Kevin Johnson did a double take when he saw Liza Leigh Brewer walk through the door for Vacation Bible School on June 10.
The 7-year-old had broken her arm playing softball back in May and had emergency surgery. June 10 was the day she was supposed to have the pins surgically removed.
“I was greeting children as they entered our opening assembly, and there stood Liza Leigh,” said Johnson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Florence.
“I thought, ‘Well, they must have pushed her back to the afternoon for the procedure.’ But she immediately said, ‘Bro. Kevin, I got my pins removed from my arm this morning.’”
She wasn’t going to let surgery stop her from getting to her church’s Destination Dig-themed VBS.
“That is one tough young lady who loves God, church and VBS,” Johnson said.
In a way, VBS across the state mirrored Liza Leigh’s attitude this year — strong and ready to bounce back.
Patty Burns, VBS strategist for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said it seemed like in every church she visited, everyone was excited to be back in VBS after last year when the COVID-19 pandemic largely canceled churches’ plans.
“Being able to visit churches this summer and experience their VBS worship rallies, hearing children sing, seeing all the decorations and smiles was heartwarming.
“It was like a reunion with old friends,” Burns said. “Whether I was visiting a church with 16 or 400 enrolled in VBS, the energy was just the same.”
Hundreds saved
Though reports are still coming in, Burns said she knows of more than 200 churches that held VBS events in June, with 107 of those in the first two weeks of June. Many directors who have reported say their numbers were down by 10 to 15% over recent years, but that decline was less than expected in a season when everyone was trying to figure out the new normal.
And Burns said there were so many blessings this year, like this number — as of July 7, there were 520 salvation decisions reported.
But more are still coming in. At Mount Philadelphia Baptist Church in Cordova, for instance, three teens decided to follow Christ during youth VBS in late July.
Jeff Allred — who wrapped up his time as pastor there at the end of July and now serves at Eastside Baptist Church in Jasper — said Garrett Merchant, one of the youth directors, presented the gospel one night, and Allred did another night, as some teens had missed the first opportunity to hear it.
“On Friday, July 23, cards were handed out by the youth teacher [who] gave the youth time to fill out — Do you have questions? Have you received Christ? Are you ready to receive Christ?, etc.,” Allred said. “Three of the youth put down they were ready to receive Christ.”
One of the youth attended another church, but the two who attended Mount Philadelphia wanted to follow through with baptism. VBS “was a busy and tiring week, but it was worth it,” Allred said.
For both youth and children’s VBS, Mount Philadelphia offered its programming at night.
That has been a more common choice this year, Burns said, as well as other alternative VBS formats, such as weekends, one-day events or Wednesday or Sunday sessions. Those seemed to be “very popular” in 2021, she said.
“I believe this might be due to difficulties enlisting volunteers,” Burns said. “But with that said, I’m thrilled that churches were willing to think out of the box and find ways to make Vacation Bible School happen in their churches and communities.”
She said she expected she might see a number of churches choosing to offer a hybrid format this year — both virtual and in person options — but not many did.
‘VBS as usual’
“We have seen many churches go back to VBS as usual with an in-house, five-day program for all ages,” she said. “Most of those had some COVID safety measures still in place. Sanitizing stations and social distancing signs could be found in most of the churches I visited.”
If a church hasn’t submitted a report yet for their VBS, Burns said the process is quick and easy — and all online. Directors can visit tabonline.org/vbs-report to submit.
“I would encourage our churches to send in their report a week or two after VBS,” Burns said. “These reports aren’t just about collecting numbers for numbers’ sake. These reports give us information about where and when VBS is taking place all over Alabama, and what type of format churches are using. Most importantly we learn about decisions that are being made — salvation decisions as well as decisions for vocational ministry.”
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