It’s VBS season and as Christian parents my wife and I enjoy sending our kids to VBS during the summertime. Actually, we send them to several. We send them to the VBS at our home church, as well as a few other Christian Churches we trust in the area.
It’s not only great for their education, socialization and fellowship it’s also good to build unity in the body as they fellowship with children from other Christian fellowships. Plus, it’s just plain fun for them and they come back tired yet energized at the same time as they enjoy the fun and FULL days of activity! (It also feels like a full day even though they're typically only half a day!) :-) The kids love it!
VBS is a great outreach opportunity for churches to reach out to the kids that come to the VBS as well as to their families. This is especially true as they may or may not know the Lord yet. Parents send their children and the children come to VBS even when they and their families don’t regularly attend church and this is another reason why VBS programs are great.
It’s a wonderful opportunity to share God’s love in a fun, full of energy, non-threatening environment.
Over the past few years I’ve found it interesting that most of the small churches and some large churches don’t charge which is great but some of the larger churches do charge as much as $10 per child.
To charge for CD’s and T-Shirts is of course reasonable as long as the cost is as low as possible however, to charge a fee on top of these things seems a bit unwelcoming and may be out of reach for those who are on a fixed or low budget.
Don’t get me wrong by saying this because I don’t have an axe to grind and it’s definitely not to discount all of the hard work, the time and resources that go into putting on a quality VBS!
Rather, it’s that the Church body ought to do their part to give sacrificially and joyfully offering to God throughout the year so the children’s ministries have adequate budgets for this important work. The staff and volunteer workers will have what they need to fulfill their ministry and outreach!
Granted, there are so many ministry areas and needs in God’s local church ministries however, as an outreach as well as an important service to the community, churches should make VBS a summer priority and make it as free as possible so it’s available to all.
Praise God for all of the VBS programs that are being offered this summer! Praise God for all of the staff and numerous volunteer workers and hours put into each VBS!
As a parent as well as a minister who cares about the Body of Christ locally, Globally as well as those who don’t know The Lord yet, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well as how you’re church ministers through VBS.
Maybe something you share might help or ease the organization and planning of another church’s VBS next year? Wouldn’t it be great if what you shared made things easier, better, more effective for the Body of Christ?
~Blessings in Christ
No comments:
Post a Comment