Vacation Bible School isn’t what you remember

c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Gone are the lazy summer mornings when vacation Bible school meant flannel board stories of the life of Jesus and simple snacks of Ritz crackers and orange juice. Vacation Bible school has had to change with the times, adjusting to the hectic pace of two-career families. And while […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Gone are the lazy summer mornings when vacation Bible school meant flannel board stories of the life of Jesus and simple snacks of Ritz crackers and orange juice.

Vacation Bible school has had to change with the times, adjusting to the hectic pace of two-career families.


And while kids still listen to stories about Jesus, they no longer sit still for cardboard cutouts on flannel board. They may still make plaster praying-hands paperweights, but they also make videos of Bible story skits.

These days, mothers are likely to be in the midst of a staff meeting from 9 a.m. to noon, and find it impossible to take the tots to morning classes, so many churches now offer night programs with classes for teens and adults.

“The goal has remained the same _ to give the children a week of Bible study and games in addition to their normal activities on Sunday and Wednesday,but we have incorporated some new things,” says Howell Easterling, director of childhood education at First Baptist Church in Mobile, Ala.

Practically every church _ Catholic, Protestant, rural, urban, suburban, small and large _ will offer some sort of weeklong course this summer that will combine entertainment, Bible study and refreshments. And most will offer their programs to children of any faith.

“It’s open to anybody,” says Sister Jeannine Funk of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Mobile. “Many times our parishioners tell their friends. It’s for anyone of any religion; it’s not all Catholic.”

Across denominations, vacation Bible school has been a tradition in the United States since the turn of the century, when, according to some historians, it was started by Mrs. Walker Aylett Hawes, a doctor’s wife from Charlottesville, Va.

Dr. Hawes had been receiving an unusually large number of injured children in his practice on New York City’s East Side. Mrs. Hawes decided the children needed a safe, wholesome activity to keep them off the dangerous streets, so she started a summer program for them in a former beer hall.


Other sources credit Mattie Miles, the wife of a Methodist minister, who formed a four-week course for children in Hopedale, Ill., in 1894.

By the 1920s it was a trend, and the Baptist Sunday School Board, which supplied most of the materials used in a number of denominations, counted 300 schools in 1926. By 1950, 20,000 schools used the Southern Baptist materials, and many more were developing their own. In 1996, Baptist vacation Bible schools alone totaled more than 28,000, with 3.2 million children and adults enrolled.

The hectic pace of modern family life has caused many churches to hold their vacation Bible school programs at night. With both parents working and children enrolled in full-day camps, it’s difficult to transport children to and from the traditional 9-to-noon program. The Baptist Sunday School Board found that in 1996, 56 percent of churches using their curriculum held programs at night.

A shortage of daytime volunteers also causes many churches to switch to night classes. The change was good for the Daphne (Ala.) United Methodist Church. Vacation Bible school director Marg Perelli now has plenty of adults to help out: “One of the reasons we went to evening is so we would have more adults available.”

Many of the volunteers used by the Daphne church are teens from the youth program. Teens seem to have an easy time connecting with younger children, Perelli says. “They’re a very important part. The children so look up to them. It’s a real bonding time for them. It’s a neat thing to watch.”

Perelli says Daphne United Methodist had about 85 children enrolled in this year’s program, which ran from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. this summer.


Classes no longer stay in the same room with the same teacher either, according to Perelli. Many modern curricula call for students to rotate among stations set up by various teachers. One teacher may set up a room for crafts, another may do the story-telling in another room, and another room may be equipped for snacks or games, organized by yet another teacher. Groups might move to the fellowship hall or choir room for music.

“It’s much better for the kids and the teachers. The kids have a really high energy level,” says First Baptist’s Easterling.

The change to a rotating format has resulted in better attendance, Perelli says.

“One year we used the one-room, one-group method, and it was not as well-attended.”Perelli said.”I don’t feel it covered the material as well, either.”

The “material” these days is more sophisticated, too. It’s often an off-the-shelf program purchased through a religious publishing company or through denominational suppliers. Those programs usually come with their own music, composed and recorded to coordinate with the theme of the program.

Perelli says vacation Bible school is one of the best ways a church can reach young people during the summer, when a child’s boredom can easily turn to mischief.”It’s such a wonderful open-door ministry for our community. It’s one of the most exciting weeks for me during the year.”

MJP END LONG

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