Brian's Corner
Dear Leader,
I don't know if you were able to attend our Family Fun Day and Water Baptism on Memorial Day, but if you missed it, you missed a great time! 100 people were water baptized as an outward expression of their faith in Jesus Christ! We also had lots of fun together as a church family.
I hope you will prioritize attending our last Family Fun Day and Water Baptism for 2008 on Labor Day (September 1). It is always great to be together as a church family and I love seeing so many people being water baptized. It is a real faith builder and a reminder that we are making a huge difference with our lives!
June is going to be a busy month for many of us at VCNP. Here are some highlights:
- Southwest Pastors and Leaders Regional Conference: 45 people from VCNP are attending the Southwest Regional Pastors and Leaders Conference June 9-14. As you know, the conference will be on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. It should be a great time!
- Father’s Day: Because I have to lead the Regional Conference, I will be leaving on June 8 and returning on June 14. I have asked Gary Kinnaman, the former pastor of Word of Grace church in Mesa, to come and teach our weekend services on June 14-15 weekend. I know Gary will do an excellent job. He is a captivating speaker and author of numerous books. You won't want to miss it!
- New Worship Pastor: Matt Turrigiano, our new worship pastor, will be moving here with his wife, Rebecca, and 4 boys on June 9. Please be praying for them as they make the transition from Bristol, England to Phoenix, Arizona in June!!
Matt will begin working here full time on June 16 and brings with him a great passion for worship, building worship teams, and community.
- Surprise Church Plant: Marty and Shelia Kaiser's last weekend here will be June 21-22. I will officially lay hands on them, pray for them, and send them off on their church plant during the 11:30AM service on June 22. We will also be receiving a special offering that weekend (during all of our weekend services) for their church plant.
It will be very sad to see the Kaiser family go and we will all miss them greatly. But, we know God has great things in store for them in this new church plant, and also for us with Matt Turrigiano and his family coming.
Please let the Kaiser family know how much they have ministered to you over the years sometime before they go. They have been a tremendous blessing to all of us.
- New Series: I will begin a new series on the Book of Revelation at the beginning of July. I think it will last most of the rest of 2008. I hope it will be a great time of learning for all of us! I am looking forward to it.
Thank you again for all you do to help make our church the church it is! I hope you have a wonderful summer!
Please don't forget the leadership meeting on Sunday night, June 22, at 6:00 pm. I think it will be a great time together!
Love,
Brian
Update on Recent Events
Men's Retreat 2008
“The Transformed Man: Living Beyond the Ordinary”
Our 2008 Men’s Retreat ROCKED!!! God showed up in huge ways fanning a deeper passion within the 84 men that attended to know Him.
Al Ells shared about “The Transformed Man” with his messages. Through his home-run talks, he challenged the men to live beyond the ordinary and experience God’s transforming power in their jobs, relationships, and passions. Our worship times were amazing as the men participated in Spirit-filled, God-honoring worship.
In addition to all that God was doing on the spiritual side of things we also had a great time participating in the many free time activities. Be sure and check out some of the retreat pictures on our website. If you missed the Men’s Retreat this year, be sure to attend next year! You won’t want to miss out.
-Mario Fernandez, Associate Pastor
Our annual single mom’s spa day was another huge success. With a team of about 90 volunteers we were able to serve over 150 women from our church and our surrounding community. We served them in a number of ways, all free of charge. Some of the services that we provided were childcare, breakfast, prayer, manicures, pedicures, massages, make-up application, and haircuts and brow waxing.
One of the main goals for this event was to reach unchurched people in our community and that happened in a number of ways. We dropped off flyers at Home of Hope, bus-stops, childcare centers, gyms, and a variety of other places. Our best estimation is that about half of the women that came that day were not from our church. We look forward to another exciting spa day in 2009.
-Alecia Manes, Single Mom’s Spa Day Coordinator
We had a wonderful time blessing all of the mother’s and their families this year at our free family photo outreach. We had many guests come to church with their moms and then enjoy a free family portrait. Our cast of 25 volunteers posed more than 430 families this weekend! Of all the outreach events we schedule throughout the year, Mother’s Day is the most gratifying and the most fun as we all get into the act to get people of all ages to smile for the camera!
We are blessed to serve so many families!
-Dave Johnson, Associate Pastor
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Events and Highlights
Here are some major events that we can expect to see soon:
- Illuminate, June 1, 6:00 pm
- Women's Evening Bible Study, June 4 - 24, 6:45 pm
- VLI Intensive: General Epistles and Revelation, June 6 - 7
- Momentum, June 9, 6:30 pm
- AVC SW Region Pastors and Leaders Conference, June 9 – 14
- Youth Nights, June 11 and 25, 7:00 pm
- Marriage Connection, June 13, 6:30 pm
- Father's Day Appreciation Outreach, June 14-15, concurrent with weekend services
- Leadership Meeting, June 22, 6:00 pm
- Momentum, June 23, 6:30 pm
- Illuminate, July 6, 6:00 pm
- Pre-School Story Time, July 9, 9:30 am
- Girls’ Night Out, July 11, 7:00 pm
- Momentum, July 14 and July 28, 6:30 pm
- Family Camp, July 16-19
- Marriage Retreat, July 17-19
- Illuminate, July 20, 6:00 pm
- 50+ Event, July 21, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
- Pre-School Story Time, July 23, 9:30 am
- VLI Intensive: Systematic Theology, July 25-26
- Daddy-Daughter Dance, July 25, 7:00 pm
- Momentum, July 28, 6:30 pm
- Men’s Campout, July 31 – August 2
- Child Dedication, August 2, 4:00 pm
- Women's Prayer Oasis, August 3, 10:00 am
- Illuminate, August 3, 6:00 pm
- Marriage Connection, August 8, 6:30 pm
- Momentum, August 11, 6:30 pm
- Youth Nights, August 13, 20, and 27, 7:00 pm
- Cry Out, August 16, 7:00 pm
- Illuminate, August 17, 6:00 pm
- Vineyard Kids Volunteer Appreciation Night, August 22, 6:00 pm
- Leadership Meeting, August 24, 6:00 pm
- Musicians' Night, August 31, 6:00 pm
Upcoming Classes:
- Marriage Mentoring Class, June 1 – July 6, 8:30 am (Room A)
- Nehemiah Readings Class, June 1 – 29, 8:30 am (Room B)
- Food Bank Interviewer Training Class, June 1, 10:00 am (Room A)
- Christian Disciplines Class, June 1 – 15, 10:00 am (Room B)
- Secret Greeter Class, June 1 – 8, 10:00 am (Meeting Room)
- Parenting Class, June 1 – July 6, 11:30 am (Room B)
- GriefShare Class, June 1 - July 20, 1:00 pm (Meeting Room)
- Ministry Training, June 22 – July 13, 10:00 am (Room A)
- VLI Introduction Class, June 22, 10:00 am (Room B)
- Small Group Leader Training, July 6 – 27, 10:00 am (Room A)
- Experiencing God Through Prayer Class, July 6 – 27, 10:00 am (Room B)
- Newcomers’ Class, July 13, 9:45 am – 12:45 pm (Rooms A and B)
- Advanced Ministry Training Class, July 20 - August 3, 10:00 am (Meeting Room)
- Women’s Leadership Training Class, July 20 & 27, 10:00 am, Conference Room
- Mentoring Training, August 3 - 17, 8:30 am (Room B)
- Intro to Leadership Class, August 3, 10:00 am (Room A)
- History of Christianity Class, August 3 - September 17, 11:30 am (Room A)
- FPU Orientation Meeting, August 9, 4:30 pm (Meeting Room)
- Discovering My SHAPE For Ministry Class, August 10 - 24, 10:00 am (Room A)
- FPU Orientation Meeting, August 10, 11:30 am (Room B)
- Water Baptism Class, August 17, 10:00 am (Room B)
- Water Baptism Class, August 23, 4:30 pm (Meeting Room)
- Food Bank Interviewer Training Class, August 24, 10:00 am (Room B)
- Ministry Training Class, August 31 - September 28, 10:00 am (Room A)
- Water Baptism Class, August 31, 10:00 am (Room B)
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