Hello, my name is Duane Coates, and I am privileged to shepherd this family of faith, which first welcomed me as a layman in 1995 when I started a three-year job as editor of the local newspaper. Family is important to me. I married the Rev. Cindy Heidelberger (now Rev. Cindy H. Coates, CC for short), a provisional United Methodist deacon of the Dakotas Conference. Marrying her made me step-father to Xavier and Atticus. They live near Sioux Falls, where she is appointed co-vocationally as the half-time pastor in charge of Sioux Falls Wesley United Methodist Church and full-time as the executive director of GroundWorks Connect, a statewide creation-caring non-profit. My family also includes my parents, older brother, and younger sister, all of whom live in southern South Dakota. Together, they give me a large extended family. Furthermore, Epworth feels like family to me. I hope that when you worship with us or attend an event here, you, too, will feel welcomed like family. This is part of how we live out our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Spiritually, I am blessed to lead Epworth's commitment to radical hospitality, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service as well as extravagant generosity. When not working or volunteering in the community, l especially love to spend time with family, break bread with others, travel, bike, play games, make music, worship God, and tell stories. Many forms of music and other fine arts media enrich my life. In addition to pastoring, I have a significant ministry beyond the local church in service to the denomination in the fields of history, archives, and rules of procedure.

Meet Cassidy, the backbone of our office and the undisputed champion of troubleshooting all of our technology problems. When it comes to keeping things running smoothly, Cassidy is the wizard behind the curtain.

When she's not turning chaos into order, Cassidy enjoys road-tripping to new places and spending time with her cat, Mr. Richard.

Hello, I’m VirLyn Hoff. My husband Gordon and I have been members here at Epworth since we moved to Valley City as newlyweds. I have served on various committees of the church and I am active in the Sunday School and United Women in Faith. The people of Epworth have shown me the importance, the necessity, of being in a community of believers. I am honored to serve the congregation through the work in the office at this time. As an elementary teacher by profession, I treasure caring for and watching my three birth grandchildren grow and learn, along with three honorary grandchildren, plus whomever else God brings into my life. I am glad to greet you in church.

Anne Osborne lives in Sibley on Lake Ashtabula with her dog, Rosie. She enjoys water sports such as paddleboarding and jet skiing. 

She works for the National Wheat Foundation and runs the National Wheat Yield Contest.  She enjoys working with farmers and especially farmers who serve on boards and want to improve their industry.

Anne serves as the Chair of the Board of Pensions for the Dakotas Conference.  She has also served as dean of a Summer’s Last Blast camp for youth at Lake Poinsett Camp.

Anne has a daughter, Katie, who is a 9th grade English teacher at Casselton and stepson Paul, who lives in Grand Forks, and stepson Jim, who lives in Jamestown.  Anne has 1 granddaughter Ansleigh, who is 7 months old.

My name is Holly Neuberger. I have had a very blessed life. God is so good! Married to Dale for 44 years, we have three children, grandchildren, and one great grandson! For most of my adult life I have worked in the emergency medical services. 35 plus years as a critical care paramedic by air and by ground. My other "work" hat was as a 911 dispatcher for 20+ years. I continue to teach courses for the state, including basic first aid, CPR, emergency medical dispatching and EMT courses. I love teaching! This is why I will be helping out with the Sunday school class until a permanent teacher is hired. I hope you will join your child in some of the classes. I believe your child will want to "show you off" to the rest of the kids! We will have stories, activities, games, and art work. We will understand the importance of prayer. Children will learn that their Heavenly Father will hear them because He loves them so much!