Rejoicing in Our Present: Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School (VBS) has long been an integral part of Brewster Baptist Church’s Children’s Ministry program.

VBS is first and foremost a fun and engaging way to share God’s love with the children of our congregation and the children of our community.  There are a few weeks each summer between the end of the community recreation programs and the start of school – we schedule VBS during this time to make it more welcoming for the community.

For the last 10 years, BBC has been partnering with Northside United Methodist Church and other churches.

The combined VBS allows us to use our resources and volunteers more effectively and show the children and students that even though we are from different denominations, we are all one in God’s mission to build His kingdom.

For over 20 years, we have used the yearly VBS created by Group Publishing in Loveland, CO. They work to design a fun, engaging, hands-on Bible learning experience that’s adaptable for each church’s size and budget. They provide extensive resources with step-by-step directions for each day’s programs.

This year, the theme is “SCUBA: Diving into Friendship with God”. Here is a sample day:

Each morning, the program opens with “Sing and Play Splash.”

All the crews meet in the Sanctuary to sing songs and learn about the theme for the day, including a special character, Bible point and scripture.

This year, our special characters are:

• Monday: Tad, the frog fish, teaches us that “God is a friend who’s real” using John 6:69.
• Tuesday: Finnley, the dolphin, teaches us that “God is a friend who loves” using John 13:34.
• Wednesday: Fisher, the seal, teaches us that “God is a friend we can trust” using John 14:27.
• Thursday: Walyon, the whale shark, teaches us that “God is a friend forever” using John 11:25.
• Friday: Octavia, the octopus, teaches us that “God is a friend for everyone” using John 3:16. 

From the Sanctuary, the crews rotate through five different stations to learn more about how these Bible points are true for our lives.

The five stations are: “Reef Rec” where they play fun games; “Deep Bible Adventures,” where a different Bible story is acted out each day; “Tidal Treats” where they enjoy a fun snack; “Sticky Scriptures” where they watch a video that helps them explore the meaning of the day’s Bible verse; and “Imagination Station” where they do creative science experiments that reinforce the lesson of the day. 

Then, all the crews come back together in the Sanctuary for a “Fin-tastic Finale” of singing, sharing “God Sightings” (what they see God doing in everyday life) and wrapping up all the lessons of the day. 

In addition to all this, throughout the week, VBS serves as a mission opportunity, encouraging students to bring in money that is donated to a local organization serving our community.

This year, donations will be given to Dream Day on Cape Cod, located here in Brewster.

Dream Day offers a week of camp-related events and activities for families of chronically ill children completely free! 

VBS is a meaningful and intergenerational time of learning about God, making new friends and mentors, and serving one another, and lifelong memories are made for everyone involved. 

We want to say a special thank you to Gwyneth Preu, Shelby Greemore and all the volunteers that have been, and will be, a part of making VBS a great week – and to Osterville Baptist Church for donating the decorations they used earlier this summer and to Stony Brook Elementary School for lending us “Gus” the seahorse for our Sanctuary decorations.