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.
Three weeks, give or take. That's all that's left. So far we have no one signed up to be Lifeguards (group leaders), only one on crafts, one on story time, our Discovery Time people, and one person for re-K. My minister assures me that this is normal for these churches but it stresses me out!
On a good note, the stage is done for Assembly Time (well, not in the right place yet) and most of the sceneries are painted thanks to my co-organizer, Tina, and her boys. Oh, and Karen. Her skills make our attempts look rather juvenile. I wish everyone could see the sand castle on the beach that she did.
For now, I'm hanging in there but I know that things are going to start crunching down on me soon. I just hope this will all work out quickly and smoothly.
Till next time!
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! 
I've been a huge fan of Children's Ministry Magazine from Group Publishing for years. They fill it with very practical stuff to help you in whatever ministry capacity you're in. The monthly newsletter, Children's Ministry Professional Edition takes it up a few notches. It's designed as a resource that goes way beyond teaching you how to make "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cookies.
Answers to real questions like:
How do I handle conflict with another staff member?
What's the best way to start my search for a new church staff position?
I'm not great with finances, so how should I best handle my church budget?
You can check out the details here. If you're a current subscriber, let us know how the newsletter has done for you.
I know from experience that children's ministry is often seen as a "lower-level" staff position. But many church members don't understand the level of professionalism, in so many areas, that the position demands. If you're looking for advice, ideas, or help, try the newsletter. Group even has a free downloadable sample available.
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?
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!
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
I'm currently serving in two churches. I've been active innumerous ministriesat Lexington Baptist Church outside of Columbia, SC for the past seven years.Last summer, my wife and Ijoined the launch team of a church plant in Northeast Columbiacalled Crossmark Church. God is doing great things in both churches. It's an honor to be a part!
I asked Sandi Self, the children's minister at Lexington to write an entry for this site. Each week, she ministers to over 700 children. She has a passionate heart for reaching kids and families and views VBS as an important tool in that mission:
There are as many different ways to do Bible School as there are churches. All day, weekend, 4 days, over Easter or Christmas break, in Sunday School…regardless of the format, the main thing is to keep the MAIN ONE as the main thing.
Evangelical in purpose, VBS is a target for the Evil One. He would prefer that the elements (decorating, recruiting, snacks, etc) take the place of Jesus. But we are wise and in using that Divine Wisdom, we use decorations and snack and rec and music and rewards and other methods to point to THE REASON for Bible School.
Here' ;s The Great Balancing Act:
The Old Testament says there is a time and place for everything. Use logic and moderation in setting the tone in a VBS room. If the decorations overpower the Bible learning time, consider taking away some of it.
I heard a famous movie star say once that when she was ready to go out on the town she would look in the mirror for one last glance before getting in front of all those cameras. If there was one thing that stood out about her makeup, hair, or clothes and it was so “attention demanding” that the rest of her attire was unnoticed, she replaced it with a more subtle version.
May Jesus and His love be our theme, no matter the decorations/theme. If someone is held back from teaching by being overwhelmed by decorating, an idea is to select several who really “get into it”. Let them use $20 or so per classto decorate a corner or a theme wall with little things around the room and throughout the building tohighlight the theme. Let the teacher teach and decorators decorate. Remove the excuses and enable the gifted!
How many children attending your VBS is the definition of Success? Limits in VBS can be defined by the size of the worship center, size and number of classrooms, or amount of budget. Could it be that our true limits are our teacher resources? Never sacrifice safety/security and quality in classroom learning for more children. Ratios of children to workers should be followed to be sure we can teach God’s Word and that we don’t spend all of our timeshushing or disciplining children. Some feel one teacher for 30 children is adequate.
In a VBS setting, as with all church settings, please follow the “two-deep leadership” rule (Two teachers minimum at all times in all classes). This rule protects us and our children from all sorts of security and safety issues, but it also helps to have children receive some individual relationship-building inside the classroom. A thought I have had recently is this: God offers blessings in working with our children. Volunteers must step forward with a cheerful, receptive heart to receive those blessings. A sense of guilt or duty only breeds disgruntled volunteers and gives way to complaints and impatience.
As God provides the leadership, so grows our VBS. He provides the creative minds, sincere hearts and focused minds to teach the children. Perhaps the definition of success should be that the children were safe and loved.
Welcome to My VBS Space! You're invited to join the most amazing community designed specifically for Vacation Bible School directors and leaders. It's a free community that allows you to share videos, audio, photos, and all sorts of information with VBS leaders all over the world. You can create your own personal space right here and invite others to check it out...without worrying about them seeing questionable material like you'll find on other social web sites.
You can also author your own blog! Post messages or ideas every day, week, or month...whenever choose. You'll find helpful tips and articles posted regularly.
So, jump in to your new favorite community and share your ideas for Vacation Bible School 2008 and beyond. We're thrilled to have you!
Clint
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