The reason I dislike Vacation Bible School is simple. We spend way too much money on it! Most of the thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars spent are for DECORATIONS! This year's, by the way, are made up of hula girls and tiki gods, many of which have been torn down by our honorable pastor. I am all about having a fun place for the kids, but we can do better than this.
In my experience, far more time is spent decorating than preparing to teach and disciple children in the way of Jesus. I can't think of anything more important than teaching the Gospel, but I can think of better ways to do it that (in my opinion) would use our funds more wisely.
I think we could spent 1/3 or less and put on a great day camp, or a bunch of Backyard Bible Clubs.
When I think back to my summer missionary days in the Great Smoky Mountains, I am astounded by what we were able to do with very few supplies and little funding. We did day camp 5 days a week, three hours a day, for ten weeks. We had no money, only donated snacks and materials. We quickly became very creative and very good stewards.
I think we only need a fraction of what's in the budget for VBS to actually do a quality VBS, let's give the rest to missions! The Nine Mile Baptist Association (which is the one our church belongs to) was offering a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico for just $440! When I think of how many missionaries we could send to (insert destination) for what we spend on entertaining our kids, it makes me sick. There are tons of other fantastic ways to spend our money. I'm sure everyone reading this has a cause that is near and dear to them.
4 comments:
i completely agree with you! mostly, though, after this week, i am seriously questioning the reasoning behind having a 3yr old class. only because we have vbs until 9:00. that is way too late for that age if you ask me.
When we did VBS in Poland it was so much more fun to make everything up than to have it handed to us. We didn't really have any decorations and I don't think the kids would really care any more or less if it was.
I totally agree that too much money is spent on decorations, BUT I was surprised at the decorations that a certain dumpster diving church member found for free!
I don't disagree with your observation that at some churches too much money is spent on VBS, especially decorations, but I think a church owning a building is poor stewardship so i totally see your point. But, I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater and not do VBS because some churches or people spend an unreasonable amount of money on decorations. I dislike poor stewardship,too much emphasis on decorations and not teaching, and hula girls and tiki gods, but I like VBS, this is just one guys opinion
I agree with you! Kids just don't need all that "stuff" to learn about Jesus and have a fun time while doing it. There are kids in the world who don't have food or shoes or a place to live, and it just seems so wrong the church spends so much of its money on the kids who do have those things and more.
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