Imagine sending your kids off to a rented beer hall in New York City’s east side every day for four weeks this summer. It may sound like the opposite of what I would advise as a Pastor today, but such was the origins of one of the earliest Vacation Bible School programs in 1898. Seminary students were brought in to teach classes for the various age groups which often lasted at least four hours a day, five days a week for up to seven weeks throughout the summer. The church facilities were not designed to accommodate this classroom format at the time, so the teaching was done at a local beer hall. It took a few years for this new idea of “VBS” to catch on across the country, but by 1922 the “World Association of Daily Vacation Bible School” was founded and the first printed curriculum was introduced a year later with “enough material for a five-week course for three age levels”. There are records of some of those early all-summer VBS programs reaching enrollments of up to 1000 young people. It had obviously filled an important need of society at the time.

The history of “VBS”, as it is commonly known today, has not been well-documented. The idea was started in several places across the country in the late 1800s, but it gradually grew in popularity and evolved into its current format. There are records of some of these all-summer schools reaching enrollments of nearly 1000 students. By the 1950s and 1960s, VBS had come to look more like the one week program that most use today. It is now established as a key event in most church calendars over the summer months and, of course, there are a plethora of organizations that offer curriculum, theme, and pre-packaged excitement for this typical 5-day affair. But since its height in popularity, it has been on a gradual decline. By 1997, around 80% of churches offered VBS and by 2012, the number dropped to where about only 2/3 of churches offer it. I’m sure the numbers are even lower today.

This all begs the question about why we host VBS in the first place? Is it still relevant? Is it really worth the time and investment of people, time, and money to put them together? To answer that, let’s examine some of the founding ideas and whether they are still relevant for today’s kids.

1. VBS keeps kids out of trouble – Robert Boville, executive secretary of the New York City Baptist Board of Missions, believed that “children of New York be given religious instruction during their idle summers to keep them out of trouble and develop patterns for productive and upright adult living.” Idleness was certainly the cause of some problems with young women in the early church. Paul warns Timothy that “they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.” (1 Timothy 5:13). Coaches will keep your kids busy with practices all summer. Other hobbies and activities will fill your kid’s time as well. However, while there are plenty of things to do, none of these will instill your child with the truth of God. They may teach a skill or build character, but they will not count for eternity. Only God’s Word can do that – and it can be found at VBS.


2. VBS reaches un-churched kids – From the very beginning (and part of the reason for having it in the beer hall), the hope was to attract kids from families who didn’t normally go to church. It was a way of getting them off the streets and sharing the gospel with them. This has been largely successful still today. Many churches reach kids in their community through VBS that would not otherwise come to their Sunday School or other church programs. It also has biblical support, as Jesus tells us through the parable of the dinner to “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23).


3. VBS molds kids for service – Many important decisions are made for the Lord at VBS. Besides the obvious need for kids to be saved, kids also need time to hear the lessons and respond to God’s calling in their lives. In 1960, Charles Treadway (editor of VBS materials for the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board), declared that “such programs served to jumpstart everything from church planting to missions”. Many missionaries on the field today had their hearts first stirred for service at Vacation Bible School. God still stirs people’s hearts as they are exposed to His Word (see Exodus 35:21).

So, is VBS still needed? Well, you can’t give me a chapter and verse where the early church held a week of meetings for kids each summer. It has been a much more recent phenomenon. However, the needs are greater than ever in our young people who are constantly told to question their gender, identity, morality, and whether there are absolute truths. What I can say is that God’s Word is still powerful to change lives. VBS can still be used in great ways to reach the lost and mold young people for service (all while keeping them out of trouble). Maybe we should consider going back to an “all-summer” program again (but probably not in a local beer hall).

References: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2017/06/vbs-brief-history/