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Your Church, Jan/Feb 2001
VBS 2001: A Real Character Builder
Come back to family values with these new programs.
by Gayla R. Postma
After years of extreme adventuring from the Australian Out back to the bottom of the sea, many publishers are coming home to talk about character and values.
You can still explore the world with VBS. You can take your kids on an Arctic expedition and play glacier games. You can travel to Egypt for an archaeological dig or visit a big game park. You can stage daring rescues or track clues in a mysterious mansion.
But you can travel closer to home. Big Idea Productions, creators of the popular Veggie Tales, only produces programs based on real life. Managing editor Cindy Kenney says the company doesn't offer fantasy ad ventures. "The theme and characters must be from real life," she says.
That follows a trend in teaching today. As Kenney says, "There's really a resurgence in a need for teaching family values and getting family involvement." For example, the Veggie Tales program for 2001, titled "Veggie Town Values for the Family," is an intergenerational program that teaches love, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, and other fruits of the Spirit.
Rhonda Sawtelle, VBS editor for Regular Baptist Press, says her company is also responding to the family-values trend. "Character building is a big deal in the public schools right now," she says. "We want to show why kids should forgive, respect, and so on." The VBS program from Regular Baptist Press focuses on character traits this year with its FROGS Club, an acronym for forgive, respect, obey, give thanks, and serve.
Other VBS programs this year teach children how to have courage, to have faith instead of fear, to display joy instead of unhappiness, and to trust God instead of oneself.
How Themes Are Decided
Just how editors come up with new ideas year after year depends on the publisher. For some, the ideas aren't always new. Kim Fiano, editor at Gospel Light Publishing, says her company will sometimes revamp an old course, adding a new title and a new spin on the activities. The editors rely on focus groups with children's pastors and directors as well as surveys to guide their choices.
Group Publishing does a lot of testing via the Internet and telephone before deciding the theme of a VBS program. "We try to make our programs as flexible as possible to accommodate alternative uses," says editor Judy Brolsma. "The most important thing is that it contain strong Bible stories for church and unchurched kids and that the theme is easy to illustrate."
Big Idea Productions also counts on feedback from customers, says Cindy Kenney. But Cherie Wood of Kids in Action! Publishing says editors at her company get most of their ideas by waiting and praying. "I know this sounds simple but it's honest. That's what really happens," she says. "God knows his little lambs better than we do."
The New Programs
Some of the programs that publishers are offering for VBS in 2001 include:
Veggie Town Values for the Family"
from Big Idea Productions
800-295-0557
www.veggietown.com or www.bigidea.com.
This program encourages people at every stage of life to pass along their faith and to build God's citizens. Settings include a home, church, restaurant, beach, and retirement center. Kids learn about love, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, patience, and friendship. Ten lessons each for tots, teens, kids, and families. Complete kit, $200.
Surf'n God's Word: In Search of Truth"
from Child Evangelism Fellowship
800-748-7710
www.gospelcom.net/cef/streetfair
A program from Child Evangelism Fellowship and The JESUS Film Project that includes summer crafts, games, and activities for young surfers as they learn important Bible skills. Each complete kit includes The Story of Jesus for Children video from The JESUS Film Project. Complete kit, $179.
Mystery Mansion: Unlocking God's Truth"
from Concordia Publishing House
800-325-3040
www.cph.org
A Bible adventure in which children follow five clues that tell how to become heirs of God through Jesus. Five lessons. Starter kit, $45.
"Courageous Kids"
from Cook Communications
800-708-5550
www.cookministries.com
Stories about Esther, Daniel, David, Josiah, and Miriam that show kids how to be courageous. Five lessons. Complete kit, $69.
"Kingdom Safari"
from Kids in Action! Publishing
716-787-0864
www.kaction.net
Kids learn about the kingship of Christ by visiting a wild animal park, where they encounter big game animals. Five lessons in a reproducible kit. Price not yet available.
Truth Trackers and the Secret of the Stone Tablets"
from Lifeway Christian Resources
800-458-2772
www.lifeway.com
An action adventure that takes you to the desert of Egypt on an archaeological expedition to search for the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. For ages pre school through adult, including materials for special education classes. Starter kit, $50.
"Polar Expedition"
from Group Publishing
800-447-1070
www.groupvbs.com
Kids learn that loving Jesus is cool through thrilling Glacier Games, Igloo Eats, and other Arctic adventures. For ages preschool through grade 5. Starter kit, $50.
"FROGS Club"
from Regular Baptist Press
800-727-4440 or 888-588-1600
www.garbc.org
Learn the character-building attributes forgive, respect, obey, give thanks, and serve in lessons about Gideon, the ten lepers, Elijah, and others. Five lessons for kids age 2 years through teens. Starter kit, $40.
"Jesus to the Rescue"
from Standard Publishing
800-543-1301
www.standardpub.com
Lessons on Noah, Elijah, Esther, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego lead kids on an exploration of some of the Bible's most daring real-life rescues. Starter kit, $37, with a 30-day free trial.
"SonCreek Junction"
from Gospel Light
800-235-3415
www.gospellight.com
Visit a colorful Old West town to discover true gold lessons about the basics of Christian life and what it means to live and grow in community. Based on the book of Acts. For preschool to grade 6. Starter kit, $40; super-starter kit, $140.
Gayla R. Postma (postma@mor-net.on.ca) is a freelance writer living in Morrisburg, Ontario.
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How to Choose a VBS Program
So many good Vacation Bible School programs are offered each year that it's difficult to choose. Nonetheless, those in charge of selecting VBS materials have definite criteria in mind when they shop, such as:
• Churches on a tight budget look closely at price. For example, Bonnie Newton, codirector of VBS at First Christian Reformed Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, says her church rarely considers a kit that costs more than $50.
Cook Communications is accommodating such churches by dropping the price for its 2001 VBS package. "We changed our packaging this year," says editor Susan Parsons. "Instead of a big shiny box that costs a lot to produce, we've put the whole program into a thick book with a velcro lock." The change in packaging means that a complete kit of reproducible materials from Cook is now available at a price that's comparable to the cost of a starter kit from other publishers.
• This is also a primary consideration for directors like Newton. "We look to see that the gospel message is presented, that the Bible stories are in chronological order, and that the theme will be catchy and interesting," she says.
Content is also important to Jennifer Swick, director of Christian education at All Saints Lutheran Church in Minnetonka, Minnesota. "The lessons have to be crucial ones—the heart of the gospel, not peripheral stories—because we have very limited time to reach the kids," she says. The curriculum must also be user-friendly, age-appropriate, and engaging.
• To find a VBS program, Swick says she checks around to see what other people in children's ministry have used. "After I've heard what others have used, then I'll investigate," she says. "But publishers also send out lots of information packets without our even asking for it."
Newton prefers to look over various VBS programs at a local Christian bookstore so that she won't have to bother with shipping things back.
Similarly, Cindy Wallen, VBS director at Groveland (Illinois) Missionary Church, says workers at her church go to a preview party hosted by a local Christian bookstore where they can see VBS materials offered by a variety of publishers. "Most of the major publishers are there with their new programs so we get a chance to listen to the music and see the materials," Wallen says. She and the others then examine the materials, looking for solid biblical content, peppy music, and less familiar Bible stories that will catch the attention of churched kids.
• Some churches want programs that are so specific to their situation that VBS programs from publishers won't work. For example, First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, Colorado, runs a program called Sum mer Night Adventures for children in grades K-5 on four Wednesday nights in July. Most publishers produce curriculum for five days, which means paying for but not using one of the lessons. So Linda Bridges, associate director for children and family ministries at the church, writes her own programs. So far she has written two: "The Moses Adventure" and "A Persian Excursion."
That's great if you have the time, talent, and resources to be able to create your own programs. For everyone else, there are plenty of colorful, engaging, Bible-centered lessons available from a variety of publishers.
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Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Your Church magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Your Church.
January/February 2001, Vol. 47, No. 1, Page 42
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