By Scott Willis
Synopsis: This article examines the challenges of planning and conducting VBS each year and how we can help each other do so.
I have fond memories of being a child and going to Vacation Bible School (VBS). I enjoyed being with friends every day and studying God’s word. Learning the stories in the Old and New Testaments was foundational for me and helped to develop the faith I possess today. I will also admit that singing the songs was one of my favorite parts and while that is not the focus of this article, we should recognize the lessons those songs teach our children. They, too, are valuable and important. When my own children came along and it was time for them to attend Bible classes, I wanted them to have the same experience with VBS that I did. So, I volunteered to take part in the planning and teaching in the annual Vacation Bible Schools at the congregation we attended. As it was in my childhood, we always focused the week on Bible Study. It was never about baby-sitting (for mom’s morning off) or entertaining the kids (don’t be fooled; we have fun!). The reason we were there was to teach the kids about God. I am proud of the fact that we have done that in every VBS in which I have been involved as an adult.
Each year brings the same challenge: “What are we going to teach”? The congregations I have attended would usually start by looking at the printed materials available on the market. That usually involved evaluating limited and often repeated options. There are few publishers who are creating new Vacation Bible School material options each year. There are a few, but not all of them are biblically sound and a few are not even biblically focused. No matter how complete or reliable the materials are, teachers I work with are always developing things to be used to teach the lessons—graphics, activities, challenge games and even songs. Frequently, the teachers came to planning meetings with ideas on topics of their own, frequently without published materials being available. Let me say here that we are blessed in the Lord’s church with many talented and creative people! Men and women who are professionally trained teachers, computer/graphics designers, and, of course, devoted Christian parents motivated to teach our children about God. Whether using published materials or developing materials on our own, I quickly learned that these teachers could put together lessons that effectively teach the biblical principles to our children. I am grateful to them all!
For a congregation to branch out and create material on their own is a significant challenge. You must select the topic and theme for the week, develop the individual lessons for each day, develop lesson materials for each of the age groups you are planning to teach. After that you need to develop those other things to support the lessons—graphics, activities and games that will engage the children while re-enforcing the learning concepts and objectives. To be done effectively, all this work must be done for each age group you are teaching, because their knowledge of God’s word and learning capacities vary. This is an arduous task, but I have seen it done successfully in several congregations. What makes it even more challenging is that once you are done, you have one set of lessons you can use once every five to ten years—maybe! Each year, the process starts all over again.
I have had the privilege of serving as an elder for a couple of churches. In that capacity, I recognize the important role VBS plays in a congregation’s teaching program. It is not only an opportunity to focus our children on God’s word during the summer break from school, but is also an opportunity to expose children and parents from the community as well. VBS opens doors to these children and parents that are not otherwise opened by our regular classes. This increases the importance of what and how we present during these events.
The activity I have outlined above is familiar to many of you. You go through this process every year as I do and therefore know how challenging it is. There are hundreds of congregations that do this each year. That means hundreds of great ideas and excellent materials being produced each year. Unfortunately, these ideas sit on a shelf and are only used once every five to ten years. I would like to ask that we change that by sharing our ideas with each other. If you are willing to share lessons, graphics, activities, games, songs, pictures, instructions, or any other material, we would like to work with you to make them available to other congregations. Truth Publications is willing to collect, organize, and distribute these lesson ideas to other congregations. If you are interested in contributing material that you, or the congregation you attend, have produced, please reach out to me.
