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Maximize your VBS outreach by connecting with parents. Small churches realize the potential for new church growth when they connect with both children and parents during their summer Vacation Bible School. Choose one of the ideas in this post and add it to your VBS planning.
What Is The Purpose Of VBS?
Let me ask you, what memories come to your mind when you think of Vacation Bible School, more commonly known as VBS? I think of great songs, fun decorations and themes, cool crafts, and of course Bible stories.
VBS is a summer church outreach focused on engaging kids in a fun and creative way to learn about the Bible. It’s also a great opportunity to build relationships with the families in your community and for the kids to make friends.
Some churches may think VBS is “old school” or limited in its outreach potential. But we want to challenge you to consider VBS can expand your connection potential to adults as well!
Building On History
Did you realize VBS has been around for a very long time? Vacation Bible School actually began in the town of Hopedale, Illinois-way back in 1894!! It was an idea God planted in the heart of Sunday school teacher, D. T. Miles. She desired to find a way to have more time to teach kids the Bible than just an hour on Sunday mornings. She began to teach a daily Bible class to children during the summer; that’s when VBS was born!
We can take those same principles VBS was founded on and expand them to the needs of our communities. What if there was a way of reaching not just the children, but adults too? What if we could come up with creative ideas to build connections and relationships with these adults while their children were participating in their fun, age-appropriate activities in VBS?
Connect With Parents At VBS
We list several ideas for you to consider to reach adults through your small church VBS. As you read, keep in mind your church facilities, volunteers, and culture. Doing so can help you identify which ideas might work for your small church.
Offer Adult Classes During Your VBS
Arrange A Craft Class For Moms
Craft classes allow participants to work on a project while building connections with other parents.
Choose a project that requires multiple days of putting together. We did a Coffee Filter Wreath project. This project was a simple technique to learn and had a repetitive action. This made it easy to enjoy conversations around the table while we worked.
The coffee filter wreaths were inexpensive to make with readily available materials. We made a supply list and asked everyone to bring their own foam wreath and bottle of craft glue. The church provided the coffee filters, which we bought in bulk. We asked each participant to bring their own crafting tools.
Classes with online instructional videos make it easy for everyone to learn together.
Explore A Cooking Class For Parents
*Choose an area of good kitchen space for teaching that won’t be used for snack time at VBS.*
The budget required for materials should be considered. Give advance notice if you plan to ask participants to pay a predetermined amount to cover costs.
Ask people in your small church about any special skills or talents they are willing to share. This is a great way to get some intergenerational participation. Offer classes in making pasta, cake decorating, baking a pie, or creating particular ethnic food dishes. These are all great choices.
Invite Dads To A Model-Making Class
This one may appeal to the guys: dads, grandpas, or older brothers. Models are a multi-day project. Expand the fun by having a challenge at the end of the week with a radio-controlled car obstacle race, or a model rocket launch! Invite your whole church to watch and have a picnic afterward. Make a whole celebration out of it while you are connecting with your guests!
Host A Book Club
Choose a book that has a connection to your community, a local writer, or a story that talks about your area of the country.
A Christian biography or missionary book, full of adventure and sharing the gospel at the same time, could be a great way to introduce non-Christians to a relationship with Jesus.
Make a fun ‘living room type space’ for your group to meet. Provide coffee and snacks to encourage a relaxed atmosphere and time of conversation. Include fun mixer games to learn about each other.
Arrange An Intro To The Bible Study
An introductory Bible study class focusing on answering guest questions can help attendees see the Bible as God’s whole story and how they fit into it.
Discuss the idea with your pastor. There may be certain books or materials he recommends.
Throw A Game Tournament Challenge
Make the week a fun challenge by having a game tournament running throughout the week. Pair up your guests in 2 teams (give them names or colors to identify throughout the week) and play different games each day.
Simple and familiar games like Scrabble or Yahtzee work best. The idea is to just have fun, and get to know each other. If there is an appropriate outdoor space (and cooperative weather), you could do an outdoor game night with Corn Hole, or Ring Toss.
For a different type of game time, set up multiple games on different tables. Spread people out and set a timer for 8 minutes. Participants play a game for 8 minutes, an alarm goes off, and everyone moves to a different game and table. Keep playing until the time is up for the evening. Whoever wins at each table earns a point for their team. Keep a running scoreboard the whole week. Change out games each night or do the same ones.
End your week with a ‘Tournament of Champions’ with some silly interactive games like Pictionary, Personality Bingo, or some of the games found in this post.
Hand out silly awards, serve snacks, and watch God work through building these relationships.
Invite Guests To A Parenting Workshop
This is a great way to connect with parents, answer questions, and share a Biblical perspective on raising children.
Again, discuss this with your pastor who may have suggestions for a curriculum or online video series to use. Your pastor may also have suggestions on who to invite to do a workshop session on one of the days.
Invite a Christian counselor or professional behavior specialist to speak one evening as a guest. Give parents the chance to ask questions.
If your small church budget allows, order a Christian parenting book to give to each family at the end of the week. Encourage these parents by praying over them and their families. Remind them how much God cares for them and their kids!
Use Icebreakers to help get to know each other, and keep parts of your group light and fun as you may get into more serious issues as the week goes on.
Host A Caregivers Support Group
There are so many people in our communities who are full-time caregivers to elderly parents, disabled family members, or a child with special needs. Whatever the case may be, this is an incredibly tiring job. There are a whole host of stresses and issues they may deal with every day. Wouldn’t it be incredible to host a group to encourage and provide for them during your VBS week?
I realize not all small churches are equipped to do this, but oh I pray some would have the heart and passion to serve these people who are in need of God’s love and a breath of joy! Consult with a counselor for practical ideas. Network with parents of some special needs kids in your church or community. Ask them what they need or want. Just see what God can do!
A VBS for special needs kids provides a niche, not many churches provide. Holly Sharpe has written several posts for small churches, helping them see just what they can do to offer special needs children ministry opportunities. Read how you can prepare to offer an Autism-focused Special Needs VBS at your small church. Understand some simple accommodations your small church can make to support your families with special needs in the post, Understand 2 Types of Special Needs in Your Small Church.
Small Churches Offer Something For VBS Parents
So as you can see, there are all kinds of possibilities to reach adults during your VBS time. Some churches make their entire VBS time a family style, incorporating both adults and kids in the game times. Whatever way your small church decides to expand its VBS outreach, please know God is already at work, and He will continue to work as we join Him in these things.
Talk with your small church family. Discuss the possibilities, and ask them for their ideas and input. See where God is leading their hearts. Together, you can form your plan to make your VBS ministry the best it has ever been.
It’s exciting to know as we reach out to our communities in love there are opportunities to connect, build relationships, and share Jesus! We hear the testimonies, we see the results. It is amazing how God can use casual conversations and interactions around a craft table, in a kitchen, or playing a game to open doors to ministry!
We can’t wait to hear what your small church does to expand its VBS outreach to adults. Share your pictures and celebrations in our Facebook community, Creative Solutions for Small Churches. We’d love to celebrate with you!
Read More:
Sunday School Tips For Kids’ Discipleship
