Vacation Bible School may still be one of the greatest outreach opportunities available to a local church.
But what happens after families walk through the door?
In this episode of Trends with Truth in Churches of Christ, Dr. Michael D. Jackson sits down in the studio with Dale Jenkins and Jeff Jenkins to examine the results of a survey of 97 congregations about Vacation Bible School, outreach, volunteers, visitors, follow-up, and the challenges churches face trying to make VBS work.
The numbers reveal something encouraging: churches still believe deeply in VBS.
They also raise some important questions.
About two-thirds of surveyed congregations described their VBS as serving both outreach and edification. Churches reported significant participation from people outside their congregation, and some congregations making outreach a primary emphasis reported exceptionally high non-member participation.
But another statistic deserves attention:
When churches were asked about their greatest VBS challenges, 40 responses mentioned people, teachers, workers, or volunteers—while only 3 mentioned follow-up.
If VBS is outreach, what should happen after VBS is over?
Michael, Dale, and Jeff discuss:
• Why VBS remains such a unique opportunity to reach families
• Why visitors may come to VBS when they won't attend other church events
• The challenge of recruiting enough teachers and volunteers
• How churches can avoid exhausting the same people every year
• Why smaller churches shouldn't assume they can't have VBS
• Simple ways to follow up with visiting families
• Personal video invitations, phone calls, visits, and follow-up events
• Why the person who invited a family may be the best person to reconnect with them
• Churches experiencing the opposite problem—more children than they have room for
• What church leaders and elders can do to encourage outreach
• Why successful VBS programs should keep children at the center
• Real stories of people whose first connection to the church came through Vacation Bible School
One of the most important ideas from this conversation is simple:
VBS shouldn't merely be an event families attend. It can become the beginning of a relationship.
If your congregation hosts a Vacation Bible School, ask yourself:
What happens to the visiting family after the decorations come down?
That answer may matter more than almost anything you do during VBS week itself.
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 What Does the VBS Survey Reveal?
00:57 Welcome to Trends with Truth
02:00 VBS and Gospel Meetings Still Matter
03:16 Why Talk About Vacation Bible School?
04:27 Is VBS Still One of Our Best Outreach Opportunities?
05:43 Outreach AND Edification
07:41 How Many VBS Visitors Aren't Members?
08:28 What Happens When Outreach Becomes the Priority?
09:11 The Biggest VBS Challenge: Volunteers
11:08 The Surprising History of VBS
11:30 The Follow-Up Problem
12:36 Practical Ways to Follow Up After VBS
14:14 Let the Person Who Invited Them Follow Up
14:40 A Simple 30-Second Video Could Make a Difference
15:02 How Do We Prevent Volunteer Burnout?
16:43 “We Don't Have Enough People”
17:43 When VBS Gets TOO Big
18:29 What Successful Churches Are Doing Right
19:33 Remember Who VBS Is For
20:29 When Church Leadership Becomes the Obstacle
22:46 Is It Really a Leadership Problem?
23:06 One Invitation That Changed a Life
24:15 More Lives Changed Through VBS
24:40 Final Thoughts
KEYWORDS / SEARCH TERMS:
Vacation Bible School, VBS, VBS outreach, church children's ministry, evangelism ideas, church outreach ideas, Churches of Christ, Heritage Christian University, Jenkins Institute, The Jenkins Institute, Trends with Truth, Trends with Truth in Churches of Christ,
