project one sixty eight

Project 168 is a challenge for the VCC community to pray. There are one hundred and sixty eight hours in every week – Project 168 calls the members of the VCC community to pray during one of those one hundred and sixty eight hours every week.

• Pray that God would teach us better to worship as we serve Him.


• Pray for complete surrender so we might renew our minds each day through Gods word and respond to each situation with love.


• Ask God to teach you about the things you treasure and what are priorities in your life.


• Pray for specific opportunities to be incarnational witnesses to God’s love and intentional reflections of Christ.


• Pray for endurance, encouragement and unity to be present in all of the teams at VCC.


• Pray that we might be a Church clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
  
  

Short Term Mission Trip - Men: Grab your tools and join us as we venture down to Rocky Point on a mission project. This is your chance to invite God to move in your life and grow in your relationships. If you have a son, aged 12 or older, we encourage you to bring him. We are headed out on February 16 and returning on February 18. The trip is $50 for adults and $25 for students ages 12-16. Registrations are due by February 4. If time allows, there will be an optional fishing excursion Sunday morning for an additional $50.

Strategic Service Teams: SST’s are volunteers gathered together to serve within and outside the church. Volunteers are vital to Vail Christian and we look to them to facilitate environments and potentially lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Contact tim@vailchristian.com or ben@vailchristian.com for more information. You can also visit the Strategic Service Team page on our website at www.vailchristian.com.

Great vision involves risk.  What amazing risks have been taken this last year!  Just as an example, I had many students who were willing to give up access to an established youth group with a large attendance, a building, etc. to develop a program at our new church.  They understood what church should really look like and I credit them as the rocks that we’ve built a youth group around.  As we celebrate one year in existence as a church, I look ahead with much anticipation as to what God will do in our future.  I know we are headed for amazing things because of the foundation we’ve laid and the blessings God has already given us.  Reflect with me on some of the ways God has moved amongst our students and children this last year.

A group of about fifteen students took a risk and went on a mission trip to the Indian Reservation last February barely two weeks after our launch.  Twelve couples stood in front of our body and committed to Godly parenting during our first parenting presentation event.  At our Easter services we had 212 children and students.  Over the summer we had 114 students and children who attended the various camps we offered.  Twice we’ve brought our children into the auditorium to bless the congregation with their songs, smiles and dances.  We’ve done events with our students that involved sky-jumping, white water rafting, rock climbing, roller coasters, water-skiing and snow skiing.  Since last February, we’ve had 12 students and children be baptized.  We had 25 students show up at the See You At The Pole Event where they gathered early in the morning around their school’s flagpole to pray for their campuses. We consistently serve Empire High School and its students by offering a free tutoring program on Tuesday nights.  God has given us so many great opportunities!

In the student and children’s arena we aim to partner with parents so it has been very exciting to see whole families connect with God and with others at our church.  I love walking into the nursery where numerous new moms are visiting and embracing their little ones.  I love to see our pre-school kids run from their classrooms to show Mom and Dad the beautiful craft they made that day.  I love to see parents join their elementary aged child for worship and jump around celebrating Jesus with him.  I love knowing that we’ve been able to connect with and meet the needs of families during their hard times.  I love knowing that because we have connected students with God, they have connected their families with God.  I love seeing students serving right alongside their parents.  I love seeing God at work in and through our young people and leaders.   

Beginning long before our first service was ever held, God stirred in the hearts of wonderful servants who I am now honored to call my student and children’s staff. God truly called and molded these teams together.  I am so thankful they took this risk with me.  Their sacrifice and dedication shows every week in the smiles on our young people’s faces!

May we continue to be teams, and a church, that sees the vision God is laying before us and is not afraid to pursue it.

To another great year,



julie biagi
director of students and children

Middle School Laser Tag Event – Join us Friday, March 16 from 2:30 – 10:30 p.m. for dinner at In-N-Out and three games of laser tag!  Cost is $20 and you must register by Sunday, March 4.

Middle School Service Project – Thursday, March 22. Sign up to participate by Sunday, March 11.


High School Laser Tag Event – Friday, March 23 we’re going to Phoenix for dinner and laser tag!  Join us from 2:30 – 10:30 p.m.  Cost is $20 and you must register by Sunday, March 11.

High School Service Project – Thursday, March 15. Sign up to participate by Sunday, March 4.

Pulse is our Sunday morning gathering for High School students. We will meet at the coffee cart, hang out, and head to a class area for a brief lesson. This will be a great chance to meet, drink coffee (or other preferred beverages) and connect with fellow high schoolers in a new atmosphere. We meet every Sunday during the 10:45 a.m. service.

Last Monday of every Month: VCC Women's Book Club Contact Linda at lpitney@carf.org. Upcoming readings:
• Feb. 26 The Road to Home by Vanessa Del Fabbro
• Mar. 26 Safely Home, by Randy Alcorn

Tutoring: This is an opportunity for high school students to receive free small group and one-on-one tutoring. Tutoring for all levels of mathematics, physics and Spanish is available. Meets in the Empire High School Media Center every Tuesday from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. For more information, or if you are interested in tutoring, contact Tyler Vogt at jvogt88772@aol.com.

If you are interested in starting or joining a Community Group, or if you just want some more information, contact Tim Sheaffer at tim@vailchristian.com or Trent Schlecht at tanks@cox.net. You can also visit the Community Group page on our website at www.vailchristian.com.

VCC is pleased to announce that we have established an official Elder Council. Please take a moment to pray for these men as they seek to bring guidance and accountability to Vail Christian Church.

Richard Johnson

Richard grew up attending a church that his family was very involved in. His dad led the worship, his mom was the organist and his uncle was the pastor.  About fourteen years ago Richard and his wife Linda began attending Pantano Christian Church where they were involved in many aspects of the family ministry (parenting, marriage and pre -marriage classes).  They also hosted a TLC group and middle school group during that time.

They have two sons, Toby who is 19 and attends the UA, and Casey 16, who is a junior at Catalina Magnet High School. Linda is a stay-at-home mom and wife (she was a teacher prior to having the boys). Richard is a captain with the Tucson Fire Department where he has worked for the past 21 years. He loves being at the lake, enjoys being outdoors and recently has started riding horses again.

Richard is the team leader for the Set up/Tear Down Team and enjoys the opportunities that are presented by being a part of a new church.


Ron Andler

Ron and his wife Judy grew up in the same small town in northwest Missouri. They have been married for 29 years and have lived in Tucson for the past 20 years. They have one daughter, Nicole and a 4 (soon to be 5) year old granddaughter Mackenzie.  Ron enjoys fishing, camping, golfing and spending time in Rocky Point.  Ron is a salesman and part owner of Holderness Supplies, a wholesale lumber yard and contracting company.  

Ron previously served as an Elder at Pantano Christian Church prior to following God's call to serve at Vail Christian Church. Ron, besides being an elder at PCC, was involved in Men's Ministry and the Rocky Point Missions Ministry.  At VCC Ron has been part of the Launch Team, the Setup and Teardown Team and the VCC Rocky Point Missions Team.


Ben Pitney

Ben is our lead pastor and Church planter. Ben was born in Prescott, Arizona and enjoyed growing up there through High School. He continued his education in California and then eventually came back to Arizona to work for a church in the Phoenix area. After living in the area for three years, he met his wife Linda and soon moved to San Jose, California to serve in the bay area for fifteen years before coming to Tucson.

Ben and his wife Linda have two children...Kambria is 16 and Mitchell is 14. The Pitneys enjoy sports, the outdoors, Mexican food, and hanging out with other families. They have come to love Tucson and are deeply committed to shepherding the church.


John Thompson

John grew up in Coolidge Arizona, as did his wife Danné. They moved to Tucson in 1989. They have two sons: Dustin was born in 1994 and Ben was born in 1995. Danne's two full time jobs are being a housewife and home schooling Dustin and Ben. John is a software engineer for IBM.

Prior to attending Vail Christian Church, John and Danné attended Pantano Christian Church where they served on the Marriage and Parenting Team. John also served as an elder at Pantano Christian Church until he resigned to be a part of the Vail church plant. John currently serves as part of the Auditorium Team at VCC.

John makes a priority of dating Danné and loves to take Dustin paintballing and Ben golfing every chance they get. John and the boys also love to hunt birds and the whole family loves to go camping and fishing in the White Mountains.


Dave Allardice

David, a native New Yorker, moved to Tucson in the late 1980's to attend college. While attending Pima Community College, he became a Christian and began to attend Pantano Christian Church. He spent two years in Flagstaff, completing his undergraduate work in Political Science and met his wife, Wendi.

Upon returning to Tucson, David and Wendi continued to attend Pantano Christian Church and developed a passion for student ministry. He worked as teacher in the Sunnyside School District and recently became the Principal for the Academy of Tucson Middle School.

David and Wendi have four children, Devin, Kobe, Jenna, and Jered. They have a heart for the Vail community and have served at VCC several capacities.


Mike Van Fleet

Mike was born and raised in Amityville, Pennsylvania, a small farm town outside of Philadelphia. In 1999 he transferred to Tucson from the Boston area to work as an electrical engineer for Raytheon Missile Systems. While working with the Pantano Christian Church student ministries, he met his wife Sherri.

They worked with PCC students for 6 years as youth coaches before transitioning with the Vail Christian Church High School ministry. While at PCC Sherri also served as Ben's admin, and now she serves as the VCC admin, as well as attending the U of A for Math Education.

Aside from serving with Sherri in VCC Youth Ministries and the Tutoring Ministry, Mike also serves as the Trailhead Team leader. While not working or serving, he enjoys various outdoor sports from caving and rock climbing to hiking and off-roading in his Jeep.

It’s here: our first anniversary! As we look back on our first year as a church, it is obvious that God has been at work in our midst.  From mission trips to community groups, from service teams to the staff, we can see the hand of God at work in the people of Vail Christian Church in a way that gives us cause to celebrate.  So celebrate we shall!  Our anniversary is actually Feb. 5, but since that’s a Monday, we will celebrate as a body on Sunday Feb. 4.  Much like a one year old baby’s birthday, it’s the first one (and you can only have one “first”) so you just gotta make a big deal out of it.  So we’re going to have jumping castles and food and a sort of festival feel in the courtyard between services, and on top of that, we’re going to create a sort of “Connection Sunday” format where we will have booths representing all of our community groups and service teams so that we can celebrate the birth of VCC by focusing on our mission as a church: making room in life’s journey to connect people with God and each other.  The services will be shortened that day to allow for more time in between the services to partake in the festivities and afford you the opportunity to peruse the booths and find places to plug into the body of Vail Christian Church. This particular Sunday will be a great opportunity to bring friends and family to experience the VCC culture of celebration and connection. We look forward to seeing you there!!!

Trailhead: Begin the Journey - February 11 - The next Trailhead class is February 11, during the second service, with a bbq on February 18. Trailhead is where the VCC adventure begins. This class will walk you through our core values, our vision, our mission, and perhaps most importantly: opportunities for you to join the journey. Visit the information table in the back of the auditorium or email tim@vailchristian.com for more information.

Orientation Meeting: March 25 - This small group study is a 10 week in-depth study of what scripture teaches about money and possessions. The next class starts on April 15. Participants become consistent savers, generous givers, and prudent consumers. Most importantly, they are entering into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ as they learn to apply His Word to their finances. We offer different meeting times that begin periodically throughout the year. For more information or to sign up, contact Mat Miller at setfree4freedom@yahoo.com.

Parenting Presentation – April 22 – The Parenting Presentation is an opportunity for parents to share the joy of their child with the Church family and commit to raising their child to know and love Jesus Christ. This event is geared toward families with children ages birth to 2 years old.  Contact Julie Biagi at julie@vailchristian.com for more information.

One of the most exciting things that Vail Christians Church witnessed in our first year was seeing both adults and children make commitments to follow Christ. As followers of Christ, one of the first responses of obedience is to be baptized. The act of baptism represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It also symbolizes a washing of sin because of the forgiveness of God.  By looking back we can celebrate what God has done and gain momentum that will help propel us forward into our second year. May we who are VCC continue to seek after God and share Him with others. Join me in celebrating with all of those who publicly announced their commitment to follow Christ. VCC’s next Baptism Event will be March 25. Contact Tim at tim@vailchristian.com for more information.

Congratulations to those who were baptized in 2006.

Rachel Robinson
Caleb Dusek
Kobe Allardice
Bill Cox
Char Cox
Mary Hickman
Lance Lundy
Tom Roylston
Shelby Gillies
Emma Hartnett
Megan Taylor
Trisa Austin
Santana Rios
Carson Dusek
Don Becker
Jonah Stiffey
Tiffany Pierce
David Rus
Hannah Rogers
Juergan Bauch
Ryan Patton