Serving Families in a VBS-Saturated, Volunteer-Fatigued Community

As the traditional school calendar nears its end and ushers in the much-needed summer break, churches are beginning to fill their calendars with events and activities to keep their families engaged and hopefully attract new ones. And when it comes to summertime family ministry, VBS is “king”.

I can not speak to other cultural contexts, but maybe you live in my region of the world (Southeastern US) and your church has done Vacation Bible School faithfully for the last 50 years or more. There’s a million things to do to get ready. Your church gets decked out from floor to ceiling in the year’s theme and decor. The big vinyl banner goes up on the roadside. You gently remind your Craft Rotation leader about the church’s glitter policy. (Every church with carpet should have a glitter policy.)

But as the years pass and the themes come and go, you begin to notice a few challenges. Half a dozen other nearby churches choose the same week for VBS as you. Some are doing the same theme. “No worries,” you think to yourself. “We/re not in competition. We just want families to connect to God and His church.” But that’s not all you notice.

You recruit your VBS volunteers and it seems to be a little harder to get new volunteers to say “yes,” and your seasoned vets say “yes” with a more of a spirit of duty than excitement and joy. 

Finally, when it’s all done and VBS season is over you sigh in sweet relief. The hard work is accomplished. (And VBS should be hard work. I once clocked over 50 miles walking one VBS and never left church.) But this year the sweet relief was not accompanied with satisfaction, and you can’t exactly put your finger on why.

But as you evaluate VBS in the weeks after, you notice that no new families have begun attending church from all your efforts. Then you hear from some of your best volunteers that they are taking a break from VBS next year.

On top of all that, you realize that all of the “new families” that attended VBS were just additions to the local ‘VBS Circuit.’ You know, the families that drop off their kids to a different VBS every week of summer. And who can blame them? WIth so many Vacation Bible Schools in the area it has now become a viable summer daycare option. (Bonus if you find one for the morning and one for the evening that week!)

VBS Saturation can be a problem for a community. VBS fatigue is a real issue for volunteers. VBS Attendee Retention can be a challenge, also. How do you tackle all three problems in one fell swoop?

I don’t know.

But my VBS Director, family life team, and I have developed an idea for this summer we are going to try. I’ll keep you posted and tell you if it works. 

We are deconstructing our Vacation Bible School.

Sound crazy? Maybe, but we’re trying something new. Here’s what that will look like for us:

1. There is no theme.

That’s right. There is no theme – not per se. We’ll still do a teaching time and we’ll definitely share the Gospel, but there’s no gimmick, no kitschy slogan and, more shockingly, NO REAL DECOR. This is traditionally one of the biggest budget items and time consumers with one of the lowest impacts on eternal value. Harsh but true. My church kids through the years who became believers during VBS can normally tell me it was at VBS, but not which year based on the theme. We’re not going to bow to the golden calf of “Theme.” It’s gone. 

2. There is no parent drop-off.

This is a tough one, and one that may impact attendance numbers the most, for good or bad. We want to impact families. We want to build relationships. So this is a family week, not a kids week. We are serving dinner each night and want the whole family there. Serving dinner is not a new thing for us, but we have typically only served the kids attending as well as volunteers. I know that a full meal is not typical of every church VBS. There are those who can’t due to budget or space and many others whose VBS is daytime. I’ve done VBS in all its forms, so I understand. I’m only sharing what my current church does in our context. I realize this may not work for you. 

The meal is only a part of what we’ll do, and we want to serve the entire family unit. We want to see moms sitting in the shade with other moms and church members having conversations. We want to see dads out there playing kickball with their kids. We want parents, grandparents, and caretakers to hear the gospel, too. And we don’t want that responsibility to rest on their young child to do it when they get home from VBS. It’s our responsibility. So parents are coming and staying. 

3. There are no rotations.

I know what you might be thinking. “Okay, no theme is crazy. But are you telling me there’s no craft time, no music time, no games? Is this even VBS? What are you even doing?”

Actually, this is what is getting our people excited. We are taking our rotations and giving them an entire night. That means a different former rotation is emphasized each night but with a twist. For us, it will look like this:

Sunday – Game Night

We will do dinner cookout style and do outdoor activities like kickball, yard games, sidewalk chalk, etc. I’ll give a family devotional each night, and our people will be having conversations and building relationships throughout the week.

Monday – Craft Night

We’ll have stations set up for various hands-on activities appropriate for various learning levels. Families can move from station to station. If there’s one they really love, they can hang out there a little longer; No next rotation to get to. If they get bored, they can move on to another activity. 

Tuesday – Family Movie Night

We are turning our fellowship hall into a movie theater. Families can bring items to make pallets on the floor and we’ll have chairs available for others. Movie concessions including fresh popcorn, candy and drinks will be served. Fast food drink trays make great snack-pack holders for this. And, of course, the movie choice will be appropriate and faith-based. I’ll tie it into the teaching we’ll do throughout the week.

Wednesday – Family Worship Night

On our final night, we head into the sanctuary for an incredible night of high energy and engaging worship. We’ll celebrate the Lord with our families in style.

5. The whole church stays together and serves together, 

Our volunteers who have been worn by their years of faithful service and discouraged by the lack of others stepping up and taking over their class, will no longer be on an island. They will be with their church family all evening. We are doing this as one body together. 

Need some help? Other volunteers are standing a few feet away. Call them over. You will no longer be trapped in the four walls of your room praying for this raucous class to be on its way to the next location. 

Plus, the best practices for interacting with kids of all types are no longer staying secret in one classroom. The church is seeing what works in real time. No one thing is on one person’s shoulders. Everyone is a support.

6. Our budget is bare bones.

This was by no means a motivator for us, but it may be for you. We value VBS and allocate a healthy portion of our annual budget to it every year. We believe it to still be one of the most effective means of connecting with the families in our community. But as you can imagine, doing what we’re doing this year means less of a budget drain. We are not purchasing massive decor items. (Don’t worry. I know my VBS Director. There will not be nothing.) We are not purchasing teaching or rotation materials for every leader. The majority of our budget is still going to food and activity supplies, but the things that became unnecessary with this format no longer concern us. 

Like I said, I don’t know if this will work. Families may opt out. Attendance may be low, because parents don’t want to stay. But I do know that my people are excited about this new format. VERY EXCITED. It feels fresh and it feels like we are listening to the concerns of our faithful volunteers. And they see we are not sacrificing the heart of VBS – seeing families come to know Jesus and grow in Him. 

Even if we do this again next year or go back to what we’ve done in the past, we are aware that both strategies or just that – strategies. As long as the message of the Gospel is not being altered, we are willing to do whatever it takes to reach families.

So when people ask, “Are you doing VBS this year?” I answer emphatically “Yes! Hope to see you there!”