Most congregations that sponsor Vacation Bible School know that it
is easier to attract more children than volunteers to run the program. Trying to recruit
enough volunteers can makes VBS the equivalent of Lutheran penance.
In the past 10 years Redeemer Lutheran Church, a congregation of 450 baptized, has
experienced a steady increase in VBS attendance from 76 children to 286 children in 1999.
Approximately 30 of the 286 children are members of Redeemer.
To meet the increased demand for space this year, the congregation rented 5 tents, 20
feet by 40 feet with side walls and a divider in the middle, to create 10 temporary
classrooms in addition to 9 classrooms, 12 feet by 20 feet each, in its education
building. The cost of the tents for one week was $1,400.00, a lot cheaper than a new
building.
Redeemer offers no prizes or rewards to children if they bring their friends. This
practice usually results in discipline problems from children who don’t really want
to attend, and then the volunteer staff quits.
This year Redeemer augmented Concordia Publishing House’s excellent Jungle Journey
theme by teaching the children the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and few
traditional songs.
Redeemer VBS operates one week from 8:50 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The
congregation is located in St. Clair Shores, a shrinking older suburb of Detroit. In 1970
there were 90,000 residents, in 1990 there were 70,000 residents, and in 1999 there are an
estimated 64,000 residents. How can Redeemer’s Vacation Bible School grow while the
city is shrinking?
First, it grows by the grace of God. The logistics of having 120 volunteers meet and
enroll 286 children in 30 minutes and continue for 5 uneventful days takes a miracle.
Second, as the public acceptance of non-denominationalism increases, members of every
denomination are more likely to send their children to a Lutheran Vacation Bible School.
They think we all believe in the same God while Redeemer defines what it believes in
Luther's Small Catechism.
Third, as more mothers work they view Vacation Bible School as free baby-sitting.
Redeemer also times its Vacation Bible School to draw the optimum number of children.
By the second week of August children are more likely to attend Vacation Bible School than
the week or two after school lets out in June. Also, children are more likely to attend in
the morning than the afternoon or evening when they decide to go to the movies or watch
TV.
The greatest problem is that when children are most available, volunteer staff are not.
Recruiting adults to volunteer for VBS is an excellent stewardship program. Many would
rather increase their giving than become volunteers. Sermons throughout the year regularly
focus on the need and responsibility of the members to teach children the Word of God.
The best staff recruiter for Vacation Bible School may be the pastor. An effective VBS
also becomes an excellent way to recruit for the Preschool, Kindergarten, and Sunday
School, which in turn become effective ways to recruit for VBS. Vigorous mailing campaigns
to the 286 children’s parents are an excellent way to recruit adults for the fall
adult instruction class and every other program in the congregation. By the grace of God,
Redeemer must attract 40 to 50 new members a year to maintain a membership of 450
baptized.
Redeemer must recruit at least 19 teachers. There must also be 19 teacher’s aids,
and 19 more people to help with crafts, and 19 more to help with recreation, and 19 more
engineers to help with setting up, and 19 more to help with refreshments in the kitchen,
and another 10 or so for baby sitting. Not everyone can stay for 5 days. There must be
another 20 or 30 volunteers for just 1, 2, or 3 days. There must also be a 20% surplus of
volunteers to fill in for the no-shows.
Redeemer has children hand deliver VBS invitation flyers to 4,000 homes at 4 cents a
piece. They spend another $250.00 on advertising in the local paper, they put up a large
sign in front of their church, place posters in neighborhood stores, and they send
mailings to the people who have attended for the previous three years.
Nearly half of the 120 volunteers for Redeemer’s VBS are Catholic. There are also
some Methodists, Presbyterians, or Baptists, and the rest have no church affiliation.
Lutherans teach the lesson unless the teacher gets sick that day and then a Catholic fills
in. The Catholics are more interested in Christian education, they respect the Scriptures,
and they agree with infant Baptism. Redeemer draws 30 to 40 infant baptisms a year from
VBS, Preschool, and Kindergarten. Its largest draw for adult baptisms is the requirement
that witnesses must also be baptized.
Approximately 70 % of the 286 children are Catholic, some are Baptist, Methodist, and
Presbyterian, or have no church affiliation. About 10% belong to Redeemer. In reality
Redeemer is actually recruiting non-members to teach non-members about Jesus with CPH
materials.
Just 20 years ago the Catholics thought it was a sin to walk into a Lutheran Church,
and now they think of us as a useful but temporary extension that will someday return to
Catholicism. They thought Redeemer's emphasis on the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer was
good training for the rosary.
The staff requirements far exceed Redeemer’s available membership at 8:00 a.m. on
Monday morning. Members are asked to bring their friends and relatives to help them.
Parents of the Preschool and Kindergarten are asked to help, as well as parents from the
previous Vacation Bible Schools. In a last effort of desperation, the pastor stands
outside in the parking lot recruiting all the parents he can find on the day VBS opens.
Each teacher tells the volunteers assigned to them what to do.
The cooperation and eagerness to serve on the part of Redeemer’s volunteers can
only be credited to the love of God in the hearts of these people. Teaching a child about
Jesus Christ is a little bit more important than just about anything an adult can do in
the church.
The local Kiwanis Club was asked to help support VBS in St. Clair Shores. They gave
$100.00 to each congregation in the city with Vacation Bible School, fifteen congregations
in all. Vacation Bible School is the most cross-denominational and publicly approved
program a congregation can offer. The community regards VBS as their own program as much
as the individual congregation’s program. They think "it's a good thing for the
children" who need to hear more about God.
Vacation Bible School is where Missouri excels. No one publishes a better program than
CPH. No Protestant church body is better equipped to teach children than the LCMS. For all
the useless Church Growth Movement programs, nothing is more effective and has a higher
public approval rating than VBS. Let’s stop wasting our time in Leadership Training
and teach more children about Jesus Christ.
One LCMS District Office after another encourages congregations to get rid of their
hymn books and liturgy and go contemporary but the only place they can show any growth is
on the edge of cities where people are moving. The Michigan District is searching for core
values and Texas promotes Willow Creek while the LCMS is destined to shrink. The COP
doesn’t have a clue about what to do with 90% of the congregations.
Below are sample documents and promotional
materials from our 1999 Vacation Bible School. You're welcome to copy and use them
for your own VBS program.
VBS Revised Schedule
Planning Meeting, What's New, & Volunteer Request
Important Instructions for VBS Parents & Staff
VBS Volunteer List (synopsis)
VBS News (issued for each day of VBS)
Monday, August 9, 1999
Tuesday, August 10, 1999
Wednesday, August 11, 1999
Thursday, August 12, 1999
Friday, August 13, 1999