One of the many things that small church youth pastors get dragged into is involvement in VBS. I’d like to know where VBS started… And I’d really like to meet the guy who invented the thing. Why? I don’t know, there are some questions I’d like to know the answers to.
- What was the original intention of VBS? evangelism? Discipleship? Torment? Felt need?
- Why stress a week of VBS and not a lifestyle of child evangelism?
- Why 5 days? Why not 3 days or 14 days?
- Should it look and feel like day camp? That’s the way it looks and feels to me. Even as a kid I didn’t really like it even though I went. I guess I always felt, as a kid, that it was just a week of babysitting.
- Did you ever think that VBS would become a sacred cow for most churches or did you intend for it to be a fad?
- Why is it that I can motivate kids to invite friends to church and even have them bring an offering during VBS and then NEVER again?
- How did you intend on connecting those visitors and new baby Christians to the body of Christ?
- Why does every church in town have to do it? Why can’t we all just do one massive VBS instead of the other churches kids coming to mine and visa versa?
Gosh, that sure looks like a rant… Doesn’t it? I don’t mean it to look like that… I just really want to know those things about VBS.
Perhaps the biggest thing that happens this next week is that people in my church have decided I hate VBS. This is kind of weird to me. Perhaps it is just a perception thing, but perhaps it’s been my inability to communicate how I’ve had to adapt here at Romeo.
When I came on board the mandate was to build Light Force into something that could/would become multi-staffed within a couple of years. Well, all of that came crumbling down when PM left in October 2003. So that very first VBS I was here… I saw my role differently than I do now. Then in summer 2004, they scheduled VBS the first week of golf practice. (I got double booked) So that further carried the perception that I don’t like VBS… Since I wasn’t here all the time.
This year is another story. I am involved with VBS. I’ve been doing all types of support stuff and will be a team cheerleader… But I still carry the perception that I don’t like VBS. The funny thing is that it isn’t true. Do I love VBS? Not really. I wish there could be a better way of doing the same thing, so I would just put myself in the category of “I think VBS is a phenomenon that is cool” but I wouldn’t say I either love or hate it.
I want VBS to become a catalyst for great children’s ministry @ Romeo. While Light Force has led the way and helped to be the shining star when things were down & out here… I am so excited to see these other areas spring to life… Even though it clearly means that Light Force has been put on the back-burner. The reality is that in order for Light Force to get back on track with it’s multi-staffed pace, we need 2 things to happen.
1. The church has to grow enough to support 5-6 FT staff people before I’ll be allotted a junior high or high school pastor.
2. The students in Light Force need to take the challenge to share their faith with their friends.
Until both of them happen, I will be involved with VBS in an ever-growing, ever-deepening commitment to making VBS better and more intentional. To grow to where I want to grow, I need to grow through this vehicle. Liking or disliking it has nothing to do with it. But for the record, I like VBS.
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