Vacation Bible School: The Importance of Relationships and Collaboration

I began offering Vacation Bible School at St. Christopher’s over 20 years ago. At that time there were probably 20+ in our Children's Ministries program and about 12 attended VBS. Fast forward to today, and I have 3 children in my program, one of whom was able to attend VBS. From the beginning, it was my dream to have children from multiple Episcopal churches as well as other faith traditions attend. This was never intended to be just about St. Christopher’s. I am blessed to have a faith community of talented folks who fully support this program, so I never have trouble staffing it, and the structure we have in place could handle far more children than we reach. While I firmly believe in the importance of quality over quantity, I also think that we are offering a very special event and would like to share it with more kids.

For many years I have sent flyers and postcards to other faith communities, but that didn’t bring children in.  It took until this year to really see my dream begin to come to fruition. We had two volunteer leaders from other East Metro Mission Area (EMMA) faith communities and children from a total of five EMMA communities. We even had youth volunteers from three different EMMA communities.

What was my take away? Relationships matter. A few years ago, I began intentionally building relationships and collaborating with my Children Youth and Family (CYF) colleagues within ECMN.  I have always participated in (and sometimes led) monthly meetings with these folks. It is encouraging to learn what others are doing in their own communities, and I often draw on their ideas and resources. My goal in the past wasn’t collaboration, it was support. A few years ago the CYF leaders in the East Metro Mission Area began meeting quarterly with a shift in focus from sharing ideas to working together and bringing our students together. Everyone is experiencing a decline in numbers, and I think that collaboration is our future. We are building connections and learning each other’s strengths. This has translated into events that are led by a few individuals but supported and attended by leaders and children/youth from several faith communities.  We now have quarterly Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, a Martin Luther King Day of Service and Action, a family friendly Easter Vigil, and Vacation Bible School to name a few. In addition, next week Summer Connect will bring youth from several different communities together for service and fun. The Summer Connect group and others are also planning to attend Pizza Church at St. Clement’s next week. We are seeing the benefits of relationships that are building with both adults and students, and this transfers into increased interest in the very special camp and retreat opportunities offered by ECMN. We are building momentum, and it is exciting.

Having gone through the Faithful Innovation process with a team from St Christopher’s, I spent a great deal of time immersed in Paul’s journey in Acts that took him throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia and eventually to Macedonia. On that journey, we learned that there were areas where the Holy Spirit kept Paul from preaching the Word and areas that were keen to hear. My strongest takeaway from that passage is that we need to be open to where the Spirit is leading and not be afraid to take risks. My ministry at St. Christopher’s today looks nothing like it did when I was hired, because I try to listen to where the Spirit is leading me. The message is rarely as clear as I would like it to be, but that is part of the adventure!