Vinton Baptist calls new Minister of Children and Families

By Debbie Adams

Vinton Baptist Church has called Jodi Overstreet Estienne as its new Minister of Children and
Families. Estienne has lived in Vinton for most of her life. She attended W.E. Cundiff
Elementary, William Byrd Middle School, and graduated from William Byrd High School with
the Class of 2011. At Byrd she played softball for a year, coached by Greg Barton, and then
turned her attention to basketball full-time. She was also active as a class president and member
of the SCA.

She went on to study Communications at Virginia Tech, where she met her husband, Bobby,
who is from Suffolk. He is an instructor with Roanoke City Schools at the Charles
W. Day Technical Education Center (DAYTEC), teaching landscaping.

Jodi spent several years working in the corporate world after graduating from Virginia Tech. She
most recently served for eight years as Human Resources Manager at CBIZ in Roanoke, which
provides professional business services that help businesses better manage their finances and
employees. The Roanoke office specializes in Human Capital Management services.

The couple lived briefly in Kentucky and then moved back to Vinton in 2017 and began
attending Vinton Baptist again, although somewhat sporadically. When their oldest son (now 4
years old) was born, they made a conscious decision to become actively engaged and raise their
children in the church.

Estienne has attended Vinton Baptist virtually her entire life. Her childhood pastors were Dr. Bill
Ross and Dr. Bill Booth. Some of her most memorable moments at VBC include singing in the
children’s and youth choirs directed by Dr. Chris Monroe, trips to Eagle Eyrie for Music Camp,
growing up in the church youth group and taking mission trips to Canada, Chicago, New York,
“getting to change people’s lives through music.”

All those activities from her childhood “shaped my faith.” She believes she may be the first one
to actually grow up in Vinton Baptist and then become a staff member.

Estienne says that about a year ago, she started to feel a nudge from God to reassess her career
and her life’s path. She was “so surprised” by God’s asking her to take a job in the church, and ignored “the tug” for several months, but after deep reflection and prayer, she asked God to open
the doors to “recalculate” her life. She felt ready to change direction.

After God “put it on my heart,” she understood how blessed she was to grow up with a faith
foundation, in a Christian home, in church, and at Vinton Baptist. The Lord “welcomed me with
open arms.”

She came to realize the part she could play in children’s lives, giving them experiences that they
would remember and reflect on throughout their lives. She became excited about her own
children becoming part of the church, teaching them about God, and the impact she could have in
faith formation in her own home and marriage as well as others.

That’s when she applied for the children’s ministry position at Vinton Baptist. She was
interviewed by the Minister to Children and Families search committee who was completely
supportive. She was called during the worship service on Sept, 28 and gave her testimony to the
congregation, who then voted to accept her.

Estienne says her husband has been completely supportive of their life changes since she told
him where God was leading her. She is no longer working full-time in the corporate world; her
children’s ministry position is part-time. Sacrifices have been necessary. But she has found the
job “to be a true blessing” for her and her family. Right now, she is just “soaking it in” and
spending prayer time “discerning what God has planned.”

Her responsibilities as Minister for Children and Families involve overseeing most everything to
do with children and their programs at Vinton Baptist. That includes the nursery, and children’s
classes and programs from kindergarten through fifth grade. She will organize Vacation Bible
School and weekly Sunday School classes. She is the liaison between the church and the highly
esteemed Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Virginia that is housed at VBC. She prepares and
delivers children’s sermons for worship services and oversees Children’s Church. She organizes
art and mission projects for children each month. She also oversees and executes the Trunk or
Treat activity each October.

Estienne is excited that next summer she will be involved with Passport Kids Camp for third
through fifth graders at Eagle Eyrie near Lynchburg. She also partners with her mother, Betty Jo
Overstreet, for the “Fun in the Son” program at Vinton Baptist which enables parents,
grandparents, and caregivers of small children to meet at the church for socializing of both
children and their adults twice a week.

“Fun in the Son” was established when Overstreet was babysitting her grandsons (Estienne’s
children) and looking for a place for them to interact with other youngsters. (The program is
open to the public on Monday and Thursday mornings.)

She sees as her biggest mission working with children and their families “to build God’s
kingdom and raise disciples.”

“I want our children to look back and always remember that their faith was formed at Vinton
Baptist,” Estienne says. “Just as I have throughout my childhood here at VBC, I want them to always remember the memories, friendships, and what it means to follow God. Whether children
grow older and join another church, or they stay in Vinton and attend Vinton Baptist, their faith
was formed here. That, they will always remember. I feel extremely grateful that I get to be part
of that.

She has a passion and great desire to provide families with resources for faith formation in the
home. She has already begun providing resources and planning for 2026. She and Senior Pastor
Travis Russell will be partnering on this ministry as well. He focused on this topic in his
doctorate program at Duke last year. She will also be scheduling more family events and
opportunities for relationships and connections to form.

“When Jodi told me that God was calling her to be the children’s minister at our home church, I
was very surprised that she would consider leaving her successful corporate job to seek out a
part-time position in the ministry,” said her mother, Betty Jo. “That surprise turned into
overwhelming support and pride at her willingness to follow God and His plan for her life. I
know it wasn’t an easy decision, but with God in the middle of it, great things will happen. I am
especially happy that she will be a major part of leading children and families in their walk of
faith. After all, a strong foundation of God in children’s lives almost always improves their adult
life, too. On a personal level, as a stay-at-home mom myself, I am very excited that she will be
able to spend more quality time at home with my precious young grandsons. I still treasure that
time that I had with her, and I just know she will make memories to treasure forever as well.”

Senior Pastor Travis Russell says of Estienne, “I couldn’t be more grateful for the addition of
Jodi to our ministry team. She brings a wonderful combination of authenticity, enthusiasm, and
deep spiritual passion to this role. Her love for God, commitment to His church, and desire to see
children and families discover the joy and fulfillment of a relationship with Christ are evident in
everything she does. Jodi brings such a warm, personable, and collaborative presence to our
staff. We are incredibly proud of her courageous ‘yes’ to God’s call on her life and are so excited
and thankful to serve alongside her at Vinton Baptist for the ongoing work of God’s Kingdom.”

Vinton Baptist Human Resources Committee Chairman Ken Williamson noted, “Jodi was very
impressive during her interview with her passion towards our children. She grew up in Vinton
Baptist Church along with her brother, who served as a youth pastor at another church. Jodi was
raised in a strong Christian home, and she spoke of watching her mother do devotions every
morning. She is very passionate about providing the children with a strong Christian foundation.

She has really hit the ground running, and we are more than pleased with her!”
Holly Graham, who chaired the search committee, said, “Jodi possesses a true love and passion
to build the foundation for our children to become lifelong followers of Christ. She feels called
to prepare our children and families to love God and be disciples of Christ now and in the
future.”

“Jodi’s call to children’s ministry and our church has been such a beautiful unfolding of God’s
call in her life meeting the needs of our church,” said Associate Pastor of Youth and Missions
Whitney Russell. “Jodi brings incredible compassion, care, empathy and excitement to our
children’s ministry. She has already done such a wonderful job connecting with our kids, parents, and church at large. As not only a staff member, but also a parent, I am so thankful for the way
Jodi sees and understands the importance of theological development for our children and
helping them to understand what an important place they have in our church and in God’s
kingdom. She does such a great job of making learning and missions engaging, fun and
meaningful. We are so grateful, thankful, and blessed that Jodi has answered the call to serve
alongside us at Vinton Baptist. Our children are so lucky to have her!”

(Estienne is also the daughter of the late Tommy Overstreet.)