What is the main purpose of VBS?

[leonie]

Just curious what the consensus is.

 

[Della]

One option not on your list, and one that is not usually voiced, but true just the same, is to keep Catholic kids from attending Evangelical VBS in which they will be proselytized away from their Catholic beliefs.

 

[Lamb_Serenade]

For me, it’s an alternative, if you don’t have the money, to sending your kids to camps. It may be a bit of running around, but certainly far cheaper than some of the summer camps for kids. It’s also available (at least here) to little kids. Our church offers VBS to 3 year olds so it’s definitely a break for Mom too.

Overall though, I voted for *“To provide a fun, safe and positive Church experience” *because I wanted to vote for what I thought IS the most important thing VBS does. I certainly think all the answers are valid and good purposes, but bringing your kids up to appreciate rather than resent their faith is paramount to keeping them Catholic.

 

[jmjconder]

OK I am going to sound like the real cynic here. I voted “other.” I would like to have voted honestly vote for any of the other options ~ guess I could have pretended they may have been true. Perhaps they are for some. However, after many years of watching these in my parish being created as the production of the year and waiting for any linger of the lessons having sunk in….I have to say this…

I think in many cases they have become glorified babysitting services, fun and games with great arts and crafts that hang on the fridge for a few weeks, with a neat T-shirt that wears well through the summer and a catchy set of songs that the parish listens to that next Sunday after Holy Communion, with parents and parishioners smiling nicely, while some takes pictures and everyone claps for.

I seldom here much Catholic doctrine, I never see Mass in the schedule, traditional prayers or anything that would deter the non-Catholics from signing up.

That was then…this is now!

Totus Tuus of Wichita……an answer from God. Totus Tuus is an incredible group that offers an experience for your young people during the summer and places special emphasis on the importance and necessity of prayer, Eucharistic devotion, and Marian devotion, in addition to catechetical instruction and formation in the Catholic faith.

They have been an answer to my prayers for my parish and the children!

totustuusofwichita.org/index.php

 

[leonie]

I think it’s important to have lots of authentic faith formation in many different formats, so I think VBS is a very worthy thing to do.

I’ve noticed that most Protestant Churches try to use VBS programs to recruit unchurched families. Our parish program doesn’t use this approach because it has its program in the evening, and it charges a fee. Also, the kids aren’t encouraged to bring friends–because we don’t have any extra supplies or enough volunteers.

So, mostly it’s the parish school kids who come. About 7 or 8 homeschool families participate; and, there are some public school kids, but not many. I don’t know if the kids really learn anything, but they do seem to have fun.

We’re only in our second year of VBS after a decade long break. But, the two programs we have used have been very Catholic, but with little emphasis directly on Bible stories. In fact, the program this year only had one story from the Bible–the Annunciation.

That’s okay, but I think it’s a little misnamed. Should there be more Bible stories? I’m not sure.

 

[leonie]

One option not on your list, and one that is not usually voiced, but true just the same, is to keep Catholic kids from attending Evangelical VBS in which they will be proselytized away from their Catholic beliefs.

Good point. In fact, it’s a very important reason that I should have thought of!

 

[puzzleannie]

from my POV, I started it first as a way to recruit parents and other interested adults as catechists, hoping that by first making the small commitment for a week at VBS, an enjoyable experience could propel them into volunteering for a 6 month commitment. this was marginally successful, gaining one new volunteer each year who stayed on through CCD.

my second reason was to provide a service project for our parish youth in the summer, as a way to keep them active and forming community. this was very successfuly, especially with the 8th & 9th graders, too young for work and other summer activities, and their enthusiasm carried over to the CCD year both in their own classes and helping with the younger kids.

since our parish school is running a summer program this year, and the adult VBS coordinators from past years were not available this year, no VBS, and I will feel the lack in the jr high program and incoming HS classes, and will have to get that momentum some other way.

I also had in mind, in the beginning, provided something for home schooling families, since the h.s. support group that meets here asked for it, but none of those families has ever participated in our VBS.

as far as content and activities, we wanted to spend more time on actual bible stories than is always possible in CCD, when we have so much doctrinal content to cover. where in CCD class we spend 20-30 minutes on the Sunday gospel or the parable that relates to the doctrinal lesson, in VBS we can spend 3-4 hours exploring a bible story from different angles. through the actual proclamation, a video, a song, a drama or skit or puppet show (this is where my teen volunteers really shine) and various creative activities to reinforce some of the lessons and concepts. Believe me the crafts and songs are not just thrown in there, they have a reason, which is to help memorization or reflection on content of the bible story.

we are not fans of canned programs, although we did have them 2 years to get started.

we find a theme–kingdom parables, heroes of the bible, building up the Church, Holy Childhood of Jesus etc.
then we pick the bible story for each day
song, craft or game to illustrate the story
saint or biblical character who typifies the virtue or point of the story
food that relates, if possible (very creative here)
creative play–drama, skit whatever–to act out the story to help memory and reflection on message
relating story to child’s life today

very ambitious, does not always happen, but does give a framework

we deliberately try to make it NOT like school or CCD, but emphasis on fun, with some learning going on too. you would be surprised how much they do absorb.

 

[po18guy]

Just curious what the consensus is.

My GUESS is that its genesis was back in the day when education was accomplished in local churches, rather than government schools. Thus, religious education was received as part of normal instruction. America was a farming society not that long ago. VBS might have been a response to the break from school that was taken so that the children could help on family farms at harvest time. It was a way to keep them in contact with religious education while they were away from school.

Just a guess.

 

[Della]

Evangelical VBS predates Catholic VBS by many years. When parishes saw their Catholic children, and thus their families, drawn away from their faith into Evangelical churches, the parishes got wise and started their own VBS programs. That is the simple history of the thing. There are other good reasons to have it, no doubt, but that was the original need for it.

As someone who used to work with Evangelical VBS, I know this to be the case. The Evangelical VBS programs are geared to reach not just the unchurched, but those from mainline churches who they believe are not preaching the “true gospel” and so are in need of being led out of their churches into theirs–especially Catholics, who many Evangelical groups consider the worst of all (at the least) and not even Christian (at the worst). It’s a hard truth for some to accept, but it is true–from one who knows it true, sad to say.

 

[leonie]

Evangelical VBS predates Catholic VBS by many years. When parishes saw their Catholic children, and thus their families, drawn away from their faith into Evangelical churches, the parishes got wise and started their own VBS programs. That is the simple history of the thing. There are other good reasons to have it, no doubt, but that was the original need for it.

As someone who used to work with Evangelical VBS, I know this to be the case. The Evangelical VBS programs are geared to reach not just the unchurched, but those from mainline churches who they believe are not preaching the “true gospel” and so are in need of being led out of their churches into theirs–especially Catholics, who many Evangelical groups consider the worst of all (at the least) and not even Christian (at the worst). It’s a hard truth for some to accept, but it is true–from one who knows it true, sad to say.

Do you think our goal when putting on programs should be to provide an alternative?

I think that knowing the goal will impact on how you structure your program.

Do you think a day program versus an evening program would be more effective for the purpose of providing an alternative to Evangelical programs?

 

[Della]

Do you think our goal when putting on programs should be to provide an alternative?

I think that knowing the goal will impact on how you structure your program.

Do you think a day program versus an evening program would be more effective for the purpose of providing an alternative to Evangelical programs?

Oh yes. And it should be run at the same time as the local Evangelical VBS to be sure the kids aren’t tempted to attend the other. Remember what Jesus said: “Be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.”

People don’t seem to understand that we are in a battle for the souls of not only our children but of Catholic families. If we don’t give them a reason to remain Catholic, when the Evangelicals will do anything to draw them away from the Church, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

It might even be useful to field questions from the children about the faith. They’re bound to have learned a lot of wrong things from friends and even family. A solid program of prayer is needed, too. Prayers should be gone through and explained why we pray what we pray and how they can make those prayers their own.

VBS is a more relaxed atmosphere than Sunday School, so it needs to be more personal in approach, and more challenging, too. We aren’t trying to just teach them theology, we are inviting them to make the truths and practices of the Church their own. Yes?

 

[Em_in_FL]

I guess I have a more simplistic view of VBS than most…

I see the “fun camp” as the primary benefit… a great week to just have fun!
The exposure to faith in a fun & positive light is the secondary benefit.

Faith formation should be PRIMARILY done at home… so I really shouldn’t depend on my parish to catechize my kids fully. I don’t send my kids to VBS for that purpose.

But, having faith exposure in a FUN camp is a WONDERFUL thing…
My son certainly enjoyed it last week!

As a side note… I grew up going to VBS at the local Presbyterian Church (our Catholic parish only RECENTLY started VBS)… and there was a good chunk of Catholic kids there like me. I was young and very innocent, but never felt any sort of pull away from my own faith. Again, maybe that’s because of my main point of view, that the primary faith formation should happen at home (as it did when I was young!)… so the Presbyterian VBS didn’t harm that in any way…

 

[jmcrae]

It needs to be more fun and more welcoming than the Evangelical one down the street.

We can steal their ideas, too - for example, in Evangelical VBS they do memory verses by having a “mean” puppet character steal the words to the verse off the chart, one at a time. Each time, the children “trick” him by remembering what the word was, even though it’s gone. Eventually, even though all the words are gone, the children still can remember all the words, and they say “Ha-ha!!” to the “mean” puppet character, because even though he stole the words off the chart, they are now in the hearts of the children, where he can’t get at them.

This technique could work for simple Catholic prayers, too.

 

[Della]

I guess I have a more simplistic view of VBS than most…

I see the “fun camp” as the primary benefit… a great week to just have fun!
The exposure to faith in a fun & positive light is the secondary benefit.

Faith formation should be PRIMARILY done at home… so I really shouldn’t depend on my parish to catechize my kids fully. I don’t send my kids to VBS for that purpose.

But, having faith exposure in a FUN camp is a WONDERFUL thing…
My son certainly enjoyed it last week!

As a side note… I grew up going to VBS at the local Presbyterian Church (our Catholic parish only RECENTLY started VBS)… and there was a good chunk of Catholic kids there like me. I was young and very innocent, but never felt any sort of pull away from my own faith. Again, maybe that’s because of my main point of view, that the primary faith formation should happen at home (as it did when I was young!)… so the Presbyterian VBS didn’t harm that in any way…

Oh sure, VBS ought to be fun, but fun can be had anywhere. Amusement parks are better at providing fun than churches–anybody’s church.

And parents should be the primary source for faith formation, but not all families, especially these days, have enough of a handle on their faith to do that as well as they should. Such families are more easily drawn away from the Catholic Church to one that seems more exciting and that seems able to supply, ready-made, all the answers while being simpler to follow. Being a good Catholic means working at being a Catholic–something many are not willing to do, sad to say.

We have to get kids excited about being Catholic, and for all the right reasons. VBS is a good place to start, especially when dealing with kids and families that aren’t already solid in their faith.

 

[graceandglory]

One option not on your list, and one that is not usually voiced, but true just the same, is to keep Catholic kids from attending Evangelical VBS in which they will be proselytized away from their Catholic beliefs.

Good point, Della. As a former evangelical, I think PURPOSE might be what is missing in Catholic VBSs. Is it just another VBS? Evangelicals have a definite purpose for their VBSs. Everyone in the church knows the purpose: It’s to evangelize the unchurched and bring them in. Give the kids something positive, get the kids saved, and build relationships so that they want to come on Sundays.

As a Catholic convert parent, I for one, want my kids to remain Catholic, and to build relationships with other Catholic kids. I want them to have good memories growing up Catholic. It’s hard to compete though with the evangelical VBSs that have clowns, prizes of bikes for bringing the most friends, a rock band, multi-media presentations, and a bouncy house.

 

[Cat]

I love VBS. I loved it as a child and I love it as an adult. I agree with the poster who said it was fun. To me, it was a way that I as an adult can serve God’s precious children, surely one of the most humbling and gratifying tasks that the Lord can trust us with. Once my kids were grown, I liked VBS even better because in every child’s wide eyes, I saw my own daughters’ eyes when they were that small and I taught them Champion Song.

It’s been several years since I worked in a VBS. For many years, I was the Chair in our Christian and Missionary Alliance church.

And I also wrote the music, including a custom theme song and other songs. We started doing this because it was expensive to buy those little song books for 150 kids (and you have to buy them because of copyright laws) along with tapes and CDs. I told the other committee members, “We can do better than this. I’ll try to write it.”

And I did. And I don’t want to sound like a braggart, but kids came to our VBS specifically for the music. They never knew that the jolly chubby lady with the long blond hair playing the piano actually wrote the music that they were singing. (tee hee! It was fun for me to hear their comments as they were walking to their various activities. I remember once hearing a couple of 5th grade boys talking. One said, “Music time is next. I hope we sing that castle song again.” The other boys said, “Yeah, me too. It’s cool.”

We made tapes of all the songs. We set up the sound equipment in the church and the kids had to be quiet while the tape was started, and then start singing on cue. It was the ultimate “craft project”–their own beautiful voices (kids definition of beautiful"!) on a tape that they could keep forever.

A few years ago, my husband received an email from a man who asked if he was married to ____. He said yes, and then the man asked if ____ ever wrote VBS music. My husband said yes, and the man told him that he had recently lost his job and had been in despair. He was weary with worry and search for a new job. But then he walked by his teenagers’ bedroom. They were listening to an old tape, and when he asked them what it was, they said it was their old VBS tape from years ago. He listened to the song called Abraham’s Allstars and was encouraged in the Lord! (It’s a grand, sweeping song and the kids that I teach it to love it.)

My own two daughters never realized that I wrote their VBS music until they were teenagers. One day they came to me with the stack of tapes and said, “Mom, did you really WRITE these?!”

**My point is that I think the best VBS programs are home-grown, created by the people in the church specifically for their church. **It’s also practical–no child will look at their teacher and say, “I already heard this story and learned that song last week at the VBS at 1st Church!.”

My mother had a motto–it doesn’t take much to amaze a child. Sometimes I think that VBS committees go way overboard creating sets and decorations and all kinds of entertainment. If you have the money, time, and people, fine–it’s fun for everyone! But my rule is my mother’s motto–keep it simple and add lots of love, and you’ll have a great experience with children.

 

[leonie]

Now, the committee is saying that they want to double the fee!

This really bothers me because it makes the program elitist since not everyone will be able to afford it and, it penalizes bigger families.

Why do we encourage Catholics to have big families then charge them more for faith formation programs?

I don’t understand why our parish won’t underwrite VBS.

 

[Della]

Now, the committee is saying that they want to double the fee!

This really bothers me because it makes the program elitist since not everyone will be able to afford it and, it penalizes bigger families.

Why do we encourage Catholics to have big families then charge them more for faith formation programs?

I don’t understand why our parish won’t underwrite VBS.

If the parish won’t underwrite VBS, then have it at someone’s home and pool everyone’s resources for materials so that no one is paying more than they can afford. Just a thought.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Just curious what the consensus is.

VBS is actually originally a protestant program. Baptists have been doing it forever. There was in the early 30’s a summer religion class in many Catholic parishes. That vaporized for some reason. The US Bishops decided that the Scouting program was going to be the promoted youth program instead of developing their own camps like the protestants did. Today most Catholic parishes do VBS to compete with the protestants down the road…

 

[BennyBoy89]

One option not on your list, and one that is not usually voiced, but true just the same, is to keep Catholic kids from attending Evangelical VBS in which they will be proselytized away from their Catholic beliefs.

AMEN!!! Evangelicals are ruthless.