Vacation Bible School – in need of a new name?

My church is starting to plan this summer’s installment of Vacation Bible School.

I didn’t grow up going to church, and I don’t remember seeing signs for VBSs in the Massachusetts town where I was raised. (Maybe it’s a Southern thing?) So about five years ago when a mom at the church we now attend near Washington, DC asked if I had signed up my two daughters for our VBS, I was dumbfounded.

Did I really want to put my kids through that? I thought. In summertime, no less?

Let’s dissect this; `vacation’ and `school’ in the same phrase? An oxymoron? I’d say so. Throw in the word ‘Bible’ and I had images of my children running from the church screaming, “Get me to the pool, NOW!”

I quickly collected myself and said, “Gee, no, I’ve already signed them up for camp that week.” I stopped myself from gloating that this camp didn’t have the word `school’ anywhere in its description.

This mom went on to explain that her kids had such a blast the past year at VBS that they couldn’t wait to go again.

Really, a blast? Ya sure?

Even though I didn’t send my kids to VBS that year, I couldn’t stop thinking about this woman’s comments. Maybe there was something to this VBS that I didn’t get.

The next year, I signed my kids up for just two days of VBS, figuring if they totally hated it the first day, they wouldn’t have to go back. After all, it was free, and we had been attending this church long enough to know many of the members, so the girls would be among friends.

I even volunteered, a little. A few weeks before the event started, I ironed decals on VBS t-shirts that the kids would wear on the last day. I was feeling pretty satisfied with myself.

The first day I dropped the kids off, my intent was to bolt. Here I had three hours of free daycare and eight hours of work to fill it with. But as I was walking out of the church, I heard songs being sung by nearly a hundred kids and a handful of adults and “youth” (as the teenagers at our church are called), who took time out of their busy lives to entertain and teach the little ones. I peeked back in the large room to see how my kids were doing – they were singing loud and clear, mimicking the hand gestures they were learning to go along with the songs. Big smiles on their faces. Okay, they’re happy, I thought, and I went to tackle my work.

When I picked them up later that day, I was bombarded with stories of the crafts they did, skits they saw, games they played, even snacks! Then the begging started: “Please can’t you stay next time Mommy? Please? Brooke’s mom stayed all day, and she had a lot of fun.” I gave the standard “but Mommy must work” response, and that was that.

When we went back for our second day of VBS that week, I planned on staying long enough to see the children sing songs and watch the youth perform their skits. My kids sat on my lap, completely enthralled. When it was time for activities, I asked the coordinator if I could help out with anything. “How about more ironing?” she asked. And so, instead of returning to my air-conditioned home office, I spent the morning pressing t-shirts in a hot church recreation room. And I loved it. I felt like I belonged.

My involvement in VBS has grown every year. I now take the week off from work so I can volunteer. Typically, I work the kitchen, preparing snacks for more than a hundred kids, with my own girls popping in from time to time to tell me how much fun they’re having.

What do you know? It really is a blast!

Cara Garretson is a writer who lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and is eagerly anticipating the VBS at Darnestown Presbyterian Church, July 13-17. You can read more of her maternal wisdom on her DC Suburban Mom blog.