How to Organize Vacation Bible School
Vacation Bible School is a program organized by churches that teaches children religious and biblical principles. Vacation Bible School is often available to children whose families already attend the church, as well as non-members in the surrounding community. There are different ways you can organize Vacation Bible School, though finding a method that works for your church's resources is ideal. Proper organization of your church's Vacation Bible School will ensure a good experience for children, as well as church staff who lead it.
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Instructions
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Create a budget for your program. Vacation Bible School can cost the church more or less depending on the type of program and extras provided to children, such as food and craft supplies. Begin with budgeting money for rental space, craft supplies, food and payment for staff if necessary. If your church has significant financial resources to contribute to Vacation Bible School, you may budget added services such as local transportation to Vacation Bible School, full meals in lieu of light snacks, guest speakers or performers. Smaller church budgets may opt to stick to the essentials and pay for snack donations, volunteers and simpler crafts to minimize expenses.
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Determine a format for your Vacation Bible School. Some Vacation Bible Schools operate as a summer camp, keeping children for most of the day for five days a week. Others may only hold Vacation Bible School two to four days over the course of a weekend. You may also choose to hold weekly Vacation Bible School meetings over the course of a few weeks. Choosing a Vacation Bible School structure will largely depend on available resources at your church. Smaller churches may opt for a weekend or weekly structure to balance leadership responsibility amongst a smaller staff, for example. Also, consider the number of children you expect to attend Vacation Bible School. Larger amounts of children may find a week-long program stimulating, while small groups may enjoy a weekend or weekly program.
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Determine a purpose. Meet with church leadership and others involved in planning the program to determine the mission and purpose of the Vacation Bible School. While one mission may simply be to work with children and families who already attend the church, another may be to attract new members. Organizers may also want to incorporate lessons, such as dealing with peer pressure, while others may want to focus only on biblical passages. Determining the right purpose for your Vacation Bible School will add greater structure and organization to the program.
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Create a curriculum. Choose biblical passages on which you wish to base your curriculum. These biblical passages should be relevant to your chosen purpose and theme for Vacation Bible School. If you need ideas, consult past Vacation Bible School leaders or other churches for examples of their prior curriculum. As always, tailoring the curriculum to reflect your church's values will make your program unique.
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Outreach. Print fliers and distribute to families before, during or after each church service. Ask the pastor to incorporate information about Vacation Bible School in his announcements. If you are outreaching to the local community, post fliers in coffee shops, parks or other places frequented by community members.
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References
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