Summer is a great time to talk about VBS because everyone is thinking about it or doing it some people are even going to many VBS. This is a great time for churches to make their church shine and a time for people to visit different churches. You can learn a lot about a church from their VBS and as a parent myself the biggest thing I learn during VBS is how important are children to this congregation. That is really important if you are considering visiting at other times or becoming a member. So I thought I would write a post about what to look for in a VBS. Below you will find the top 5 things to look for in a VBS program.
1. The most important thing to look for is a safe VBS. Ask what safety training the volunteers have gone through. Ask what their policies are. The most important safety policy I have seen in my church’s safe sanctuaries program and even in boyscouts is that no volunteers are ever alone with anyone under 18. There is always two unrelated volunteers and at least two kids, if that is completely impossible they are never behind closed doors where people can’t see everything going on. For more about safety check out my post on it here https://familyministering.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/children-and-youth-safety/.
2. Is the VBS Biblical? If the church is using a curriculum this is easy to figure out you can just look up the curriculum and see reviews online. If they are making their own I am sure they wouldn’t mind sharing information with you about the curriculum. Make sure the VBS is teaching things you agree with. As a liberal conservative I like to find a VBS that is very middle of the road and I find that more VBS curriculum does fit that category but I do think some programs miss out on Biblical teaching.
3. How many kids will they have? This is important if you prefer smaller churches or bigger churches. The number of kids they expect to attend will give you insight as to how big the church normally is.
4. What will be expected of you? I have heard of churches that ask each kid to bring something different to donate each day of VBS and it was very stressful for the family to get all the items. Some ask for money donations for missions. It is ok to ask during registration what will be expected.
5. Will your child have fun? You checked the safety of the church and made sure they had a policy and enough staff, you checked for Biblical teaching, the size of the groups, you even checked what you will have to do, now you evaluate the theme for fun. Is the way the Bible is presented in a way that your child can relate? Maybe your child loves the jungle there is usually themes for that. Last year one publisher used a cooking theme that went over well. There are many themes to choose from.
Happy picking! Hope your summer is awesome.
Family Ministering 