What do you do with an aging church population whose volunteers for kids’ VBS become less able to chase youngsters across the fellowship hall floor? Put tables in that hall and sit at them yourselves for an adult VBS instead! That’s exactly what Faith UMC-Manheim Township did this past summer.
During the church’s visioning meetings, the teams tried to find ways to push Faith UMC forward, as they always do, but the church Lay Leader, Michelle Bame, kept having a nagging thought: Faith has an aging population and a dwindling number of children and youth in attendance. The idea that a population of folks at or beyond retirement age might sign up to host and chase a collection of neighborhood kids across the Faith UMC property was becoming an increasingly difficult sell for the church this year – that is until the idea of hosting an Adult VBS popped up and the group knew they’d hit ministry gold!
Michelle, along with fellow Faith member, Buni Harbison, started praying, planning, and procuring.
The first thing they needed was the basic VBS format – Bible lesson, food, games, and crafts, all brought to the adult level. Instead of a week-long program of evenings, they opted for an 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. schedule of four consecutive Fridays running from July through August.
Deciding to treat themselves like grown-ups, they immediately took Goldfish off the menu, instead opting for a light lunch to start the day’s program. Next, Harbison taught a Bible lesson, each week correlating the lyrics of a chosen Beatles song to various Bible verses. The group listened to the music and many sang along with familiar songs of their youth, often played with the familiar hisses, cracks, and pops of a slightly more modern turntable. It may have been an Adult VBS, but for 3:05, they were kids again.
No VBS would be complete without a round of games and the one at Faith was no exception. A particular favorite was one where New Year’s Eve party blowers were used to move plastic cups off the table. Through the laughter, and much to everyone’s surprise including her own, Bame discovered she was not the one with the most hot air in the group.
The group played other games like trivia, bingo, and “Would You Rather?” – the Bible version of course. They played these games in small groups to give the “kids” a chance to get to know one another better and to enjoy fellowship with one another.
All VBS attendees go home with a craft and the ones at Faith made for a fun addition to the day. Each week, Michelle and Buni gave the participants a blank paint stirrer to decorate with art, song lyrics, and Bible verses from the day’s lesson. On the last day, they fastened the paint sticks to a wooden cross-piece to create their very own, Beatles/Bible VBS mobile to match their personalized t-shirts featuring the handprints of all those who attended the VBS on the back.
The benefit of hosting an adult VBS is that the event drew more than 10 people from the surrounding community; most of whom found their way in because of Faith’s sandwich board advertising campaign.
Bame said, “We have sandwich boards on the lawn bordering a busy road. We advertise all our events this way and have found many people in our community and beyond attending due to reading the signs while driving past the church property.”
The church leadership plans to hold adult VBS events throughout the year with various themes and will continue to focus on and invite the adults of the church and also warmly welcome the surrounding community.
