A few years into doing Family VBS, I saw another decline mostly due to busyness. Families were going on vacation more, more kids were in summer schools or summer sports, and many other reasons. This time, I stepped back. I prayed, assessed, and played around with many ideas. I met with my team and we did the same thing. Prayed, assessed, played around with many ideas.
Then came The Red Book: The Life Blood of Children’s Ministry by Pastor Mark Harper. It’s a great book! I recommend it for those new in kidmin because Pastor Mark addresses just about every topic you can think of about kidmin. It’s also great for the veterans of kidmin – like me, because he shares so many great ideas and how to implement them. One of those great ideas is the 1-hour Family VBS.
It blew my mind. I mean…1 hour?!?! ONE. HOUR. How? Just. How.
Soon after his book came out, I went to the first ever Kidmin Nation Mega Con and Pastor Mark was there. I planned to…well, basically, stalk the halls until I found him and asked him about the 1-hour VBS. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that because he was part of a meet and greet hour and we had a great chat.
That chat was a God-sent answer. Pastor Mark said VBS was more like a rally or revival. There were no rotations like crafts or snacks, though they did provide very light snacks as people went home. He said they had some push back and lost some attendees, but they also gained attendees and the push back was something to endure until people caught the vision.
Now, it was my turn to take that idea and shape it to fit our church. I wrote “Changed by Christ” a one-hour Disney-themed Family VBS. No rotations. No snacks until the very end. Rally or revival kind of production. Our daily schedule went like this:
7:30-8:30 pm, Monday – Friday
15 minutes: High energy opening and songs (7:30-7:45)
5 minutes: Welcome and brief announcements (7:45-7:50)
10 minutes: Attendee participation Bible Story (7:50-8:00)
10 minutes: “I Am Changed” Daily Video (8:00-8:10)
10 minutes: Attendee participation Family Game (8:10-8:20)
5-10 minutes: Closing (8:20-8:30)
Optional: 15 minutes: Light Refreshments, hand out Family Bags*, fellowship to connect with new families and guests, take pictures, take lots of pictures
*The Family Bags had an easy craft or object lesson in it, to appease anyone who might miss the craft rotation station, and also to get families talking about what they learned in Family VBS.
Overall, it was a successful Family VBS! Attendance and participation was high. Our biggest surprise was the multi-generation attendees. We even had teens come, and are now planning on how to better reach them next time.
The biggest push back we had was that it was too short. Some suggested a 2-hour schedule next time, but we’re sticking to 1-hour. While there were no rotations, there was still a lot of work within that 1-hour. It was like a production with audience participation. To be on stage (for the volunteers) and to be watching the stage (for attendees) for longer than 1-hour would be harder to do. Also, the push back came in the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, nobody was complaining anymore.
If you’re considering a 1-hour traditional or Family VBS, go for it! Here are a few reasons why:
- You don’t need a lot of volunteers to do it. My team is small and the 1-hour schedule didn’t require a lot of roles. Also, we were always together as a team (instead of broken apart in rotation stations) so we can jump in to help each other when needed.
- It’s great for busy families. One hour everyday is very doable for many families, especially those with busy summer schedules.
- You use less of your ministry budget because you don’t need to buy crafts, snacks, and game materials. Our snacks were donated by church leaders (we asked for donations).
While there were a lot of things that went right, there were A TON of things that went WRONG. I’ll talk more about the wins and fails in the next post.
