Posted in January 25, 2012 ¬ 3:02 pm.
What do you get when you mix 163 middle school and high school students, more than 50 adult leaders representing our network of churches, powerful teaching and awesome worship? You get lives changed through Echo, the annual youth retreat held recently at Hidden Falls Retreat Center near Bedford, Ind.
Vine Community Church Youth Pastor Josh Franklin says the reaction of the youth participants is very inspiring.
“The way that students come expecting God to work in them has continued to grow and amazes me every year,” Franklin says. “Seeing our students from churches in our network genuinely asking God to move in them and in their generation is a humbling and encouraging sight to see.”
Many of the students, including eighth-grader Joshua Kearns of Carbondale, call the event powerful.
“I thought that the best part of Echo was the services. I felt the power of Jesus rushing through me,” Kearns says of his first-ever retreat. “After going to Echo and being prayed for and everything, I think that I now have stronger faith in Jesus. I am definitely looking forward to the Summer Retreat!”
Posted in January 19, 2012 ¬ 6:49 pm.
The observation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is more than just a day off of school for the children who participated in Vine Community Church’s annual Joining Hands for the Dream event. Children’s Program Director Jennifer Quinn said the event, which drew more than 60 children, is a time of helping students learn about King’s dream for our nation and the Biblical basis for that dream.
“We want the kids to know more about Martin Luther King Jr. Day and why we celebrate it,” Quinn explained. “We spent some time talking about Dr. King and about the dream and vision God gave him. Then we spent time going through the different aspects of his dream by walking through various stations set up in the church.”
Those stations included skits, crafts and games as well as a short teaching by Staff Pastor Michael Stephens encouraging the children to stand up for what is right.
“One of the core values we have as church is to be a place of racial reconciliation, and we want our children to grow up with that value,” Quinn said. “We want the kids to know more about the day and why we celebrate it. There is so much biblical basis for what King did. It’s more than just a day off of school. It was awesome to see the impact it had on the kids.”
Posted in January 10, 2012 ¬ 1:00 pm.
Hundreds of area residents and guests celebrated Jesus’ birth by attending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at Vine Community Church. The celebration began with our annual Christmas Eve Family Service, which featured children from our Adventureland Kids Program performing several musical performances.
Our 11 p.m. Candlelight service was a time of reverent worship of Jesus ushering in Christmas Day. All of the regular Sunday services were held on Christmas, giving members and guests and opportunity to celebrate the holiday with relevant teaching and worship.
Posted in November 28, 2011 ¬ 3:32 pm.
Members of Vine Community Church showed God’s love in a practical way recently by helping hundreds of Carbondale residents have a nicer Thanksgiving holiday. Church members and attendees individually filled more than 800 bags with practically everything needed for a Thanksgiving meal and then 250 volunteers delivered the bags to residents of 21 neighborhoods in the area. The effort is one way Vine works to heed God’s call to serve the poor.
“It was a good opportunity for the church to band together and do something great for the community,” says church member Yi Lee, who participated in the delivery. “We spend a lot of time in the church talking about it, but it was really great to go out as the church DOING it.”
The food giveaway has been a Vine tradition for many years. The response from recipients is one of gratefulness and encouragement–both for themselves and for those making the deliveries.
