Adults in Vacation Bible School (VBS)? Is that legal? What on earth will they do? I thought VBS was just for kids.
Actually, VBS for adults has been around since the late 1970s, but few Baptist churches knew it even existed.
Recently, however, more and more churches are tapping into this long-overlooked tool. Their approaches vary, but the results are consistently positive.
James Blakeney, an associate in the Sunday School office at the State Board of Missions, said it is hard to tell how many Alabama churches are actually conducting VBS for adults because only one third of them turn in VBS reports. “But the trend is growing,” he said.
“The most active response to it has been senior adults,” Blakeney said. “But in the last three or four years churches have targeted parents bringing in their children with the intention of sharing Jesus Christ with them.”
Several churches and associations have adopted VBS programs with the senior population in mind.
The XYZ committee of the Columbia Association in Dothan has been teaching VBS to the residents of Hutto Towers (a retirement community) in Baptist Village for the last seven years. Headed by Allen Fowler, XYZ chairman and minister of music and education at Grandview Baptist Church, Dothan, the independent curriculum runs for three days each summer. The music and craft activities give the 40 or so participants a chance to reminisce about their own childhood VBS experiences, while a different pastor leads Bible study each day.
“This proves to the seniors that they can still be an asset to the church, that they are important,” Fowler said. “They are really hungry and have a great need for outside people to come in and show them attention and love.”
Pastor Larry Harkness of Eldridge Baptist Church in Walker Association reported that two of his senior adult members were having more fun than the children. Harkness decided to invite everyone to this summer’s VBS from infants to 80-year olds. Attendance exploded from 18 in 1999 to more than 102.
“This is the best outreach for our church,” Harkness said. “When you open it up for the adults, we can reach everybody. The mindset is that VBS is just for children but it’s for everyone.”
Harkness led the adult version of LifeWay’s Ocean Odyssey curriculum for VBS.
Opal Berryman, who is in her 80s, fit right in with her highly diverse group.
“It makes me feel like a child again, Berryman said. “It made us realize that we are still able to learn and have fun.”
Other churches use adult VBS to bring a sense of unity to the traditional VBS week.
Hillview Baptist Church, Birmingham, is one church who chose to offer an adult VBS this year.
Giving parents and grandparents the chance to participate in VBS gave Deerfoot Baptist Church, Trussville’s, program a tremendous boost. They had 130 more students than last year, 60 of whom were adults.
“We are consciously trying to make VBS a more evangelistic event,” Ken Kelley, minister of education, said.
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