Hi everyone. I am brand new to this site and brand new to VBS in general. On January 1st, 2009 I will assume the position in our church that includes VBS. I am already looking at programs and trying to get my mind around it, but would love any tips or prayers.
While most of the publishers have announced their themes for 2009, many are now working on materials for 2010. If you could create the theme for your publisher, what would it be?
I'd probably choose a circus theme (they're fun to decorate and easy to generate excitement for in your kids) or a pirate-y kind of theme (good pirates, of course, a Swiss-family Robinson type of adventure)!
What would you do? Reply to this post with your ultimate themes!
Publishers are introducing their Vacation Bible School themes for 2009 along with improvements they've added to make their materials more effective for directors. We'll update this as more themes are announced, but here are some notables:
Gospel Light is adding youth and adult components based on their VBS 2009 content, as well as Bible verse posters with scriptures in KJV and NIV.
Cokesbury is injecting a high-energy sound into their VBS music in 2009 and offering free online registration and e-cards for recruiting leaders.
Learn more about these and other new themes at Vacation Bible School Nut's Sneak Peek 2009 page!
Wow. Just wow.
First off, let me say thanks to Tina. She doesn't know how much she's done for me by just being there to listen to my ramblings. Tina, you've helped me realize just how much I have done and you are keeping me straight as to what needs to be done next. Thank you!
This is my first year doing VBS and it's in some ways easier, some ways harder than I expected. However, I am excited to be doing this. I fell in love with the curriculum before I saw the actual books from the publisher. When I received it, I was even more impressed. This year has the potential to be BIG.
For those of you reading this that don't know what we are up to, we are doing Beach Party from Cokesbury. It's an exciting theme that uses surfing and other beachy metophors to symbolize the "Beach Be-attitudes." Check out www.cokesburyvbs.com/beachparty to get a sampling of the curriculum.
Our standard VBS has only been four days long, cutting one of the nights out so that Friday can be a cookout. However, I have disliked this in the past because some of the programs have been written to include this "lost day." This year, we are doing five days of VBS with a cookout on aturday. In good conscience, I could not cut one of these lessons. Not only are they fun and engaging, the bibilcal stories are great and important "Be-Attitudes" to address.
As I end this blog, I'm getting ready for a planning meeting on Saturday, May 24. Since we have new technology at our church, I am willing to utilize it, not only to show the program we will be doing, but what will be possible once VBS starts. This does mean a bit more work and organization on my part. And a lot of help from Preacher Milholland!
So, I challange you all to give me your prayers and, hopefully, time to support this endeavor. Till next time surfers, SURF'S UP! 
Augsburg Fortress isn't playing around! They're taking steps each year to improve their VBS offerings by adding information, training, and online tools to help churches organize and execute their Bible schools.
Rainforest Adventure 2008 offers the Web Tool Kit, with features:
*Customizable church home page
*Online registration for children and teachers
*Online planning calendar
*Scheduling tools
*Supply calculator
*Attendance tracker
I love to see publishers continually striving for excellence in their growing their VBS resources.
Are you using Rainforest Adventure this year? Let us know how these tools have worked for you!
While some churches have budget money set aside to finance all or part of their VBS, others depend on other sources of revenue. As the summer approaches, fundraising ideas are moving their way to center stage. We have some strong options at Vacation Bible School Nut to help you raise money. However, If you can avoid fundraisers by encouraging your church leadership to add a line item for VBS to the budget, do it.
To be completely transparent, I'm not a huge fan of fundraisers because it's easy to nickle-and-dime church members and neighbors to death by constantly sponsoring them. My son is in elementary school and scouts and it seems like we have fundraisers every month or so. People just get tired of continually, without mercy, being begged for money. I'm sure you, as leaders of children, know what I'm talking about!
Here are a couple of suggestions to overcome this challenge by providing value, both physically and spiritually, to the giver.
*Invite an adult Sunday school class or small group to adopt a grade-level or individual class in your Vacation Bible School. You're not asking them to buy something they may not use, but giving them the opportunity to personally help change children's lives. They might choose to contribute the funds for decorating, crafts, etc or purchase the supplies themselves and participate in the decorating or setup for VBS.
*The one fundraising item that we purchase every year is the Entertainment coupon book. Every time we go out to eat, we pull out the book and decide where we'll go based on the coupons we have left. The coupon book saves us exponentially more than what we pay for it. It's the most valuable fundraising item I've encountered.
For more ideas, check out our Fundraising resources page . Let me know your ideas. What are some fundraisers you've led or participated in that were successful?
Because many churches are traditionally 20-25 years behind the rest of society when it comes to using technology, I get excited when I see churches and Christian organizations leaping into the 21st century with new online tools.
LifeWay has offered its VBS Tools Online for the last few years, but has upgraded its offerings for 2008. VBS Tools Online provides directors and leaders easy tools to handle online and offline registration with customizable registration forms. Read more about VBS Tools Online .
Choosing a VBS curriculum may be a snap or a painstaking process for you. Many churches use the same publisher year after year, while others enjoy the variety of different approaches. This year, there are dozens of choices. If you're still undecided, read on.
Lynda Freeman with 'Round About the Church has evaluated the various themes for 2008 and selected her TOP 5. Find out who the winners are here. You'll also pick up some helpful hints on this year's material.
Check out our Curriculum Comparison Chart and VBS Publisher Report Card to prepare for 2008!
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!
Here's a popular listing from VBS Nut. This list isn't complete. If you have any to add, let me know!
15. Your spouse and children refer to VBS as "Mom or Dad's 6-month homeland mission trip"
14. 1/2 of your wardrobe has "VBS" imprinted on it. The other 1/2 has paint stains
13. Your best china is made of paper and shaped like a safari hat
12. You've won "Most Valuable Shopper" at the local dollar store 10 years straight
11. You can't walk through your church preschool department without at least one devoted 4-yr old attaching himself to your leg
10. People ask if the glitter in your hair is a new look
9. Your garage looks like a mini-warehouse for Oriental Trading inventory
8. Each spring-every prospective helper you try to recruit seemingly vanishes from the planet
7. You go to sleep at night humming the VBS theme song
6. You wake up the next morning humming the VBS theme song
5. You can sing "Jesus Loves Me" in four languages
4. You introduce yourself to people by your VBS messenger board user name
3. Regardless of rain, snow, or sleet, you won't rest until you discover the VBS themes...for the next three years
2. You're number 1 on the church janitor's "Most Wanted" list
1. You'll give your life to see children come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord!
January is an exciting time! For many churches, it's the time that veteran or newly-annointed VBS directors start to hunker down and gear up for what may be their churchs' largest event of the year. Each carefully checks her list for prospective VBS teachers and helpers and strategizes the most appealing approach to rope in these unsuspecting and helpless folks. Directors begin their quest for ideal decorations and props to help them turn their buildings into theme "wonderlands". Maps of their communities are laid out so they can best target the families they hope to invite and reach with their Vacation Bible Schools.
With so much activity, is it possible that some of us forget to promote our VBS to the most important audience of all? Many times, I found myself paying little attention to purposefully and passionately praying for my VBS. Sure, I would pray as the event edged closer and would remind my congregation to lift up the children we hoped would attend. But it wasn't the priority it deserved to be. God is more passionate for our VBS and what He wants to do through it than we could ever humanly be!
How do you pray for your VBS? As you plan for decorations, recruiting, crafts, worship, snacks and all of the other stuff, make your prayer plan just as, if not more important than the others. Recruit a group of prayer warriors at your church to pray daily. Ask each person in your congregation to pray for the child that will be seated during VBS right where they are seated now. Invite each adult Sunday school class to adopt a VBS class to pray for.
Pray that God will make His presence known each day of VBS - that it won't just be an expensive babysitting event.
Pray that God will bring children throughout the community - that all will feel welcomed and loved.
Pray that God will change the lives of children and families with the Gospel - that it won't be a divine opportunity wasted.
Pray that God will draw volunteers to serve - that all will use the gifts God has given them to minister.
Pray that God will glorify His name through your Vacation Bible School
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