Not Your Mama's Bible School (Part 2)

Now, some 45 years later, Vacation Bible School comes in a box, canister or backpack.  It is a complete package that includes commercialized themes with slick props, commercially printed materials, videos projected onto a screen all utilizing the latest technology.

The one thing that hasn't changed one bit over the years is the enthusiasm.  The children arrive on registration night and you can see that they are looking around for a familiar face.  They squeal with delight and run to hug one another.  The first night of VBS the younger ones are sometimes weepy, holding on to mom or dad, not wanting to stay.  By the time the evening is over, they don't want to go home.  There is laughter, deafening screams of joy, there are new friends made, both young and old.  

 There are snappy new songs complete with steps and hand motions and there are still some old songs such as "I'll Fly Away" and "Up From the Grave He Arose" with a new beat that the kids can dance to.  There are catch phrases that the kid's learn quickly and scream as if they are trying to dislodge a lung.  Snacks are healthy and are planned to enhance the theme.  The registration form asks about food allergies and the snack committee makes sure the children don't get what they're allergic to.  The crafts seem  to be a little more sophisticated too, but seem to employ the use of a great many stickers rather than paints and in some instances they use craft kits.  They still learn bible stories, catch phrases  and verses.  The games are totally different from what we learned but I attribute that to the person in charge of the games.  He uses water balloons, tubs of water, home made props... the children just love the games. 

The thing I like most about vacation bible school as an adult is the feeling that no matter how messed up and terrible the world seems at times, I can still have hope for a better world.  These children are being taught  foundational lessons of ethics and morality.  They are learning just how much God loves us and how we should treat others with that same love and have concern for our fellow man. 


These beautiful, smart, enthusiastic, and wonderful children, if nurtured have the potential to make the world a kinder and more loving place.  The future is bright indeed. 

Not Your Mama's Bible School (part 1)

I grew up in the Baptist church and attended with several of my family members.  My early life there was one of feeling that I was loved and that I belonged.  One of my early memories is being held in my mother's arms on the back row of the church and if I got rowdy, she could easily slip out and take me into the nursery, just behind the back row.  There was a speaker and glass windows so that the workers could still hear the service and see what was going on.  I loved being held there and feeling the strength of my mother's alto voice as it passed through her and into me as I was held close against her chest.  My early church years have bittersweet memories for me since my mother is gone.

I can also remember attending vacation bible school there in the Baptist church. The theme, costumes, decorations, and lessons were all planned, made and put together by the church members.    We would march into assembly singing "Onward Christian Soldiers".  After singing a handful of well-known children's Christian songs,  we would break out into our various age groups where we would learn memory verses,  play games (London Bridge, Red Rover) and have snacks (Kool-Aid and peanut butter & crackers, and wafer cookies).  At VBS we also worked on crafts each night that were simple things, usually made from  popsicle sticks glued together into the shape of a cross and then painted and decorated.  

Sometimes there would be felt shapes that we would glue to fabric covered boards to make wall hangings with bible scenes or we would make jewelry  from beads and strings.  The grand finale of bible school was held during the Sunday night service following the week of VBS.  We would sing the songs we had learned and various children were selected to recite the memory verses while our proud parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents sat in the audience, fanning themselves with cardboard fans with wooden handles from the local funeral home. 

As I got older the crafts changed.  I was just thinking about this last night. One year we made wall hangings.  They were really cool - burlap was glued to a thin wooden board (about 9" x 12").  On the burlap was an outline of a rooster with several arched tail feathers. Each night we received a specific color of corn and would spend our craft time gluing that corn onto the rooster.  If you missed a night of bible school, your rooster would have a bald spot, so it was an incentive to attend every night.  Thinking back, I can't figure out what the rooster would have to do with bible school unless we were learning about Peter denying Christ "before the cock crows".

I remember coming across my rooster some years later.  It had been stored away in one of daddy's out buildings and mice had eaten away all of the corn and the outline of the rooster had faded.  Just the colored seed coating remained and retained its color, though not as vibrant as it was on those hot and humid summer nights when it was transformed into a crowing rooster.
This one is made of beans and legumes... in your mind, just substitute colored corn.  Lovely, huh?









Around this same time (the mid to late 1960s), some of the younger children spent their craft time gluing macaroni to wooden frames.  The leaders would then spray the completed product with metallic paint to make lovely decorated picture frames.



 I wonder if mice would eat spray painted macaroni.








There is more to come, but in the mean time, if you have any childhood memories of VBS, please share them as a comment.  I'd love to hear of some of the crafts you made and some of your special memories.