With spring break well behind us, we can now set our sights on summer vacation.
With the nearly three months of freedom students have, many parents search high and low for activities they can get their kids involved in during the summer.
Vacation bible school is one way to entertain the kids for several hours at a time, and it’s free of charge.
Pastor Jimmy Gunn from First Baptist Church of San Antonio said the church’s VBS this summer -- themed Breaker Rock Beach -- will run June 23-27. He said kids from the age of 4 through fifth grade are welcome to join in on the weeklong fun.
“Our theme this year is hearing about the truth,” he said. “You know, there are a lot of lot of things that come at kids, but we just want them to hear what God’s word says and go from there,” Gunn said.
After everyone gathers to get started, there are stage and crowd games to get the kids to loosen up and have fun.
“Then, from 6 to about 8:15 p.m., we have rotations where each age or grade level will rotate through, do a craft or activity for the night and play a bunch of games,” Gunn said. “We’ll do our Bible story lesson and then we’ll do some music stuff, too.”
The kids do a total of five rotations and, at the end, they all come back together in the sanctuary to have a closing, at which time leaders will make announcements and give away items.
“They should all go home with something during the week,” he said.
He added that, while snacks will be served each evening, the church will also offer the option to pre-purchase dinner for their children, and there will be different options each night.
“If they don’t want to think about food, we’ll have options here for them,” Gunn said. “We are going to have meals from different restaurants in the area. When they register early for VBS, they can get a link to our dinner menu for the week. They can click on that and say, ‘Monday night we would love five Chick-fil-A sandwiches, or Tuesday we would love some Raising Cane chicken fingers or pizza slices or things like that.’”
The final night of VBS -- a Thursday -- the church will hold a family night, where everyone is invited.
“We’ll do dinner for everybody,” he said. “It will be Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, chips and drinks and things like that.”
Parents and older children are invited to stay and attend FBCSA University, which is a multi-generational discipleship studies and doctrinal training (adult VBS).
“Adults can come and sit in on classes that are taught by our pastors or taught by different people throughout our church on certain subjects,” Gunn said. “I think of it as VBS for adults. They even have an awesome snack bar, too.”
For any adults who attend FBCSA University or are volunteering to help with VBS, there will be childcare for children through the age of 3.
“We also have opportunities for middle school and high school students to volunteer if they’re looking for a place to serve and help,” Gunn said.
He added that his ultimate hope for this year’s VBS is to get as many kids in the doors as possible.
To learn more about FBCSA VBS, click or tap here.