It’s that time of year. Congregations are planning out the year’s work and arranging a calendar of events. Someone is sure to bring up the topic of Vacation Bible School. That’s a good thing because Vacation Bible School can be a very effective method of getting non-Christians to come to the building. Some in the community will attend and/or send their kids to VBS when they have no intention of ever being a member of “that church.” Members often appreciate the change of pace for VBS may allow them to fellowship in ways that regular services don’t offer. Congregations who mainly study textual Bible class lessons enjoy the opportunity to focus on a topical study instead. And members often benefit from working together beforehand to prepare things for the week. Yes, VBS can be a very good thing for a congregation of the Lord’s church to do!
The idea of Vacation Bible School began in the 1800s with a denomination. As we often do, the Lord’s church took hold of their idea and began having VBS, too. Here we are more than 150 years later…and many are still following the denominations. Instead of themes and lessons that focus on God’s Word, we choose or develop material that focuses on some secular idea. Below is a list of themes from the last few years that showed up in an Internet search.
Rev it Up: Full Throttle for God-a NASCAR theme
Island Odyssey
Willy Wonka
Big Jungle Adventure
Rodeo Roundup for Jesus
Can you tell which were conducted by denominations and which by the churches of Christ? Neither could I (without reading the rest of the site). While there may be nothing inherently wrong with NASCAR, rodeos, or jungles, why are we focusing our children’s attention on something other than a Bible theme? It is as though we are telling them that we understand they won’t have any interest in what God provided so we’ll package “that” in something they will like!
Anyone who has seen our teacher’s workshop knows that I believe in visual aids and in presenting Bible lessons in an attractive and enjoyable way. But we need to understand that when our Vacation Bible Schools exhibit nothing distinctive from the religious world at large, we have betrayed our Lord. He commands us to “come out from among them and be ye separate.”
A few years ago, I met a four-year-old girl named Emily. Her great-grandmother had spent the summer taking her from one denominational VBS to another; who was conducting it did not matter. Then she came to ours. Each night, she came out of class so excited! She asked me if she would get to come back the next night and each night I said that indeed she would! Until the last night, of course. When I told her that this was the last night, her face fell. She looked up at me and said, “But I LIKE coming here. All those other places all we did was crafts. Here we learn something!”
Would Emily feel that way about your VBS? Do your 2012 VBS plans look any different from the denominations in town? It’s time to take a hard look at the direction VBS is taking in our congregations. It’s time to remember the “B” in VBS.
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