off your donation at the church or at First Community Credit Union. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the church office. If you have fallen behind on your pledge or giving during this period, please prayerfully consider a catch up gift.

These are uncertain times. The one thing I am certain of is that Epworth was here before the COVID Pandemic and I am confident we will remain here for the duration as well as after the pandemic is over.

A sincere Thank You from the finance team of your Servant Leadership Team.

—Curt Van Dyke Finance Representative, Servant Leadership Team

August 2020 Epworth Events 9 4 Epworth Events August 2020

Christian Education, Dawn Thomsen, Director

Fall……………...hmmmmmmmm…...YIKES!! Already!! School starts, and it’s back

to a routine! What a Crazy summer it has been! We will Start our Sunday

School year via Zoom again for the month of September, starting on the 13th at 10:00. We hope to

transition to in-person following VCPS, CDC, & City-County Health Guidelines. We will be

delivering the September materials to our Sunday School families during the week of Labor Day.

We will have the privilege of presenting Bibles to our 3rd graders during Church on Sunday, October

4! This is a special day, and we will celebrate our 3rd graders, those present and those at home.

Confirmation!

Pastor Dayne is making plans to complete Confirmation for the 9th graders, and parents should be

getting more detailed information when Pastor Dayne returns from his recovery. Tentative plans

are for a number of weekly sessions, leading to Confirmation Sunday on October 11, or on a date

that works for our individual families. We will then have our regular Confirmation of the 8th

Graders in May 2021.

VBS!

We have decided to hold off on doing VBS this

year. We will do the Knights of North Castle

theme as planned. We will be back to planning

for the end of May, 2021.

Have a fun & safe end to your Summer! Dawn christianed@epworthvalleycity.com

Thank you to everyone who sent me cards and notes for my Birthday! With Aimee’s approval, Anita and VirLyn had a surprise birthday party for me at the church, and many people sent notes and cards. In the words of VirLyn, “We’re having a party because you’re not dead.” Thank you so much!

Pastor Dayne

A BIG thank you to all of the UM Men that made our Epworth United Methodist Church‘s Sweet Corn sale a success! Who would have thought we would sell out in less than an hour... Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

—Epworth United Methodist Men

In Memory of Noel Pritchert —Pearl Pritchert, to Endowment —Pearl Pritchert, to Building Fund —Pearl Pritchert, to Parking Lot

In Memory of Robert “Bob” Olauson —Don & Bev Enger, to Building Fund

In Memory of Jo Campbell —Jo Campbell family, to Memorials —Jo Campbell family, to UMW —Don & Bev Enger, to Building Fund

In Memory of Mavis Myers —Don & Bev Enger, to Building Fund —Gordon & VirLyn Hoff, to Endowment —Kevin & Anita Tulp, to Memorials —Tom & Diana Vagle, to Memorials —Tom & Diana Vagle, to Sunday School —John & Ardelle Oare, to Memorials —Marlys Christ, to Matthew 25

Robert “Bob” Olauson—June 6, 1945—May 27, 2020 Sincere sympathy to the Mike & Holly Olauson family for the loss of Mike’s father Bob.

Noel Pritchert—December 2, 1930—May 30, 2020 Sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Noel Pritchert. Noel’s helping hands, jokes, railroad stories, and fishing stories will be missed by many. His life was celebrated on Friday, June 5th at Epworth. You may still attend his service via Epworth’s YouTube channel accessible from our website.

Lynn Van Dyke—October 31, 1958—June 4, 2020 Sincere sympathy to the Curt & Katy Van Dyke family on the loss of Curt’s brother Lynn.

Mavis Myers—August 9, 1937—July 17, 2020 Sincere sympathy to Mavis’s family and friends for the loss of their loved one. Mavis’s life was celebrated on July 17th at Epworth UMC with Pastor Paul Lint officiating and can be viewed online from the Lerud-Mathias Funeral Home website.

We provide our box tops to Washington Elementary as part of our commitment to our neighbor.

August 2020 Epworth Events 5 8 Epworth Events August 2020

—Continued from pg. 1

Sanford’s Covid unit is in the ICU of the Broadway Campus, and puts all of the Covid patients in the same wing, using the same nursing staff and doctors for the care of the patients. This means that if my condition had deteriorated, there would have been no hand-off of my care. The same Intensivist (Doctor who specializes in ICU patients) who originally saw me at the Emergency Room at the new campus would be my doctor throughout my care. This is an incredible gift to their patients, and a positive action on dealing with a disease that is just now being understood.

By Saturday, I was receiving a large number of IVs, with the antiviral Remdesivir and plasma from a recovered Covid-19 patient among them. They were replacing fluids and helping my body fight off the virus. They did have to increase my oxygen, because the walk to the bathroom was too much for my body, and my oxygen levels dropped too low. They also told me that the Remdesivir was a 5-day course of treatment, so that gave me some peace in the idea that I had to take time to recover, that I wasn’t going home soon.

The scariest time was Monday, because the x-ray of my chest on Monday was worse than the one on Sunday. That kind of deterioration leads to ventilators and ICU. Fortunately, they gave me breathing exercises, and told me that “the bottom of your lungs need to open up.” As a singer and speaker, I know what that feels like, and for the first time, I could do more than just lay on my stomach to help my recovery. Tuesday’s x-ray was better, and my condition steadily improved.

By Wednesday I was off of oxygen, taking the last doses of my medicines, and simply waiting for my x-rays to clear up enough to send me home. Again, the work of the nursing staff to educate me and allay my fears about my disease and condition was healing to mind, body, and spirit. I know many of you saw the story on WDAY on Wednesday night, and I did have a great conversation with the Chaplain at Sanford. That was the first time she had been allowed to actually enter the room of a Covid-19 patient, and as United Methodist clergy, it didn’t take us long to find colleagues and friends in common.

By Thursday, I was home and recovering, using very little oxygen, but recognizing just how weak I had become. Both my doctor and the Cabinet have recommended 4-6 weeks of recovery. I was frustrated that they thought it would take so long, and then I walked across the parking lot to get a cup of coffee from the kiosk, and had to sit down on the new benches to rest for 5 minutes before I could order. I’m taking my time in recovery, walking as much as I can each day, and looking forward to returning to preaching. In the weeks to come, I’ll be re-starting my Evening Prayers, Theology Lunch, and Pastor’s Bible Study, and returning to work step by step. I miss my Epworth family and look forward to preaching again.

Speaking of family, Aimee is recovering from her bout with Covid-19, as well, and will be regaining her stamina and breath support over the coming weeks. Fortunately, Camille had gone to spend a week with her grandmother in Bottineau, so she wasn’t around us when we were contagious, was never ill, and tested negative for the virus. She has stayed away while we’ve been ill, and we are grateful for her health.

I cannot thank the people of God enough for your thoughts and prayers. While I couldn’t concentrate enough to respond, I did see all of your notes, texts, messages and prayers while I was in the hospital. As a pastor, you don’t always know if you are touching people’s hearts, but what I saw online made me recognize how God continues to use me to share love in the world. I cried on a regular basis, and was so deeply touched by your comments and prayers. I am filled with such gratitude for your faith, and cannot thank you enough for your continued prayers for me and for my family.

With a Grateful Heart,

Blood Drive Update This year has certainly had its challenges and it is always a challenge to hold our annual blood drive right after the 4th of July. This is usually a time for

family vacations and other summer plans that make it hard to fill all the appointments to donate. The Covid-19 virus seems to have had a positive effect on at least one thing! We had nearly every appointment filled before the 4th of July!

As a result, out of 93 volunteers, 81 people were able to donate. Seven people were first time donors and 15 donors gave Double Red Cells and 1 donor gave Plasma. A total of 96 units were collected!

Many thanks to our wonderful volunteer callers Bonnie Burchill, Marlys Christ, and VirLyn Hoff! Bonnie & Marlys also manned the registration desk both days! Thanks also to Margie Jansen, Jan McCarthy, and Mary Lee Nielson for helping with snacks and thanks to Bonnie Burchill, Dorothy Schroeder, Michelle Grebel, Mary Lee Nielson, Anita Tulp and others that I may have missed that donated treats.

Families that Give Together The ministry of giving blood is an important one and we see this throughout our community and church when two, three, or even more members of a family will sign up to donate. This is evident in our own church family as well! Here are a few pictures of those I just happened to catch here with appointments close together. Thanks to everyone that donated this important resource that saves lives every day!

Top left: Curt Van

Dyke and

daughter Tonya

Van Dyke.

Top right: Paul

and Brenda Lint.

Bottom left: Anita

Tulp and sons Wyatt

Tulp and Ryan Tulp.

Bottom right: Sarah

Tulp and sister

Melissa Pedersen

At the registration table: Marlys Christ on the

left and Bonnie Burchill on the right.

Pastor Dayne’s Surprise Birthday Party on July 28th.

6 Epworth Events August 2020 August 2020 Epworth Events 7

Congregational Care

Church Family Supper

I am sorry to say we will not be scheduling a Church Family Supper for August. We are working to develop a system that will answer all the health and safety concerns that we have and will keep our Church Family

safe. We hope to have more answers in the next month! Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please know that we are missing these times of fellowship and know that you are too! Our goal is to be responsible and to keep our Church Family safe and healthy!

VirLyn Hoff, Congregational Care Coordinator

Let Your Light Shine!

The bake sale that we hold with the United Methodist Men’s Annual Corn Feed had a new twist this year due to COVID- 19. It was still a great event.

The men sold corn in the husk by the dozen. We women held a limited bake sale of pies, breads and cookies. We barely made it to two hours and we were sold out.

Thank you to Bev Enger, Michele Grebel and Mary Lee Nielson for organizing a new system, working out the details even as the cars moved on by. Anita had an order sheet that David Hanson handed to cars entering the parking lot. Michelle, Mary Lee, Marian Drevecky, Randi Watterson, Barb Young, and Susan Larson filled the orders and ran the goodies out to the cars. Dorothy Schroeder held on to the bills and checks to keep them from blowing away. It worked!

Thank you all! Thank you, men, for your set up and sharing this adventure with all. We were all masked, keeping a distance, but it was still good to see one another. We are “KNITTED TOGETHER FOR

GOD’S GOOD WORK!” (a Michelle Grebel saying)

If you do not bake or did not bake, consider mailing a donation to UMW Treasurer Dorothy Schroeder. Also, UMW has a mailbox in the office workroom.

It is disappointing to move into August with no brunch, no birthdays, no Shepherdess visit to complement us on our mission work. If you are having an 80

th birthday, our unit would like to give a

named mission gift in your honor. This is one way we donate as a Five Star Unit for mission to women, children and youth.

We have a request to support the conference camping program in some way. We have no camping scholarships to grant for this season for which there is a budget line. I think we should give the amount as so budgeted. We will approve that action at a future meeting.

We United Methodist Women have a commitment to shine a light in the dark places within us and around us. We have been both the source of light and receiver of light. Let your light shine! Hope-Faith-Love in Action. “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 5: 8)

—VirLyn Hoff, UMW Unit President

Farmers to Families Produce Distribution—In partnership with the Great Plains Food Bank, The

Farmers to Families Produce Distribution gave out 700 boxes of produce on July 20th! The distribution took place in our Epworth parking lot and included many volunteers from Epworth and the community. Thanks to all those that volunteered to help make this ministry a success!

Open Table Our Open Table Community Meal that is scheduled every last Tuesday will not resume on Tuesday, August 25th.

We will be looking to our Smart Restart Task Force and our Servant Leadership Team to help us determine the best way to move forward with our Open Table Community Meal. Please know that the safety of our community and church family are our biggest concerns! A responsible response to the COVID-19 Pandemic is our goal. We are looking forward to figuring out this new normal and encourage everyone to practice safe distancing until we meet again! Blessings to you all! —The Open Table Team

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it is learning to dance in the rain.

—Vivian Greene

Worship Plans One thing that we can count on for sure this summer is that we need to be ready for change and to be flexible as far as scheduling goes!

With Pastor Dayne and Aimee getting the virus, our livestreaming from the Sanctuary did not happen on Sunday, July 26. Pastor Paul and the Wesley Acres Staff have done a wonderful job of stepping in and providing us with a great worship experience during Pastor Dayne’s illness and recovery, yet we are still mindful of the need and desire to be back in our worship space. We begin the transfer of online worship to the larger setting of the Sanctuary Chancel this coming Sun., Aug. 2.

At the present time, we plan to move to in-person worship on Pastor Dayne’s first Sunday back which will be August 23. At that time we will welcome people to join us in the sanctuary for worship. The safety of our church family is still our priority so there will be some requirements for all who attend. Please wear a mask and take advantage of the hand sanitizer when you enter the church. Feel welcome to greet others from a distance without touching. Be aware of where you sit in the Sanctuary so you are at least a good distance (6 ft.) from others. Of course, groups and families that have been socializing together may sit together! Singing is not recommended so please refrain from doing so, and instead, enjoy listening to our musicians play hymns and to songs by the Praise Team that will be intentionally distanced from the congregation. Let’s keep each other safe!