This has been a unique year for all of us. With all of us guessing what should happen for gatherings we must plan our next steps. There was a time that we considered moving VBS to the end of summer. We looked at a series of times in the fall. Then we looked into planning our own virtual VBS. Some of the largest issues was we never knew what was next. Can we be together? What will it look like? How do we plan and budget? Well time is running out for the summer, but just before I cancelled it all, I received a call that said a group of my friends in the Missouri Baptist Convention was going to use their equipment and editors to make “VBS in a Box” available to all Missouri Baptist churches.
I sampled out the content to many of our own families. It is very much like VBS in the classroom, but the element of being with others cannot be replicated. That has been the only drawback. I decided to let the families decide if they want to try this virtual VBS. The gospel is well presented in Bible Study and even if only one hears, it is worth the time and effort. Due to great participation in the past, we wanted to offer you the opportunity to have Vacation Bible School even if we cannot do it together. I am making this available for you to do anytime. Please let us know how it goes. We would like to see pictures of your VBS to put together a musical slideshow at the end of summer, or when we return to on campus classes.
I envisioned doing this on your way to vacation, rest times, or scheduled mornings or evenings during the week. Make sure you do the Bible studies if nothing else.
The Ages: There are preschool and children’s options during the Bible story. All other content can be done by both. Preschool is 4 years to completed Kindergarten. Elementary is completed 1st to 6th grade.
The Cost: Free (If you want to purchase the craft kits or booklets as options, you will need to contact Lifeway for purchase) These additional options are not necessary for a great week. If you preview the craft you can get most of this at a store like Hobby Lobby. The books and craft kits come in packets of 10, so if you go that route, you might want to do it with a friend. You always have an option of skipping a breakout, but I will always suggest doing Bible Study.
This year’s Teachers: Missouri Baptist children’s ministers are the presenters of the material. These leaders go throughout Missouri each spring and teach churches how to use the curriculum. Most of the teachers are on staff at a local church. Lifeway, the curriculum company, train them to help us teach. They are now only a month away from learning how to teach next year’s VBS.
How to use: Each section of each day has its own video. I would choose the opening video first. Then the child can choose which “Day 1” video they want to start with. Then do the same with the remaining days. It can be done all on one very long day, or it can be done over 5 weeks (one ten-minute video a day). That is the great part of this concept.
Click HERE to register. After registering, you will be given an e-mail with a secure webpage from the Missouri Baptist Convention. Copy and paste the password in the box and you will have all the content for this adventure. Please bookmark the page or keep the e-mail so you can return to the content, should you want to do this over several sessions.
This concept was not our plan for this summer, but we are truly looking forward to being back together soon. I know that next year’s theme is going to be extremely exciting, and we want to invite you to it as well.
I hope you enjoy this option of Staycation Bible School and we hope to see you at church soon.
Jason Hoke
Children’s Pastor
FBC Wentzville