Summer party inflatables at Grand Forks Zion UMC. Photos courtesy of Zion UMC.

Zion United Methodist Church is increasing the church’s visibility throughout Grand Forks. The mission and education teams at Zion UMC spent months planning and organizing.  In collaboration with a neighbor church, St. Mark's Lutheran, two outreach events were planned—Vacation Bible School and a neighborhood block party. More than 200 people attended the neighborhood block party.

“Lots of planning and organizing was done months in advance by our mission and education teams,” said Brad Loiland, Zion UMC administrative council chair. “Joint work with the neighbor church, St. Mark’s Lutheran, made our preparation easier in obtaining resources.”

The congregation invited young children in the community from kindergarten through grade five to Zion UMC for Vacation Bible School (VBS), August 13-15. VBS included dinner, Bible stories, music, and singing, arts and crafts, followed by games played outside. The kids had a blast and capped off the final night with a water balloon fight!

Zion along with its neighbor church, St. Mark’s Lutheran, hosted a neighborhood block party on

Testing out the firehose at the summer party.

Thursday, August 16. Volunteers served free hot dogs, popcorn, and root beer floats. Children enjoyed carnival games, face painting, a cookie walk, and two bounce houses. The local Christian radio station, Q-FM, sent a DJ and sound system to serenade the crowd with music. Portable copies of the Bible were distributed by the Gideons. 

The Grand Forks police and fire departments came out to the neighborhood block party to meet the kids and give them an opportunity to check out their vehicles. The fire department gave the kids a chance to shoot a fire hose at a target house set up in the church lawn. 

Playing games and enjoying the summer party at Zion UMC.

The event has grown since last year, with more than 200 people attending. Joint work with St. Mark’s Lutheran, made preparation easier in obtaining resources for the carnival games, inviting the police and fire departments, securing the radio DJ, inviting the Gideons, and the involving a local Boy Scout troop. 

Loiland said, “We really enjoyed gathering with church friends and meeting new families from our neighborhood. It was great to see all of that planning and hard work come together and produce such a successful event that brought so many people together.”