EmailWhat did you do for VBS this year? How did it turn out?
Leave a comment below and let us know.
- How did your attendance compare to previous years?
- How did your spending compare?
- Which publisher and VBS theme did you use?
Just let us know in the comment section below. I’ll use the results for my special VBS wrap up post later this summer. Plus, I’ll have a better idea which curriculum publishers most interest the readers here on the website.
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We develop our own theme every year. It is a fun way to use the talents of the people in our church (graphic artists, writers, etc) and to reach the kids in our community in a unique way.
This is my fourth year directing VBS. All four years I have enjoyed collecting ideas from many different places and putting together my own curiculum. I usually start with a Bible passage (for instance, this years sower and the seed passage) and pick a theme to match (fun on the farm) I enjoy finding crafts and games from a variety of sources (familyfun.com has some good ones) and piecing them together to get the point across. (making sure our hearts have good soil so God’s word can take root and grow!)
Our church does not do a traditional classroom bible school. We call our VBS — FAM JAM (short for family jamboree). Our theme was Night at the Museum — God’s Word is Alive. Each night a bible character came out of a large Bible. It was amazing! At least 60 souls were won to Christ in the course of 3 days. Praise God!
Night at the Museum – God’s Word is Alive!
This sounds like a great idea! Is there a
curriculum to get me started? Anyone
have ideas relating to this theme?
wow that does sound awesome!! is there a curriculum??
Hi!
We are a small church in Ahmedabad, India. Since we consist mostly of transferrable people, very few of the children stay more than a couple of years. the Sunday school is very popular with the young ones, but we need something more thought provoking for the teenagers. I myself am head of the Mothers union and help out with the sunday school when the regular teachers cant attend. The children like it so much they force their parents to attend church!! Any ideas to get parents involved and coming to church? Michael
We found a VBS program through Puppet Productions called Sock Hop. It was a blast from the past. Leather jackets, poodle skirts, malt shop; the works. The music was primarily for puppets, but we were able to find our own and adjust it. Everyone had a wonderful time. Our themes were – God is., God is Spirit, God is Everywhere, God is love and God is Forgiveness. This was a super way to introduce unchurched children to who God is.
We used Gospel Light for the 5th year. I am usually the Bible teacher, which I love. I think next year we will be developing our own and/or using Children Desiring God curriculum from John Piper’s church. While Gospel Light does a great job with the songs, crafts and overall theme, we consistently find the stories/Bible content rather weak. Many, many of their stories focus on “man” and what God can DO for us. Not a bad point but only one small part of the Bible. GOD is the hero of the Bible, not man. Each year we have to rewrite the Bible curriculum to focus more on God (and Jesus) VBS is not just for entertainment. We have a passion to give them a vision of who God is, why they need Jesus and give them a solid place to stand when difficulties come. The Bible is more than just a book to teach morals to children. We need to know who He is if we are to put our confidence in Him. :-)
Laurie,
I agree with your assessment of man focused vbs curriculum. I like the Holy Land themes put out by Group, but I end up rewriting a lot of it. This year is no exception. I am rewriting a whole day(day 2). I am considering Ken Ham’s VBS or John Piper’s VBS. This way I can focus on creating fun activities and not rewriting curriculum. Have you ever used any of these curricula? Please let me know.
Jason Lowe
jason.lowe@jasminelakeschurch.com
We reused Fiesta by Group. The kids and adults loved it a few years ago so we did it again. We had alot of kids then and now.
We broke away from traditional VBS this year. Our children are SO busy playing sports, some on more than one team or league, that we have sporadic attendance. Our parents are SO busy working and running these kids from game to game. We decided the last thing our kids needed was another activity to attend, and the last thing the parents needed was another obligation to either work or get them to and from.
We rented a church camp, and had our own weekend family camp, beginning on Friday night. We had games, activities, lessons, lots of free time for fishing and swimming and relaxing and exploring, finished up with worship on Sunday.
It was by FAR the best ministry we have ever done!!
Next year our church will be looking for a program that will teach our children their American heritage as a Christian nation.
We used the “Breaking Free Sports Camp” program for our VBS this year. For us it’s a good way to offer something that could appeal to unchurched kids. We tend to attract kids from other churches otherwise. Our goal recently has been to attract kids who don’t go to church. We had moderate success with that this year. We need to target the non-church crowd better last year and get our own people involved as well.
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