The Witness
Volume 40, Issue 1
January 5, 2022
WELCOME TO 2022! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wednesday Night Activities
Tonight we will return to our regular mid-week schedule: dinner (5:30 PM); Adult Bible Study, Thrive Youth, & Children's Choirs (all at 6:15 PM); Praise Team rehearsal (6:30 PM); and Chancel Choir rehearsal (7:30 PM).

Tonight we were originally scheduled to launch both adult studies: Spiritual Disciplines AND Parenting with Love & Logic. However, due to illness, Whitney must postpone the Parenting with Love & Logic study until next week. All are welcome to join us in the gym for the Spiritual Disciplines study this week. Please click here for this week's study notes.

Upcoming Wednesday Night Dinner menus:
  • January 12th - Ham & Turkey Subs, Baked Potato Wedges, Fruit Cups, & Dessert.
  • January 19th - Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti, Steamed Broccoli, Garlic Bread, & Dessert.
  • January 26th - Smothered Pork Loin Chops in Gravy, Stuffing, Baby Limas with Corn, Dinner Rolls, & Dessert.
Dinner begins at 5:30 PM. Costs are $6/adult, $5/child (ages 4-12), children 3 and under are free, max per household is $18, first-time guests are free. Please sign up by calling the church office at 540-343-7685 no later than 5 PM Tuesday.
This Sunday, January 9th:
Please Note Times & Updates
We will return to our usual Sunday morning schedule this Sunday, with Contemporary Worship at 8:45, Sunday School at 9:50, and Traditional Worship at 11 AM. John Saunders will be bringing the message this week.

Adult Handbells will rehearse this Sunday at 5 PM, and Pandemonium Steel Drum rehearsals will also resume this Sunday at 6 PM. We will have Art from the Heart (4 PM), a pizza dinner (5 PM), and CIA (5:30 PM) for the kiddos this Sunday. Please note that our Sunday evening Youth activities, including Youth Choir, are postponed until January 16th.
Bible Reading Plan
A 52 Week Bible Reading Plan is available for your use this year. It will take you through the entire Bible in one year, and it's not too late to get started! Please click here for a digital copy or pick up a paper copy at the Welcome Center.
Thrive Student Ministry
Wednesday night Youth Bible study will resume tonight. Please plan to join us! Sunday evening activities were scheduled to resume this Sunday, January 9th. However, we are postponing our Sunday evening startup to the following Sunday, January 16th. We will have a 4 PM Student Leadership Meeting, then Youth Choir at 5 PM, followed by our snack supper and Extreme on the 16th.
POSTPONED
Wednesday Women: What Does it Mean to Be Chosen?
Wednesday Women was originally scheduled to begin a new study next Wednesday, January 12th. However, based on the rise in COVID cases locally, we are opting to postpone this study to begin February 2nd. This study will connect readers to the history of Jesus' life and the stories of the Bible in a new way. It will follow season 1 of the television series The Chosen to discover, “What does it actually mean to be Chosen?” Join Susan Jones on Wednesday mornings from 10-11:30am starting February 2nd for this new study! Cost of the book is $16. Please sign up in the church office; books are available now.
Sweet Hour of Prayer
Can you feel it? Recently a new group formed to specifically pray for our church. We have prayed for our church body, our pastors, staff, teachers, and volunteers. We have lifted up the sick, those who are grieving, and those who are hurting. Our country and leaders have not gone unmentioned. And you. We have prayed for you, too.

You are invited to join us. On the 4th Thursday of each month, we meet for one sweet hour of prayer. We meet at 10 AM in the Berean classroom across the lobby from the church office. Your prayers and presence would be very welcomed. Please consider joining us this month on January 27th at 10 AM. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Cathy Abraham at 540-977-2930.
JOY Seniors Activities
The JOY Seniors will once again be collecting non-perishable food items for the Soup for Seniors Drive during the month of January. Help us give a local senior a hot meal on a cold day. We are collecting soups, canned vegetables, canned fruit, crackers, peanut butter, Carnation Instant Breakfast, canned meats, tuna, and oatmeal. Low salt, nutritious items are preferred. Please place donations on the Missions Table near the Welcome Center or in the collection box inside the double doors of the New Ministries Building. If you want to make a monetary donation, one of the JOY Seniors will shop for you. Be sure to make out your check to "VBC Joy Seniors" and indicate "Soup for Seniors" in the memo line of the check or on the envelope with money in it. Thank you in advance for helping our elderly neighbors in need.

The next JOY Seniors Luncheon is scheduled for January 25th at noon in the gym. The cost is $10/person, and the deadline to register is January 21st. Sign up at the JOY Seniors table in the Welcome Center for beans, cornbread, baked potato, dessert, drink & fun!
Wayne Wray
3719 Bandy Road
Roanoke VA 24014-7215
Attendance Figures:
Christmas Eve Service (7:00 PM):
331 total in person
471 total online

December 26, 2021 (10:30 AM):
182 total in person
257 total online
January 2, 2022:
10:30 AM
140 total in person
236 total online
Sunday School - 240
Offering Envelopes
2022 offering envelopes are now available for pickup in the children's hallway for those who indicated that they would like envelopes for the new year. If you don't see your envelopes, but you would like some, please call the church office at 540-343-7685 or sign up at the table where envelopes are being distributed.
Christian sympathy is extended to Gerry Miller-Snyder in the death of her husband, David E. Snyder, on December 23rd; and to Leonard & Barbara Shank and family in the death of his sister, Dorothy "Dot" Whitmire.
Assistance for the Tolley Family
Blake Tolley passed away November 3rd as a result of injuries he sustained in a car accident on October 23rd. Blake was the grandson of Pete Tolley and attended VBC as a child. His family is struggling with medical and funeral costs, and the Finance Committee has chosen to make a donation to his family on behalf of the church. If you would like to add to that donation, we are accepting offerings through this Sunday, January 9th. Please make checks payable to Vinton Baptist Church and mark "Blake Tolley" in the memo line.
Congratulations to Hugh and Brooke Cundiff on the birth of Evelyn "Evi" Magnolia January 1st, weighing 8 lbs., 11 ozs. and measuring 21". Proud grandparents are Terri & Sam Cundiff.
Special Birthdays!
We wish Gene White a happy 90th birthday (December 28th) and Ethel Dickerson a happy 94th birthday (January 3rd)!
Casserole Ministry
The Casserole Ministry is made up of people who love to minister through sharing meals in times of need and celebration. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, please contact Donna Jackson through email or by calling 540-589-0190. We'd love for you to join us!
Children's Worship
We need volunteers for Children's Worship for each Sunday morning service. Please consider serving in this important ministry. Please click here to sign up (dates available through January). Thanks for serving!
Realm
Realm invitations have been steadily going out to those with email addresses on file for the past couple of weeks, and we will continue until we reach the end of the alphabet. If you have not yet seen an invitation in your inbox, please check your spam/junk folder. Please continue to look for your invitation if your last name begins with a letter near the end of the alphabet. We are sending invitations one by one to make certain that we're only including church members and regular attenders who are active in our congregation.

When we send your Realm invitation we are also, by default, opting you into our “online directory,” which means that your name, address, phone number(s), email address, and date of birth (month & day only) are accessible to other people within our church family who have also been invited to Realm. Your info is NOT posted on the general internet. (Essentially, this works very much like a printed directory, where your contact info is available to anyone in our church who has a copy of the directory.) If you choose to set up a Realm login, you have full control over the privacy settings on your information - you can opt out of the online directory, hide portions of your info, or mark your privacy settings so that only church staff members can access your info. Should you choose not to set up a Realm login, you can call the church office and we can update your privacy settings at any time from our end.
 
Some of the advantages of setting up a Realm login are that you have access to update your own contact information when necessary (for instance, if your phone number changes), view your giving records at the touch of a button, and contact others through the online directory, among other things. Eventually, you will be able to sign up for events (like Wednesday Night Dinners or Bible studies), as well. You can login to Realm either through our own VBC app (tap the Realm banner within the app) or by downloading the “Realm Connect” app through your app store; you can always also sign in through the internet at onrealm.org. Watch for your invitation (if you haven't seen it yet) and more info to come soon.
Lottie Moon Post Office
Please check the Lottie Moon Post Office for any cards that you may have received; cards are organized alphabetically by last name. The Lottie Moon Post Office will soon be stored for next year, and we want to make sure that all cards reach their intended recipients.