My Annual VBS Rant
VBS is a wonderful time and, when done well, can be a great way to both encourage your own congregation and reach out to others. Rarely, if ever, will you have more guests from the community than during a well-done Vacation Bible School.
Personally, I enjoy teaching (or co-teaching) our adult class at Central during VBS. Because most people feel a little more relaxed during VBS, it seems that classes flow a little more naturally and people seem to appreciate the lessons.
So, again, I’m not against VBS.
However…
Each year, I have an issue with what I see in most places when I survey the landscape of VBS. And it has to do with this one week (or even one day) event versus the other 51 weeks out of the year.
Here it is: why do we go all out in things like decorations for something that lasts 4 or 5 days–or even 4 or 5 hours–and then, when the following Sunday morning rolls round, the rooms are back to barely decorated at all.
I have seen rooms decorated for VBS where, before setting it up for that event, a bulletin board was on the wall that had been up for over a year. I have seen rooms that had, maybe, one old map on the wall for the “regular attendees,” but then, for VBS, the room was transformed into a castle or a forest or a First Century marketplace.
Do you see why this is an issue?
Now, I am not saying that we have to go “all out” for every lesson every Sunday. I get that this is a special series of lessons done once each year.
However, do you remember the old saying, “what draws ’em keeps ’em”? If we go all out for VBS and, then, some of those families return the next Sunday, what do they see?
For lack of a better term, they see a bait and switch!
We have drawn them with decorations and exciting things and, now, they take their child into a stark classroom with, maybe, a poster from 1997 hanging on the wall. The same room, just a couple of days ago, was nearly magical due to the decorations and effort. Now? It’s closer to a warehouse than a classroom.
Elders, teachers, deacons, members…please think about this. Is it not possible that we need to think about our rooms a little more for the regular weeks? (Is it also not possible that we need to find a balance between the craziness of VBS and the nothingness of regular Bible classes?)
The Sunday after VBS, what will your precious children walk into? Maybe answering that question would help your Bible school program as much as any other.
Let’s do our very best…not just for one “big event,” but at all times as we seek to teach the Bible to future generations.
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn