The Valley City Area Chamber of Commerce and Development Corporation held their annual banquet on April 20 at Valley City State University and awarded the Community Spirit Award to Epworth United Methodist Church and Faith Lutheran Church.  After a fire destroyed Faith Lutheran Church in 2014 it brought both churches and their members together for several months while the new church was built.

Photo: Rev. Jolene Knudson-Hansen (left), Faith Lutheran, Rev. Dayne Zachrison (center), Epworth UMC pose for a photo with a representative from the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce after receiving the Community Spirit Award. Photo by Valley City News.

“I was surprised when we were contacted three weeks ago by the Chamber,” said Rev. Dayne Zachrison, Epworth UMC.  “The congregation was pleased and honored to receive the recognition.”

Epworth has 380 members and has an average of 120 in worship. Faith has 430 members and has an average of 150 in worship. The two churches shared the space from September 2014 through April 2016. The congregations had combined Christmas and Easter services during that time period.

In the summer of 2015, there was one combined worship service. “The two of us (pastors) looked at our schedules for the summer and we realized we could support each other by providing one service throughout the summer,” said Zachrison. “We both needed to be away for lots of different reasons. Over the 13 weeks of summer, there were only two weekends when we were both in service.”

Faith Lutheran has rebuilt and moved into their new worship space April of 2016. The churches continue to be in relationship with each other supporting each other’s fundraising efforts and potentially doing some services together.

The churches received the recognition for promoting “all of the good in Valley City,” according to the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce.

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Click here to read details about the fire and sharing Christmas Eve services here.