VBS: A Courageous Whole Church Calling

In Matthew, we get this picture of Jesus:

“He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

It’s no secret that St Luke’s has been blessed to welcome lots of children. There are many Sundays when the number of children and youth matches the number of adults in our pews. Yet, it had been 50 years since the last Vacation Bible School took place on our campus. For many years we were the grateful recipients of Christ Church Coronado’s generosity and partnership in their Camp Create, and before that a partnership with St. Paul’s Cathedral for Camp Spirit, both beloved traditions of diocesan “family life” among our children and youth. This year, though, we had a different Holy Spirit nudge- it was time to bless our kids, our neighbors, and our diocese with a St Luke’s VBS at home.

The initial “why” became clear quickly. VBS can be an effective tool for connecting children and families to God and the church, plus the community we serve benefits immensely from summer childcare support.

The “how” was a bit terrifying. We share our cozy campus with two other churches, Refugee Net and their weekly food distribution, an incoming Montessori preschool, AA meetings, multiple independent chefs, and now a giant affordable housing construction project. Transportation is a challenge–half our children and teens need rides to participate. Budget limitations keep St. Luke’s entire, already busy, staff at part-time hours. There was also very little money for VBS. 

Thanks in no small part to the cheerleading of Diocesan CYF Director Leighton Jones and Diocesan Formation Director Charlette Preslar, along with the adventurous leadership of our pastors and vestry, we took the leap anyway. We used the diocesan provided (free!) VBS curriculum, this year called PATH created by Charlette Preslar, as a base for our week. It was a practical and helpful tool, which included everything from monthly/weekly/daily timelines and step-by-step art project directions to graphics, daily verses, games, and even a prepared t-shirt print company. Having a solid logistical and thematic base in PATH made it much easier to build what we needed for our context. Which for us involved accommodations for preschoolers, a chapel time, Godly Play stories, and some integration with Refugee Net. 

Our whole church staff took this VBS calling seriously. Fr Colin led full days of four square and gaga ball, Mtr Laurel told hours of Godly Play stories. Amani Ago ran an elaborate ground control operation with pick-up vans, driven by the Rev. Isaiah Dau, Ted Larive, and Paul Reams. Jon Paramore led groups of children through a service project with Refugee Net, hosted by Katherine Bom and Nadia Agory. Sarah Hankins did a literal song and dance to help the kids create skits. Christiana Rice pulled together her talented family, plus five teens in our youth group, to create a worship band. Fargin Neim went on more than a handful of Costco runs. Even our accountant, Michael Mawien, jumped in and handed out hot dogs and pizza to hungry kids. 

There was also the generous congregational and community support, which ranged from creating art to registering campers and from serving lunch to reading picture books to sun-weary kids. We wore our matching shirts, and my heart overflowed with all the collaboration–the body of Christ in action. Working together made this effort not only possible and sustainable, but honestly fun. 

Then there were the teens. What started as a practical need for extra bodies to supervise children quickly turned into a clear ministry goal. At one point in the midst of a heated game of musical chairs, facilitated completely by an 8th-grade boy from our youth group,  Father Colin leaned over to me and said, “Are we actually doing this for the teens?” It turns out, maybe we were. When our teens served, they were different–responsible, empathetic, problem-solving, up in front reading scripture and giving testimonies, and off their phones. 

There were also incredible moments from the children. One boy spontaneously shared his own family’s refugee story with pride as the children prepared to distribute food to more recent arrivals. A group of children new to Godly Play clamored for extra stories in the Sacred Story Room. Many kids learned to use a prayer labyrinth for the first time. Some very small, very new English speakers confidently belted out the chorus to “My Lighthouse” with huge smiles, surrounded by friends. The week ended with a beautiful explosion of divine joy as our whole church family danced around our kids as they led us in a Swahili song, “Yesu, Ni Wangu” or “Jesus is My Eternal Glory.”

During our VBS week, we served 48 kids and empowered 17 teen volunteers. 21 of those young people were not normally on our Sunday ministry rosters. More than the numbers, though, our VBS was a celebration of a courageous, whole church offering- a coming together of our various ministry areas and talents to make something together to serve these children of God, which served our larger congregation and our neighborhood. 

In our storeroom, when one child asked, “Why doesn’t God make everyone happy and everything peaceful?” another child responded with, “I think it might be because God wants us to help make things beautiful.”

Did we all fall into our beds at the end of the day, covered in chalk and rainbow beads? Yes. Will our sanctuary ever be free of confetti? Probably not. Are our hearts expanded, our relationships fortified, our awareness of Christ’s presence more acute? Yes, yes, absolutely yes.

I’m pretty sure that if Jesus had pony beads, he’d have handmade rainbow bracelets up to his elbows and his “lighthouse hands” ready, singing at the top of his voice with the rest of us.

To find out more about EDSD’s Vacation Bible School Program, contact Charlette Preslar, Director of Formation, at cpreslar@edsd.org