Vacation Bible School
Johny Laldinthar F.Tusing
Introduction:
Vacation
Bible School, or VBS, is a fun-filled program many churches offer, usually
during the summer (“vacation”) months, to connect with the children and
families in their communities. Vacation Bible School is an outreach meant to
bring in children who don’t normally attend church and to teach them the
gospel. As an evangelistic tool, VBS helps churches fulfill the Great
Commission (Matthew 28:19).
In
other term, VBS stands for-
V=
A School conducted during Vacation Period,
B
= A School following a Bible centered course of Study,
S
= A School maintaining a regular daily schedule.
Origin
and Development of VBS:
In twentieth century
the school developing out of the expanding interest in Christianity was the
Vacation Bible School. The first recorded of such school was conducted in
Boston in 1866, but little is known about it. More is known that was held in
Montreal as early as 1877, the first Vacation School held under the auspices of
a Church. Its program consisted of Bible reading and memory work, hymns and
songs, stories, military drill, calisthenics, manual works and patriotic
exercises.[1]
In 1894 at Hopedale,
Illinois a Methodist pastor wife Mrs. D.G. Miles recognized that Sunday School
was not giving children a thorough knowledge of the Bible, decided to use the
long summer vacation to compensate for this lack. There was an enrollment fee
of one dollar per pupil. Each child was to bring a Bible; however, if anyone
did not have a Bible, the school provided one through the American Bible Society.[2] This
school has four departments with an assistant for each division. Activities
include songs, stories, physical exercises, marches, contest and dramatic
exercises.
In 1898, Mrs. Eliza
Hawes conducted a vacation church school in the Epiphany Baptist Church, New
York City. This school stressed Bible memorization and Bible stories. About
1900, Rev. Howard R. Vaughn, a congressional Pastor in Elk Mound, Wisconsin,
started a vacation religious day school. This was organized to parallel the
grades of the public school with Bible content mean for each grade or stages of
life. In 1901 Dr. Robert G. Boville organized movement of vacation school
religious education and started with five schools with curriculum including
manual works, organized play, Bible and Missionaries stories and Bible Study,.
The next summer he promoted ten schools and in 1903, seventeen. In 1907 the
National Vacation Bible School Committee was formed and the movement extended
to Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and other cities. In 1910, the Home Mission
Board of the Presbyterian Church, USA made vacation Schools a part of its church
program. In 19100, the National Committee was incorporated as the Daily
Vacation Bible School Association for national promotion with Dr. Bolville as Secretary.
The American Baptist Publication Society adopted vacation Bible schools in
1915. Dr. Boville had carried the movement to China and Japan. So the name of
the Association was changed in 1917 to “International Association of daily
Vacation Bible Schools.” In 1923, it became an auxiliary of the International
Council of Religious Education and in 1928 it was merged with the International
Council[3]
Scope
and Effectiveness of vacation Bible School:
a) Lead the children to Christ (II
Tim.2:15). VBS provides a challenge, a time and a place for children to accept
Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.
b) Team
them (children) the Word (Acts 7:11).
c)
Guide them for Christian Living (Prov.
22:6).
d) Mould
them into witnesses.
e)
To strengthen Sunday school Ministries.[4]
f)
To gather idle children into unused
churches where wholesome environment.
g)
Giving more religious education than the
Sunday School.
h) To
help Sunday School in various ways, to bring the Sunday School Teachers new
viewpoints, broadening their outlook and stimulating them to do better work in
which the students became more interested in the lessons and increased biblical
knowledge.
i) Also to influence children to join the
Sunday School also to those who doesn’t attend it.[5]
VBS
in India:
In India VBS was
initiated by South India Biblical Seminary. South India Bible Institute (now
South India Biblical Seminary) opened its door on November 16, 1937, with the
basic purpose of training Indian young people for Christian ministry. Almost 15
years later, seminary students saw the need to reach out to the younger
generation of India and choose VBS as their method of evangelism. VBS began
when some of the staff and students of the South India Biblical Seminary,
Bangarapet introduced VBS to 75 students and 8 teachers at Kovilpatti in 1952.
The VBS program was supported by the World Gospel Mission (WGM). The team was
headed by B.P. Samuel, a student of SIBS. Lester and Mary Hamiltons,
missionaries from America came and worked in SIBS since 1951. They were the
founders and B.P. Samuel and Theodore Williams were the pioneer of VBS
ministries in India. Mary Hamilton was the Director for many years and was
dedicated to the growth of VBS.[6]
Conclusion:
From the standpoint of
true Christian Education the vacation church school is still a vacation Bible
School’ conducted for the purpose of teaching the Bible to bring pupils to
salvation through faith in Christ, develop them in holy living and challenge
them to Christian Service. Today, Vacation Bible School is a popular summer or
vacation activity for Christians and non-Christians alike. Churches generally
run Vacation Bible School for a week, and each program has its own theme
(medieval castles, water parks, the Old West, etc.) that children can explore.
A week of VBS usually includes games, snacks, crafts, skits, and, of course,
Bible lessons. There is always a connection between God and the theme, allowing
kids to discover God in a creative way. Many Christian publishing companies
offer curricula to guide churches in setting up and running a VBS program, but
some churches choose to write their own curricula. VBS is an evangelistic tools to enhance God's ministries in a wide spectrum and also to connect and reach children from all section and help them to understand Bible better in an interactive ways.
[1] C. B. Eavey, History of Christian Education (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1964), 348.
[2] Peter P. Person, An introduction to Christian Education
(Grand Rapid: Michigan, 1985), 349.
[3] Eavey, History of Christian Education, 350.
[4] Limatula Longkumar, Christian Education for Transformation:
Foundations, Approaches and Effective Teaching (Kolkata: ESPACE, 2017),
143.
[5] Eavey, History of Christian Education, 351.
[6] R.C. Ghuna Kumar, Vacation Bible School Ministries Director’s
Handbook (Bangarapet: SIBS, 1989), 5-7.
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