Summer Nights and Summer Not
Alvera Mickelsen
Daily Vacation Bible School doesn't have to be daily. At least that's what Rose Drive Friends Church in Yorba Linda, California, has discovered.
While some churches have VBS during the day for two solid weeks, Rose Drive does it instead on 12 consecutive Wednesday evenings during the summer. The program includes all ages.
For children through junior high age, leaders adapt one of the usual two-week VBS curricula offered by major publishing houses for the first hour's program. High schoolers and adults plan their own programs, perhaps offering a film series, a guest speaker, or choice of electives. The second hour, children and adults combine for refreshments and recreation—volleyball or other outdoor sports.
Some years high school and college groups have used their Wednesday evenings for some kind of outreach or social service.
"We've been doing this for seven or eight years," says Toni Baldwin, Rose Drive's children director. "And we plan to keep doing it."
The church has found several advantages to this program:
• Regular Wednesday night club leaders get a much-needed break during the summer months.
• New teachers often are willing to try a 10-week period.
• Participants welcome the change of pace from the usual Wednesday night club programs and adult Bible studies.
"Instead of VBS children in someone's back yard, we've geared this for the whole family," says Baldwin. "It's neat to be able to come even when relatives visit from out of town," says one church member. "Grandmas, aunts, and uncles can attend without feeling like they're entering midstream."
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