Comments on: Is Vacation Bible School Relevant?

By: MInTheGap

MInTheGap — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:10:13 +0000

So far, it’s going well. Though I think that because we’ve done the “move from room to room” each of the past years the kids expected to move, and that’s made some of the children think that staying in the same place is boring. Or maybe it’s just their speaker!

In any case, I still think there’s a long way we can go to make it the best it can be.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:28:06 +0000

VBS curriculums certainly cost a bundle these days…I’m for Anna’s idea of a church coming up with their own VBS. We have puppets, which would add to the fun…but if I suggest it, I’ll have to plan it! Lol. But I’m not wrapping my head around that right now having just finished directing our church VBS program last week!

I appreciate VBS. I know we had quite a few children from other churches in addition to our own, and we also had 3 that desperately need Christian influence…who from all appearances seem to come from highly dysfunctional families. The poor things reeked of neglect and just ate up all the Bible stories and love we could give them.

I think having a summer Bible club that meets once a week during the summer would be beneficial. (of course, it would kind of be like AWANA, and summer is a break for the AWANA workers) But I wouldn’t throw VBS out yet, it sure is a great encourager, I’ve seen it in both my older girls. They just embrace the guidance and really seem to take it to heart.

God bless your own VBS experience this week!

By: Michelle Potter

Michelle Potter — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:43:33 +0000

I’m not really sure how much work went into getting everything ready since our family were guests rather than volunteers. (The church we attended then was much too small to host VBS — when we moved away they no longer had enough children even for Sunday School.) However, it seems to me that since many churches already have daycares or preschools, an all day VBS shouldn’t be too difficult. I know our current church runs a school, though I have been home-bound all this summer so I don’t know if or how they did VBS.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:42:08 +0000

My most memorable VBS was one that was not “canned” or a copyrighted package deal. We sang songs, memorized Scripture, made artwork, played outside. If we had memorized all of the verses by the end, we got an ice cream social! This was the dark ages of 20 years ago…ahem.

Yeah, that was spiritually lite and there were no unchurched children present, but it was a fun social time. So, the question I’d pose is,

“Is VBS a social time or a spiritual time? Or do they necessarily need to be separated?”

By: MInTheGap

MInTheGap — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:58:54 +0000

Wow, an all day VBS. That’s something I’ve never come across. It makes sense if you have the people, and it could certainly benefit the children and community– much more than just a few hours. How much work does your church do to prepare for something that big?

I could see a lot of potential to reach a lot of different church backgrounds– you could reach the churched and the unchurched and meet needs– wow. What a concept.

By: Michelle Potter

Michelle Potter — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:57:57 +0000

In my community VBS is often a way to reach unchurched children. Often VBS is free and lasts all day, so community parents who would otherwise be completely uninterested in church see it as a way to get free daycare. I think that’s fine since it reaches children who normally couldn’t be reached due to their parents disinterest.