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10 tips for VBS at small membership churches
Helps for how smaller churches can get the most out of Vacation Bible School
Rhonda Vancleave, an editor in LifeWay’s childhood ministry publishing area, led a session on “Using Boomerang Express for Smaller Membership Churches” during the VBS Preview event Jan. 29-31 at LifeWay in Nashville, Tenn. Vancleave shared VBS tips she learned as a pastor’s wife in smaller churches. Conference participants also shared tips from their churches’ successes.
Here are some of their ideas:
1. Co-op with other small churches in your area. Share decorations and supplies. Remember to coordinate your VBS dates so there’s no overlap.
2. Take advantage of free VBS teacher/leader training from your local Baptist association. Training is one thing that sets LifeWay’s VBS apart. Last year LifeWay trained 700 state workers, who trained 8,000 associational workers, who went on to train 80,000 church workers.
3. Ask church members to buy or donate a specific item. One church did an “Angel Tree”-type request. They put notes on a tree, asking for items like a VBS banner, name tags, etc. The key to this success is to offer a variety of prices so everyone has the opportunity to donate. Let them know your needs. You never know what someone may have stored away in the attic that could be shared for free.
4. Ask local businesses to sponsor some part of your VBS in exchange for publicity. One church had a local dairy donate ice cream for all the children. Another church got coupons for a free kid’s meal.
5. Use co-directors so you can spread out the responsibility. Have a pre-planning director, a VBS week director and a follow-up director. Spread it around so no one has to be overwhelmed.
6. Look at what you can realistically do. If you have a small church and most of the people have 9 a.m.-5 p.m. jobs, plan an evening VBS when people can help. If you don’t have someone who can do the themed snacks every night, just do them one night as a special treat.
7. Involve all age groups from the church. Enlist the senior adult men to be parking lot and hall monitors. Enlist senior adult ladies as VBS prayer partners by providing them with the names of each of the teachers and students. Ask them to pray by name for everyone. You just may find them to be your most ardent supporters.
8. If you are in an area with year-round school, you may need to make adjustments for when you offer VBS. Have it at night or during spring or fall break. You could even spread it out over five Saturdays.
9. Lengthen the VBS day. If most of the parents in your church have jobs and can’t manage transportation for their children for a three-hour morning VBS, extend the day. Offer a light lunch, followed by sports, crafts, rest time, field trips or even a scavenger hunt. This can be a great time to work on the VBS musical, too.
10. Do the missions portion of VBS. Sometimes churches cut out the missions part if they have less than three hours. But you can use it during snack time, during a Wednesday night service or at another time. Don’t just leave it out. Vancleave said she knows of many churches that don’t do GAs, RAs or other missions groups anymore, so VBS might be the best opportunity to share missions information with the children.
For 2009, LifeWay offers two lines of Vacation Bible School curriculum. The main line is Boomerang Express: It All Comes Back to Jesus, set in the Australian Outback. The second line is Club VBS: Truth Trek, set at an archaeological dig. For more ideas and information on both lines, go to www.lifeway.com/vbs and check out LifeWay VBS on Facebook.
