Me enjoying VBS, taking a break from my small job as a helper.
This week is Vacation Bible School for our community. Five small churches, like ours, have partnered each year to do what we could not do alone. What’s my job this year? I’m a helper at the “Candy Shop” for our marketplace, and I think that’s just great!
Why am I a helper? Because all the other jobs got filled with excited, enthusiastic folks from churches in our community. The gathering leaders, musicians, cooks, small group leaders, “synagogue school” teacher, drama group, and 9-marketplace “shopkeepers” all are taken by men and women committed to our community VBS.
That’s the way it should be, and as pastor, I am delighted for others to take the lead and own this ministry. Three years ago when I proposed that we switch VBS to the evening, and that we do something bigger than the community had ever done before, there was some skepticism.
But, when VBS 2005 was history, we had enrolled 3-times the number of kids than the year before, and everybody was excited about the week. Well, since that success, VBS around here has taken on a life of its own. Excellent leadership comes from Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist church members. The other pastors in the area also have small jobs — leading “tribes,” helping at the synagogue school, wandering through the “village,” and appearing in the dramas each night.
Our VBS is an example of the way church ought to work. God’s people get a vision for a great ministry, and then take off and do it! So, tonight, I’ll slice some dried fruit in my tunic-and-cloak, talk to some kids, and enjoy watching others immersed in the excitement of ministry that they planned, prayed for, and participated in.
ChuckWarnock.com 
Like yours, the VBS in Grand Rapids Ohio is shared by Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists and Wesleyan Churches.
My small job – direct the drama.
Our VBS begins next Monday.