It is summer! And the joys of summer are especially rich when children’s ministry and creativity merge together in July for our Vacation Bible School. God bless every one of the Saint Michael’s VBS Team Members who volunteered this year to bring a quality program. But I must confess, VBS at Saint Michael’s is predictable.
Our Vacation Bible School has followed the theme “Journey with the Saints” for over a decade. Last summer, we Journey(ed) with the Saints to Alaska and in 2022, our journey took us to South America and Tierra del Fuego. At our pandemic VBS in 2021 we journeyed to the mountains, including both biblical mountains and iconic mountains found around the world and. This year’s theme Voyages of Faith was a fun one, too, with a pilgrimage area focus of travels upon the water.
We begin at 5:30 p.m. with music. The children receive backpacks and passports and then we pilgrimage through the church campus. There are guest presenters. There are crafts. We eat dinner followed by 20-30 minutes of free time for children to run around in the gym. With the extra three-year-olds on the last evening, the energy level pushed the speed of a locomotive! “Sit down,” I say, “until you finish your popsicle!” Risk management is on this Director of Christian Education’s mind at the end of VBS evenings. Can you all please hold it together until your parents arrive?!! I gather all the cherubs into our library to look at the stars on the ceiling and close with prayer before the sharing of the prize box! The children quote this to be the best aspect of Vacation Bible School, as they each get to pick three toys/games/art supplies.
Although we follow the same format each year, what is not predictable is who will show up and what they will say! Personalities rule the evening. This year, Noah’s wife asked the question, “What happened to the animals who didn’t make it onto the ark?” she answered, “They became extinct!” Jonah told of his three nights holding onto the whale’s teeth so as not to be swallowed and digested. After “being bitten,” Saint Paul cautiously threw the stuffed snake into our plastic fire.
That was Friday night, week one. On Friday night, week two, I gave a thorough recap of the brave and courageous life of Patrick of Ireland, my patron saint, including his fight against slavery. Brendan the Navigator told of monks leaving his best cooking pot on the back of Jasconius, the great fish! Saint Columba’s history on Iona began with accessing the tune of bagpipes on an Alexa. It is these signature voices that teach by way of the oral tradition of our faith.
Rusty, our music teacher, took time to sit children in the shape of a boat before singing, “Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore”. Our diocesan United Thank Offering representative, Lynn, shared about the needs of “seafarers,” those unseen workers who travel on ships worldwide and UTO helps support. Some of the heroes/heroines of our faith sailed the open seas in boats and some of whom were even shipwrecked.
I began the teaching time with a short reflection about why human beings go out on ships. Using a script from the 2014 Great Courses Series History’s Greatest Voyages of Exploration that I translated into kid language, I explained that some sailors go as explorers in search of gold, spices, wealth, prestige, and/or land acquisition. There are those who are restless and curious and want to broaden their view beyond that of their own backyard. And there are those who feel called by God, going out by way of the water and boats on pilgrimage.
I shared Louisa May Alcott’s quote, “I am not afraid of the storms because I am learning to sail my ship” from Little Women. As I told the children, the lighthouse, the steering wheel, and the boat anchor each have their roles to play in the governance of life at sea. Loving all things nautical, I dangled blue fishnets from the parish hall light fixtures as decorations and set a big orange stuffed octopus from IKEA on top of the dry erase whiteboard.
On our first Friday night, when I promised a new Bible if our scripture verse, Hebrews 6:19, was memorized, I got three takers! A fifth, fourth, and second grader all won prizes for reciting, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” on our second evening. Their prize? Plastic golf clubs and golf balls for our happy pilgrims!
My pedometer topped out at 7 miles with confetti at the end of the evening. For me, Saturday was a peaceful day of rest!
Discover more from Grow Christians
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
