GROWTH INTENSIVE:
NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC
SUNDAY | JANUARY 10 & 17 | 5:00 PM | ONLINE
It's been 10 months and counting! Who would have ever thought at Easter that we would still be living among the harsh realities of the COVID-19 pandemic? We have experienced isolation, illness, and grief, and have been forced to learn new skills for working, connecting, and just doing life.
This month, we are offering a Growth Intensive designed to help you with the ongoing emotional and spiritual challenges that this strange season has brought. This intensive, offered in two parts, will include conversation with a panel of experts as well as discussion about how the Church has historically responded in such crises.
PART 1: THE EMOTIONAL & PHYSICAL IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC
SUNDAY | JANUARY 10 | 5:00 PM
In Part 1, we will explore challenges to our emotional health caused by this season and what we can do to care for ourselves and others. We will hear about initial information on the vaccines and how they work. Click here to register for Part 1.
PART 2: THE SPIRITUAL IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC
SUNDAY | JANUARY 17 | 5:00 PM In this session, we will talk about the challenges such a season poses for our spiritual life--our connection to God and our connection to others, including our church family. We will also do a bit of historical and theological digging on how we as the Church are called to respond in such times of crisis. Click here to register for Part 2. Registrants will be sent additional reading resources and a Zoom link for each event.
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WINTER WEEKEND NIGHT 2021: JANUARY 16
REGISTRATION CLOSES TODAY
This year our Valley Ranch Student Ministry is hosting a brand-new event: Winter Weekend Night--all the fun of Winter Weekend on one fantastic Saturday night. It's going to be packed with everything you love about WW, and some special super-fun additions.
We'll have a band, a guest speaker, a service project, breakout sessions with leaders, and games. We will even have a moment to celebrate our seniors and enjoy late-night worship together. As a special treat, we're also going to enjoy something we've never done before--a snowball fight! Yes, a snowball fight! How awesome is that?
The event will be outside so dress accordingly. We'll also have hot chocolate, s'mores, and firepits to keep us toasty. Let's make WWN the best night of the year by getting signed up and inviting your friends! Registration closes TONIGHT at MIDNIGHT so click here now to get signed up! T he cost is only $25. This event is for 6th through 12th graders.
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VRBC PRESCHOOL REOPENS IN JANUARY
REGISTRATION IS OPEN
After much prayer, research, and consultation with health and safety experts, VRBC Weekday Preschool is excited to announce that we are planning to offer three preschool options starting January 25, 2021. Our options are:
- Option 1: In-person
- Option 2: Hybrid (virtual + a social opportunity)
- Option 3: Curriculum only (online content & packets for use at home)
We want to assure you that the safety of your children is of utmost importance to us. This summer, in coordination with the other preschools in Coppell, we developed a comprehensive COVID-19 Safety and Response Plan as required by the State of Texas. Details on in-person, hybrid, and curriculum preschool options as well as the Safety and Response Plan are available on our website. We feel that this plan addresses the majority of concerns that parents may have regarding our response to COVID-19.
Registration for preschool is currently in progress. To register, visit the preschool website. If you have additional questions, please call Sarah Waters or Anna Hazelrigg at 972-304-8444.
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ONLINE GIVING IN 2021
SIMPLER & MORE ACCESSIBLE
To make online giving simpler and more accessible, we have transitioned to a new service provider: Planning Center Online (PCO). This is part of a larger migration of our church databases to PCO that will make it easier to register for events, sign up for a Grow Group, stay up to date on church news, and more!
As of January 1, 2021, the link on the VRBC website and the VRBC app will take you directly to the new giving page. Please follow these steps (click here) to make a one-time donation or you can begin recurring donations.
We are excited about the move to Planning Center and all of the capabilities it allows. We appreciate your support of this transition. Please contact us if you have any questions: jhewlett@vrbc.net or dblankenship@vrbc.net.
Thank you so much for your faithful generosity. God is using you and your giving in powerful ways for his glory and his kingdom, and we are grateful.
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DID YOU KNOW? As we all seem to be doing a lot more online shopping these days, did you know that you can support VRBC while you're doing it? AmazonSmile is a simple way for you to support VRBC every time you shop at Amazon, at no cost to you. AmazonSmile is available at smile.amazon.com on your web browser and can be activated in the Amazon Shopping app for iOS and Android phones. You can just continue to do your normal Amazon shopping, with the added benefit that AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to VRBC.
On your first visit to smile.amazon.com, you will be prompted to select a charitable organization (in this case, VRBC) to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. After that, every eligible purchase you make on AmazonSmile will result in a donation directly to VRBC. It's that simple!
Happy shopping!
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CHARLOTTE WOOTTEN
As a church-planting coordinator with e3 Partners Ministry, Charlotte has the awesome privilege of taking North Americans on short-term missions trips and seeing their lives transformed as God uses their testimonies to tell a lost world about His love.
As the coordinator for Ministry to Children with e3 Partners, Charlotte is helping to develop materials and training for nationals to effectively minister to children and establish a children's ministry as each new church is planted. This often involves being a part of an e3 expedition in a country where children's ministry has not been introduced, modeling for the team as well as the nationals how children's ministry can be implemented and the rich benefits to be reaped when children are led to accept Christ at an early age. As new churches are planted, nationals are also encouraged to start a program for children as well. Charlotte continues to co-lead teams on expeditions as a church-planting coordinator and incorporate the children's ministry as part of the new church plant.
If you are interested in traveling with Charlotte on a mission trip, please contact her at charlotte.wootton@e3partners.org or 936-239-6447. For more about Charlotte's work, check out her video here!
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