I am a Children’s Pastor. I don’t like Vacation Bible School (VBS). What a weird combination.

In the past I’ve always planned the extravagant, money wasting events by myself. Maybe I’d have a few in the church assist with various things; but mostly it fell to me to do EVERYTHING. As a result, I’ve always wished I could do something else with the money and do something that might be a little more effective at creating a positive environment for the kids. However, this year it was different. Being at a new church, around a new culture, has been extremely refreshing. I worked at a wonderful church before, but it was always a challenge to pull off big events and to get volunteers. My VBS experience this year was BIG. Everything was so stinking big! We had almost 400 kids last night at the finale, and well over 150 volunteers working along side the kids. For the finale we did a special Celebration service for the kids to show off all that they had done, and then fed over 800 people hot dogs and chips. (The best pork, chicken, and beef dogs money can buy!)

It’s the first VBS I’ve ever done where I didn’t feel like I needed a vacation afterwards. I had volunteers helping in every single area, and they took responsibilities that most wouldn’t want. I also had some wonderful staff members, ie Pastors, who pulled off major responsibilities without complaining or acting like they would rather be somewhere else.

I’m still not a huge fan of VBS. I wonder about it’s overall effectiveness; but here in Lubbock, TX I know that the community responds to a VBS event. Guess it’s time to start planning next year’s event!?!