Most VBS directors work hard to make VBS an effective and life-changing event for everybody involved. But if you're not into that, here are some great tips that could help you make your VBS totally meaningless and a complete waste of time. Implementing one or two of these will certainly cause damage, but all eight might just make the perfect VBS storm!

Plan everything at the last minute
Planning a VBS is usually a huge undertaking. You can't afford to wait until a few weeks before the big event to start planning it. Reserve at least 4-6 months to put it together. If you only have a few weeks, downsize, reschedule, or change the format. Throwing it together looks bad and causes everyone tons of unnecessary stress. Anything of value is worth doing well.

Forget your purpose for VBS
What are you aiming at? Hopefully, you're looking to introduce children to the King. VBS is an excellent tool to help children start a relationship with Jesus. If your purpose isn't set and followed through with, you're running an expensive 2-3 hour day care for the week. Time is too valuable and passes too quickly to miss out on an opportunity to change lives for Christ.

Keep it a secret
Don't keep VBS to yourselves! You're doing all of this because you love kids and are passionate for them to know about God's love. Invite your neighbors, coworkers, and relatives. Use the media, pass out fliers, host a VBS promotional event, march in a parade...just invite people. It's tempting to just focus on "our kids" in our churches, but if there are children in your community, refusing to invite them is saying, "I don't care about you."

Be disorganized
If you've ever been to an event, which all of us have, that was completely disorganized, you didn't want to stick around. On top of that, you lost any respect for the people in charge. It takes time and fore thought to run an excellent VBS. Be sure to have the supplies you'll need. Diagram your traffic flow through the church as children rotate from one activity to the next. Make your check-in process a pleasant experience for parents, not a 45-minute disaster.

Avoid training your teachers
Great teachers are a treasure to be highly valued (Amen!). Invest in them by introducing them to the curriculum well in advance of VBS. Communicate your daily schedule and processes you've set to execute VBS like a well-oiled machine. Give them tips on creative Bible teaching, disciplining children, and safety issues. Throwing your teachers (especially new recruits) to the "sharks" and asking them to "wing it" is a BIG mistake and may be the end of a budding VBS teaching career!

Make it boring
Church is well-known for the "Boring" stereotype, so please don't reinforce it. Your church should be the most exciting place your kids experience. Remember, we're the ones with the greatest news in the world! Choose a cool theme that will spark the interest of your kids. You might reconsider if your theme is something like "Adventures in Leviticus". Use interactive learning in your teaching time that gets them out of their chairs. Make the Bible as fascinating as it really is.

Make visitors feel unwelcome
If God is bringing new children to your church, treat them as such. If you treat them as nuisances or outsiders, you'll lose them and have some "'splaining to do" with God! They've never been to your church, so don't expect them to know where the bathroom is or the insider language you use. Love on them and let them know how excited you are to have them at VBS. They might just keep coming back.

Don't follow up
After directing my first VBS, I messed up on this one. It was an exhausting week and I just wanted to put everything aside. After getting back in to the swing of my busy summer schedule, I started contacting my follow-ups...about 3 weeks after VBS. Because I waited too long, I showed these families that I really didn't care enough about them to strike while the iron was hot. If you're not following up with children and their families, you're not demonstrating the love and honor God's called you to show them.

Well, you've probably thought of a few more. If so, please post them. I pray you'll avoid every one of these and have your best Vacation Bible School ever!