Lead Well

Why do you want to do a VBS?  Is it because it is what the children's ministry has always done?  or you really like having the VBS? or it makes you feel important? or maybe it is just one more thing the pastor has asked you to do?  There are many reasons to put on a VBS, but the most important reason must be to minister and plant the seeds in the hearts of children in your church and community. Studies show that if a child does not have a Biblical worldview by the age of 8 then the odds of them living a life for Christ gets dismally smaller every year after that.  It is a burden placed upon us as each kid walks through our doors.  It is not our job specifically to disciple or even see the children saved, but God has seen fit to give us the opportunity to plant the seed, water it, or even harvest it.  It is all in His hands.  If your focus is off, I implore you to spend some time in prayer and ask yourself this one question and answer truthfully.  Why am I doing this?  If it is

Many ask when do I need to start publicizing my VBS.  High Seas Expedition says to start publicizing 8 weeks prior to your VBS, but I start much earlier.  How early?  My VBS is in July and I introduced it my kids last Sunday.  Nothing major, just a little teaser in the form of the theme song.  I do this for two reasons.  (1) To get the kids excited about the biggest event I do all year, and (2) to start teaching the songs so that when VBS comes the kids can really worship instead of learning 10 new songs in a week. In addition to this teaser, I list a graphic in our newsletter for the months coming and begin talking to station leaders.  This gets the ball rolling and starts to create buzz.  The key is to get not only the kids excited about VBS, but also the parents, teenagers, and other volunteers.  The final step to beginning to publicize is to talk it up.  Word of mouth is your best advertiser.  Mention it in conversations, meetings, interviews, greetings.  Anywhere people are ta

A couple of weeks ago I spoke about building a team to be successful in your VBS.  I am going to expound on that concept a little today.  It is an awful but very true reality that you cannot do everything and you are not good everything either.  There are just too many jobs out there and too many skills required to accomplish everything that must be done.  This may seem quite obvious, especially if you are doing Group's VBS, which calls for a different leader at each station.  However we still try to do everything that we can and give as little responsibilities to others.  After all VBS is your job.  If I could I would probably try to do it all, but I know that I am not good at everything, so I try to find people who are.  For instance, I have little to no musical ability, which works fine week to week because I have time to improve, but for VBS there is no way.  Therefore, I intentionally recruit people who have strengths in this area and can do a much better job than I ever d

If you have looked into running a VBS at all you will soon realize that it is not cheap.  Sure the craft looks cheap at 1.50 per unit, but multiply that by 150 and it is all of a sudden not so cheap.  An additional expense to VBS not including supplies for each class is decorating the main room and each classroom. Last year I made a list of everything I will need for VBS and sent some volunteers on a scavenger hunt.  Keep in mind that this was done 4 months in advance.  I had them go around and label paint, find decorations, and locate supplies.  Just by them looking for what we needed and using what was already available, I was able to save hundreds of dollars. In addition to looking for what your church already owns, make a booth where members can see what you need and provide for you.  Group suggested this to me for Power Lab by making a molecule wall.  Members who helped me during the actual week of VBS or not were able to participate simply by picking sheets of paper off a wal

A very important part of VBS is the team you're working with.  It is impossible to have a successful VBS without an incredible group of people working around you.  These people bring creativity, ideas, skills, and resources that you could never have imagined.  Sometimes getting people on the team is all about putting them in the right place.  Jim Collins talks about this concept in Good to Great.  He says that building a team is like getting people on a bus.  You may have the right people, but you must get them in the right seat as well. I am reminded of how this concept worked for me.  I had one volunteer who is an incredible organizer, but is also good at crafts.  I originally wanted her to work in crafts, but because of outside circumstances became a regular crew leader.  The next year she said that she would not like to be a crew leader again.  I was worried that I might lose an incredible volunteer so I asked her what she would like to do.  She said that she did not like h

So we've picked a VBS, now what do we do?  In planning a VBS, we have to think about the big picture at get smaller and smaller as the event gets closer.  When I did my first VBS, I had to decide what time to do it.  No one time is the right time for any church and if you don't get it right the first time that's ok.  Just chalk it up to experience and adjust next year. There are several questions we have to answer to help us plan. 1. What time works best for my church for this VBS?      a. At night      b. During the day      c. Sunday School      d. Summer Camp      e. Sunday Morning      f. Wednesday night? 2. How long do I want this VBS to last     a. 1 week     b. 2 weeks     c. a weekend     d. the entire summer? 3. Consider volunteers     a.  Do you think you have enough people to work at the time you want     b. how much of a commitment are they going to need to make     c. how many volunteers will you need 4. Are only children in the VBS or are w

One of the daunting tasks of putting on a VBS, is which program to do.  If you put it out that your looking to do a VBS a veritable flood of flyers and advertisements and the like will flood your mailbox and your inbox.  One thing I did this year to help me with this decision was to attend a VBS fair at my local Christian Bookstore .  At the fair they allowed me to look into all the starter kits and get a better idea of what the program really looks like.  This is an advantage because, if you don't already know, a VBS starter kit can run up to $150 dollars, which can be quite expensive if you want to do this on your own.  When picking the VBS, I look for several things.  (1) Is this the program I feel God is leading me to do in my ministry? (2) Does the message line up with my beliefs and the goals of the ministry? (3)  How does the structure lend itself to what I have done in the past?  Will it be easy to get my volunteers to buy into and understand the new curriculum? (4)  Doe