Does Vacation Bible School really make a difference in a kid''s life?

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So, this year at my parish I am heading up vacation bible school (vbs). Until four months ago, actually, I had never even HEARD of vbs. Now, I know more than I EVER wanted to know. LOL!
Anyway, it’s a TON of work. Ridiculous. I’ve taken days off work to get things done, paid for babysitters to watch the kids so I could get stuff done, and that’s just ME. When you look at the work EVERYONE puts out collectively to put this on, it’s mind-blowing. All for a total of 15 hours of actual school time.
So, I ask you people - is this really worth it?
It builds community in the church,. That’s good. It’s certainly better that kids come to church and learn about God than sit in front of their TVs and learn God-knows-what. That’s good, too. But I can’t help but wonder, will any of this nonsense - will the pretzel snacks, and the crafts made out of paper tubes and skits where grown-ups have to act like idiots, will any of that really make any difference to a kid’s faith life?
I know it wouldn’t have for me, even as a kid.
I feel like, in the end, after the kids have been going to vbs for years, and then they help volunteer at it, and then they go off to college…and they’ll just become atheists like everyone else was and at that point, who really cares that you pretended you were a pirate in the basement of your church to learn that ‘God’s love is bigger than the ocean’.

I’ve been joking with the other volunteers that ‘I spent 20 hours building a ship out of foam. I spent another 5 hours making seagulls that say things like ‘Would you please donate a clear vinyl shower curtain to VBS?. I have spent time talking to parents who didn’t understand that it is REALLY REALLY important that you give me emergency contact information for your kids, even if you dont’ want to be bothered at work. I even set up a website, and learned a bit of HTML code! And VBS is STILL a week away and I have a TON of stuff to do. I have missed fun outings with my family, friends and co-workers, so I could do work for vacation Bible school. I’ve taken days off of work, hired babysitters, so I could do VBS stuff. If these kids go off to college, read ONE Nietzsche essay, and decide they’re atheists, I swear, I will find them, and I will beat them with my Holy Catholic Bible. Even the protestant ones I will beat with the Catholic Bible because it’s bigger, so it will hurt more.’ 😃

I’m joking…mostly. 😉 What I’m getting at of course, is really the title of this post, which is Does VBS make a difference in a person’s faith formation?
 
My wife has put hundreds of hours into VBS this year.

I think the big thing is that we are keeping the kids out of the protestant VBS programs, and we are giving the parents a program for the kids to participate in.

Does it affect their faith formation? I doubt it.
 
For the kids little kids? Exposes them to the Bible and to Jesus in a good way so I’d say it makes a difference. Some of them may remember this in the future, and I’d say if even one does it’s worth it.

For the volunteers? Definitely. Some of the teens at my Parish help out with it, and you’d be surprised the amount of spiritual and personal growth they get out of helping and being responsible. One teen I know certainly was impacted in a positive way (he is even considering applying for NET after high school).
 
Yes, because the children are exposed to the Bible stories in a positive way, they learn, they do crafts and they are served snacks.

Though the children may not grow up to be religious, they carry a good attitude towards
church in general because of these programs.

I’ve helped out at VBS and enjoyed it (for the Lutherans), and the children, when they leave, are all smiles, showing their parents what they made and laughing with each other.
 
I second what PaulinVA said - the main goal of VBS is to give kids and parents an alternative to Protestant VBS.

It’s fun and wholesome. I don’t think it does much for faith formation but it does create positive memories of Catholic Church related experiences that will last into later life. That’s a good thing.

Teen volunteers seem to get the most out of it. Also, DREs sometimes use the volunteer corp of VBS to recruite new catechists. 😉 Also very good things.
 
When I was a Protestant, VBS was one of the best things about the summer. VBS is great for Catholic Churches. I would caution the OP, however, in her “joking”. It contained a ton of “I’s” I have done this, I have sacrificed that, I I I. This is very demoralizing for volunteers, who also give of their time only to hear all of the I’s.

Finally… it shouldn’t be that hard. I once directed a VBS at a Protestant Church… as a high schooler. Tough? Yeah. Hard? Yeah. As hard as you described? Nope. You shouldn’t be spending so many hours that you are missing work, losing a lot of time with family, and spending 20 hours on one project.
 
I think it depends.

VBS is a Protestant term because all they have is the Bible, usually misinterpreted here and there. We should call our program CCD. But, if it’s like most CCD programs, the CCD stands for Color, Cut, and Draw. That’s pretty useless and doesn’t teach anyone anything useful. That’s why 75% of folks in this country who claim to be Catholic don’t even attend Sunday Mass regularly! They don’t even know the basics.

On the other hand, if you’re feeding them “meat” of the faith, and that’s not the only thing they get all year, then by all means, yes, it’s useful.

I always wonder why we feed these kids pablum, because we are so sure they can’t understand yet. But we buy them Wii games and other types of things that are terribly complicated and they do just fine with it. We’ve watered down the faith in most CCD classes in this country (and, sad to say, from most pulpits) as to be meaningless drivel. But then, that’s just my opinion. (And the opinion of many others who are far more learned in the faith than me.)

God bless! 🙂
 
bmadamsberry said:
When I was a Protestant, VBS was one of the best things about the summer. VBS is great for Catholic Churches. I would caution the OP, however, in her “joking”. It contained a ton of “I’s” I have done this, I have sacrificed that, I I I. This is very demoralizing for volunteers, who also give of their time only to hear all of the I’s.

Finally… it shouldn’t be that hard. I once directed a VBS at a Protestant Church… as a high schooler. Tough? Yeah. Hard? Yeah. As hard as you described? Nope. You shouldn’t be spending so many hours that you are missing work, losing a lot of time with family, and spending 20 hours on one project.
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Well, actually the other volunteers haven’t done anything yet, that’s the problem!!

You see, the last woman who headed this up literally did EVERYTHING. She enjoyed it, so she just took on everything. It consumed her for the entire year. She built the set herself, from beginning to end. She decorated every station, again, she asked for no assistance. And alot of the decoration she had were things she owned and kept in a spare garage on her property, so this year, we have literally NOTHIING to decorate with. (She passed away, and her son sold the homestead and all of its contents, including everything in the spare garage and, I’m guessing ANY records she kept on who the major donors were, who the volunteers were in years past, and who the participants were in years past. I had to figure all that out). She handled all of the registration for all the kids, contacted all the volunteers personally (we have about 250 kids come, and about 80 volunteers), ran all of the training sessions for the kids, AND ran a station. We actually have two VBS’s - one during the day and one evening session, to fit all the kids. She did everything for both. She bought all the supplies, solicited donations, did all of the advertising. Last year, when the theme was Crocodile Dock, she found a REAL AIRBOAT and brought it in, and found a guy who does animal shows and he brought a LIVE CROCODILE (among other swamp animals) to show the kids on the last day of the finale!!! And she wrote a script for him to say and it was something about how God is more powerful than even the jaws of this crocodile…or something.

So, when I ‘stepped into her shoes’ so to speak, and discovered she did EVERYTHING it was quite a shock. Fortunately, I think next year will be MUCH better. Alot of this labor is going to get divided. I have people offering to help now. Fortunately, the joking that I was doing happened at the pub across the street from the church after Saturday Mass with some good friends of mine who are volunteering, and we figured out how to parse out the work for next year. I think they know me well enough to know when I am joking. 🤷

So, yeah, you’re right, it shouldn’t take this long, and next year it won’t. And of course, since this is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, there was a learning curve for me. For example, I never set up a web page before. It took about 4 hours for me to figure all of that out. Next year, since I have the template now, it will be about 30 minutes. That sort of thing. And, next year, I will have more help, too, thankfully!!!

But, still, I just want to be sure that what I’m doing is making a difference. Because it’s a big sacrifice, so I just want to make sure I’m sacrificing my time for the RIGHT types of things, y’know what I mean?

I forgot to add…like I said I hadn’t even heard of VBS before this year, and when they asked me to do it, I thought ‘Sure, how much work could this be?’ and then, the first time I heard someone say ‘Last year, Diana had a real crocodile brought in! How are you going to top that?!?’ yeah, as soon as I heard that, I knew I was in trouble!!! LOL!🙂
 
I am the Asst DRE at a big parish in the South. One of the things under my purview is VBS. We have been doing VBS forever. VBS is much more common here in the South. We coordinate with three local United Methodist churches to share resources and materials. We are always the 1st church to run it. My biggest contribution was the ship and laminating the posters. We were also able to get bulk discounts because we all ordered together. I did purchase the Catholic version - but most of the materials were common.

The kids absolutely love it. They would be after me with pitch forks if we did not do it. Most of the kids come back as volunteers. In fact, we had more volunteers than little kids this year. Making church a more welcoming place should be our goal.

Even if three or four kids go off to college and keep the faith, it is worth it.
 
rwillenborg said:
Well, actually the other volunteers haven’t done anything yet, that’s the problem!!

You see, the last woman who headed this up literally did EVERYTHING. She enjoyed it, so she just took on everything. It consumed her for the entire year. She built the set herself, from beginning to end. She decorated every station, again, she asked for no assistance. And alot of the decoration she had were things she owned and kept in a spare garage on her property, so this year, we have literally NOTHIING to decorate with. (She passed away, and her son sold the homestead and all of its contents, including everything in the spare garage and, I’m guessing ANY records she kept on who the major donors were, who the volunteers were in years past, and who the participants were in years past. I had to figure all that out). She handled all of the registration for all the kids, contacted all the volunteers personally (we have about 250 kids come, and about 80 volunteers), ran all of the training sessions for the kids, AND ran a station. We actually have two VBS’s - one during the day and one evening session, to fit all the kids. She did everything for both. She bought all the supplies, solicited donations, did all of the advertising. Last year, when the theme was Crocodile Dock, she found a REAL AIRBOAT and brought it in, and found a guy who does animal shows and he brought a LIVE CROCODILE (among other swamp animals) to show the kids on the last day of the finale!!! And she wrote a script for him to say and it was something about how God is more powerful than even the jaws of this crocodile…or something.

So, when I ‘stepped into her shoes’ so to speak, and discovered she did EVERYTHING it was quite a shock. Fortunately, I think next year will be MUCH better. Alot of this labor is going to get divided. I have people offering to help now. Fortunately, the joking that I was doing happened at the pub across the street from the church after Saturday Mass with some good friends of mine who are volunteering, and we figured out how to parse out the work for next year. I think they know me well enough to know when I am joking. 🤷

So, yeah, you’re right, it shouldn’t take this long, and next year it won’t. And of course, since this is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, there was a learning curve for me. For example, I never set up a web page before. It took about 4 hours for me to figure all of that out. Next year, since I have the template now, it will be about 30 minutes. That sort of thing. And, next year, I will have more help, too, thankfully!!!

But, still, I just want to be sure that what I’m doing is making a difference. Because it’s a big sacrifice, so I just want to make sure I’m sacrificing my time for the RIGHT types of things, y’know what I mean?
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My mistake in regards to your “joke”. From your previous post, I thought the joke was done in front of normal volunteers, as opposed to in front of good friends (which changes the situation).

It is still beneficial. I didn’t learn much during VBS (it’s the same basic story told in new ways), but it gave a great fellowship with Christian children, and one can never hear about G-d’s love enough.
 
I’m really sorry this is so much trouble for you. It is good of you to do it, and keep in mind that all the children will be positively impacted by your VBS and it will probably be the only exposure to the Bible that at least a few will have all year.

I was raised Presbyterian and attended VBS every summer – as a student and later as a volunteer in the nursery. It was a very much anticipated event in our small rural community and one of which I have very fond memories. I don’t know that it “made a difference” in my own life since I regularly attended church and Sunday school and was taught about God at home, too, but I’m sure it did not hurt me in any way. I knew of several tag along children who came with other church members who wouldn’t go to church again all year, so for them, it was really the only organized Bible study they ever hard.

This year for the first time, I’m participating as an adult at my local parish’s VBS. I’m not having to do much, since I’m the volunteer in charge of crafts and the crafts are all little prepackaged kits that will be waiting for me. Not too much pressure for me, but I do see how stressful it must for the person in charge and her helper.

Something that really surprised me, though, is how complicated it all seems now. I don’t mean that negatively, but there is a huge difference from what I knew as a VBS! I attended VBS in the eighties and early nineties, and it was a very simple affair, and it was free to all. Maybe because of the times, our rural location, our economic situation. I don’t know. The ladies of the church came up with some Bible lessons and volunteered to be the teachers, a couple of ladies came up with little homemade craft ideas, one of the dads was in charge of games, a couple of the ladies made us a daily snack of peanut butter and crackers with juice, at the start and end of the morning we sang simple songs, and then on the last day, there was a little program where we sang those simple songs to our parents.

I miss those simpler days (I sound like my granny!), but I am looking forward to volunteering at VBS and hope my son will have as fond memories of VBS as I do.

Thanks for all the work you are doing!!
 
Ladyofthehouse said:
Something that really surprised me, though, is how complicated it all seems now. I don’t mean that negatively, but there is a huge difference from what I knew as a VBS! I attended VBS in the eighties and early nineties, and it was a very simple affair, and it was free to all. Maybe because of the times, our rural location, our economic situation. I don’t know. The ladies of the church came up with some Bible lessons and volunteered to be the teachers, a couple of ladies came up with little homemade craft ideas, one of the dads was in charge of games, a couple of the ladies made us a daily snack of peanut butter and crackers with juice, at the start and end of the morning we sang simple songs, and then on the last day, there was a little program where we sang those simple songs to our parents.

I miss those simpler days (I sound like my granny!), but I am looking forward to volunteering at VBS and hope my son will have as fond memories of VBS as I do.

Thanks for all the work you are doing!!
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I was talking to one of the ladies who’d been doing this for awhile and she said the EXACT same thing. She said it used to be all very simple and basic. They would read stories, play some games, so it’s not that you PERCEIVE it’s getting more complicated - It IS!!!
My guess is partly they want to make VBS a ‘no-brainer’ so to speak. I mean, with the new programs, you don’t have to think of new crafts, or pick Bible stories or whatever. It’s already laid out for you. But I suspect, too, it has alot to do with the fact that there is just SO much competition for kids’ time. I mean, you gotta somehow make the Bible as interesting as hockey camp, and trips to the beach, and all of that. I think the publishers who make this stuff are just trying to keep it all relevant. And make more money. 😛

This is just how I get sometimes. When something is hard, I begin to question if it’s even worth it, especially knowing how I was as a kid, but reading what everyone says here is very encouraging. and yes, even if all we do is leave a positive impression on these kids, then I will consider it a success. Still…I built that HUGE boat…😃
 
I think it is great that you have taken this on. We ended up canceling our VBS this year because we could not get enough volunteers. The few that we did get wanted to be assistants to the main teachers, but we could not get anyone to be the main teachers. I think that is a shame. If we will not take the time to teach our children the faith, then we are doing them a big disservice. I just hope they are being taught at home…

I’ve been involved in a fairly large VBS in the past (about 200 children). One of the great things about VBS is that the kids often bring friends. These friends may have never stepped inside a church before. Talk about evangelism! I think most people are affected more by your actions than your words. VBS is a great time to show, by service, that you love the children that come.
 
I think it is a very useful tool. VBS builds inroads into the community. I think one of the spots lacking in Catholic VBS that I knew as a Baptist was follow-up. VBS was only the first step in evangalization of families. For some kids, VBS is all they know of God growing up. As such, the results of these seeds planted are unkwown to all but God. However, it can’t help but be a good thing when as an adult one has positive memories of Church. Let us not understimate the Holy Spirit.

From a youth perspective, VBS is often the first step of giving back to others the education that one received from the Church. Besides, teenagers make perfectly fine styrofoam ships.
 
No, it doesn’t typically make a difference. A lot of things we do for our children don’t, actually (think of most any extra-curricular activity they sign up for, and a whole lot of “curriculum” as well – like science fairs for the unscientific and musical recitals for the unmusical). But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth every headache involved.
 
Like all things it depends on how its run. If you’re able to involve teenagers then yes I do think it makes a difference. Maybe not for the little kids but it gives the teenagers a sense of leadership and positive role in the parish during those lost years (confirmation till marriage).
For the little kids, while VBS inandof itself might not be earth moving for them, the more positive faith filled experiences they have the better, it all adds up…
 
On a side note …
I was rather dismayed when our parish started such a protestant activity.
Rather than a “Vacation Bible School” why not try a “Vacation Catechism School”? Studying the bible would certainly be a large part of this, but why not also teach Tradition so our children will become well-formed Catholics?

As to the OP’s question. I’d say delegate, delegate, delegate. And be clear as to how much you are willing to do alone. Be firm!
 
My nieces went to VBS and loved it. I don’t think they would have attended Catechism School. In fact, I don’t think that any Protestants would attend or volunteer.
 
I spent the first 47 years of my life as an evangelical Protestant.

My first experience at “church” was VBS–my mother was one of those moms who didn’t take little tiny tots to church. She waited until we were in school, and then she took us to VBS, not actual church. I was in 2nd grade when I first attended VBS. From then on, I attended church and Sunday school.

To say that I loved VBS is an understatement. I adored it. It was literally the highlight of my year. For the next 34 years, I never missed a year attending VBS (as a child), and helping with VBS (as a teenager) and eventually chairing VBS (as a grown up). I even did VBS the week before my wedding, and we had to have our rehearsal the week BEFORE our wedding because the VBS program was the night before our wedding.

It was in VBS that I first heard about Jesus not just from my mom, but from people who were skilled in the art of storytelling. I remember gaping at flannelgraphs (that was the “high-tech” technique of those days in the early 1960s!). Sometimes the grownups or teenagers would dress up like Bible characters, and I was in awe. And sometimes we saw a puppet show–I was in heaven watching all of this. These people made Jesus a real person for me. I loved Him and gladly asked Him to be my Savior. I realize that Catholics don’t do this, but all Catholics eventually make some kind of personal decision to internalize their faith and follow Jesus Christ. I did that after VBS that first year, and Jesus was FAITHFUL to me and eventually led me home to the Catholic Church. But it all started in VBS.

My very favorite stories were from the older ladies in the church who had been missionaries in Africa when they were young. We would gather on the “stage” in the church building (it wasn’t really a stage, it was just a raised area in the fellowship hall), and the missionaries would show us souvenirs and slides of their days in Africa, and I literally thought these ladies were movie stars or astronauts or beauty queens. They were beautiful to me.

I loved the teenaged helpers. I had no older brothers and sisters, and all my relatives were very old, since my dad was an only child. So these teens were my heroes. They would run with us and play and march us around and sometimes, they would take us down to the park next to our church. I still go to that park to walk and pray the Rosary. It’s still a precious place to me and I look at that old sycamore tree and remember sitting under it with pretty teenaged girls and wanting so much to grow up to be sweet and good and pretty like they were. And during the treat time, the teens would sit with us in the shade and talk with us–a lot of people don’t take the time to talk with children, but they did. My mom always talked with us, and so I was very comfortable talking with the teens. Many of those teenagers are now lawyers and doctors and even politicians in our city. They have no idea how much of an influence they were on my life.

And best of all was the music. VBS music isn’t like regular church music. It was deep and wide and lively and strong. We did songs with motions and actions, fun songs and very stately songs. The song leader would get us all to stand up and sing, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart” and then he would shout, “Where?” and we would shout back, “DOWN IN MY HEART!” and so on.

And we sang majestic hymns, soaring hymns like “Fairest Lord Jesus” and “How Great Thou Art” and my very favorite, “We’ve A Story To Tell to the Nations,” and they would show pictures on the screen of mountains and the face of Jesus and a sunrise.

I have never forgotten those songs. I can’t remember song lyrics well, but I remember those songs, including a beautiful song called, “God can do anything” to the lovely tune of “Will There Be Any Stars?”

And it was in VBS that I first became fascinated with the piano. The pianist, Donna, was gifted at playing for children. She would make the “house fall down” when we sang the song about the wise man and the foolish man. And she could make the keys dance and play during the lively songs, and imitate ocean waves and mighty winds during the hymns.

I remember very clearly saying to myself, “I want to be just like her someday.”

My father started me in piano lessons that year, and sure enough, when I grew up, I was just like her, playing for children at VBS. And I made the house fall down, just like she did. I still do. I love playing the piano in church. And Donna was the one who inspired me to learn.

(continued next post)
 
(continued from last post)

OP, THAT is the biggest impact that VBS has on children. They WILL find a friend, a hero, a role model, and possibly even a saint, and they WILL decide, deep in their hearts, that they want to be like that person someday.

That is why it is so important that many people volunteer for VBS, not just the good storytellers and creative people, but the crafts people, the P.E. instructors, the musicians, the priests and religious teachers, the teenagers, and the old ladies and gentlemen who are really too frail to do anything active, but are happy to sit and talk with the kids while they serve up the juice and cookies. EVERYONE has the potential to make a huge impact for the good on a child’s life. Even the janitor can become a hero to a small child!

VBS IS ONE OF THE MOST PRO-LIFE ACTIVITIES THAT CHRISTIANS CAN BE INVOLVED IN! When a Christian gets involved with VBS, they are saying to the world, "I love kids enough not only to hold a protest sign down at the abortion mill, but also to spend hours making a giant foam thing, or bringing a live crocodile, or putting on a Bible costume and a fake beard, or making three dozen cookies, or studying a Bible story, or filling up a craft box, or playing Duck Duck Goose, or… you name, it’s done at VBS.

VBS is a glorious time when adults devote themselves totally to giving children joyful, delightful, fun, loving experiences that they will remember forever.

Do you realize, can you appreciate how children LOVE these kinds of activities? Not one second of your time was wasted. Oh, sure, there are little cynics who’ve seen it all, and when you bring out your puppet or your pictures or your giant foam thing, they say in a too-wise voice, “Boring!” Ignore them, because most of the children are sitting wide-eyed and wondering and they’re soaking it all in and loving every minute of it.

What better way to spend time then serving little children!

Back when our kids were growing up, my husband was able to volunteer one year, and for a craft project, the older kids made model rockets under his direction. It took them all week, and on the last day, they had the option of launching their rockets. My husband warned them that some of the rockets would crash and burn. But I believe all of the kids opted to launch their rockets, and all of the rockets returned safely to earth.

A lot of the adults and some of the deeper kids got the symbolism–we create children and bring them up and then launch them into the world and hope and pray that they don’t crash and burn. And most don’t. Most fly straight and high.

Kids in that church talked about the model rocket experience for years, and admired my husband as a science genius.

VBS isn’t about the stories and Bible facts and Catechism study and all the “school” things. * It’s about role modeling.* This is straight out of the Bible. See Titus 2: 1-8.

At VBS, during the very jam-packed 15 hours of activity, SOMEONE will make an impression on each and every child, and those children will take memories of that person into their troubled teen years and on into college and into the young adult years, and eventually into middle age and the senior years. I STILL remember Donna and her gift at the keyboard with children’s music. There isn’t a day that goes by when Donna doesn’t influence my life after all these years.

So YES, YES, YES, VBS is worth it.
 
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