VALLEY VINE Valley Presbyterian Church
February 2017
Volume 62, Number 1 Dear friends, Our church is a community that gathers and sends. Every week we assemble for worship and then scatter for work and service. In this way, the church blesses the community as our members make a difference for Christ in their families, jobs, and civic activities. Every month or so, we say goodbye to members who are leaving for other locations, and we trust they will find ways to build the Kingdom wherever they go. In this way, our church blesses other communities of faith and other cities and towns. Occasionally, we bid farewell to a staff member who has taken another call, and we send them off to serve somewhere else. We learned recently that Jordan and Gabby Gustafson have accepted a new call to plant a church in Washington, DC. We are sad to see Jordan and Gabby depart from VPC. They have been a great blessing to our church, an inspiration to our youth and families, and a joy to work with for our pastors and staff. They have exhibited tremendous enthusiasm and dedication during their time with us. We certainly wish them Godspeed in their new church planting adventure in DC. To show our gratitude, we are encouraging anyone who wants to send cash gifts to support the Gustafsons to Kris Bahr, Director of Finance and Operations, throughout the month of February. Joseph Parisi will be our Interim Director of Student Ministry. He has been doing an exceptional job assisting Jordan this year and is a young man of great faith and devotion. Joseph is a college student currently and has over ten years of Young Life experience, serving as a leader for two and one-half of those years. He is a super athlete and has a strong sense of call into ministry. He will be supported by our staff as he steps into this new role—please pray for and encourage him. Our Youth and Children’s Committee has immediately initiated a search for a full-time Director of Student Ministry. They will contact colleges and seminaries and networks with youth ministries to try and locate our next leader. If you have names or suggestions, please pass them on to Sarah Brammer at smurley47@hotmail.com. Our committee will conduct an open process, bringing candidates to our staff and Session and giving our youth and families a chance to engage with them. There is no ministry more important in our church than our ministry to youth, and we are blessed to have exceptional young men and women in our midst to nurture and encourage. We are very determined to build on Jordan’s work and create an even stronger outreach to youth in the future. Hope to see all of you on February 5 as we conclude our First Annual Youth Week with a service led by our youth. Please pray for our search and read further for a special message from Jordan! Yours faithfully, Recently there has been a lot happening in the Gustafson household and as my church family I would love to share with you some exciting news. Throughout my life in ministry, God has placed on my heart a desire to both start new ministry and grow ministry forward for the sake of the Kingdom. Time after time, I have had the opportunity to be a part of this, which has opened up many conversations with people in ministry that I look up to about one day down the road planting a church to reach those who are not yet connected to the body of Christ. A few months ago, God graciously opened a door for an opportunity to enter into this work in church planting. After careful prayer and discernment Gabby, Norah, and I have accepted our next ministry call, which will be moving us to Washington, DC in order to plant a new church in the city. I am excited for the work that God is calling me to, and in my pursuit of obedience, I will be taking the biggest step of faith that I ever have. Our family will be moving this coming March and ask that you be praying for us and all that is to come. I am beyond thankful for this church and for all of you. We as a family have experienced so much life transition since being here, including starting our married life together and the arrival of our first little one, Norah. You as our church family have blessed and loved not only me but my family as well over these past three years, and for this I am forever grateful. I am excited for what God is doing and how He is moving; however, I am sad to be leaving my role at our church. VPC has helped to train me in ministry, has grown me in leadership, and has given me opportunity after opportunity shaping me into the minister that I am today. VPC will always be a part of my story and will always be in my heart. We look forward to visiting when we are in town and for the opportunity to share with you all of the amazing ways that God will be acting in DC. Thank you for your support and encouragement in ministry, and most of all, thank you for the many amazing relationships. They mean more to me than you will ever know. Lastly, thank you to our students for letting me be a part of your lives. I love you all and am beyond excited for the ways in which God is going to use you. You have blessed me in ways that are impossible to explain and I have been forever changed because of you. In Christ,