Yes! VBS Does Make Solid Dollars & Cents for Your Ministry!

There was a time, not too long ago, when nearly all churches budgeted for VBS. Most considered it (and rightly so) a part of their evangelism budget as VBS was one of their biggest evangelism outreaches of the year. In many churches it was their biggest outreach of the year. Then in the years leading up to COVID more and more churches stopped using VBS - far, far too many stopped any ministry opportunities to children in the Summertime. Then COVID hit and pretty much all churches stopped offering VBS - and everything in person for two years. Last year some churches were starting to plan for VBS again, and this year even more churches are taking a serious look at VBS. I am very happy to see this as VBS is a fantastic way to reach into your community - it is one of the best and most effective ways you are able to make use of the money you budget for evangelism. Why is this? Consider the following . . .

• VBS provides an opportunity to bring neighborhood children - and children brought by their grandparents - to church who may not otherwise go to church. In the Summer - especially if you hold your VBS in July or August - children start to get bored and are looking for something to do. If you offer VBS, these children are likely to at least check it out once or twice. This provides you the opportunity to connect with children and families with whom you might otherwise not connect.
• It is vital to note here, this is one reason it is essential for your VBS to be fun. Yes, fun. If your VBS is boring, children who do not have to be there - neighborhood children and children brought by their grandparents - will not return. Fun is a positive thing. Boring is a negative thing. Happily Group Publishing does not publish boring resources and SCUBA, Hometown Nazareth, and Outback Rock are absolutely NOT boring!
• If you connect with neighborhood children - and children brought by their grandparents - you have the opportunity to share with them the truth of how God loves them and they are able to love Him back! This is the message of evangelism!
• Once again, Group Publishing's VBS resources all have strong, solid evangelism messages of how God loves children and they are able to love Him back! This message is experienced over and over again in every station and every activity throughout a Group VBS. This matters because it means the message is being absorbed, understood, and will be remembered by the children who attend a Group VBS. Using your evangelism budget to finance your VBS is an excellent way to get the message of God's love to the people in your community!
• Once you connect with the neighborhood children - and those brought by their grandparents - you have the wonderful opportunity to connect with their parents! There are many ways to do this - you might mail cards, have families connect with these new families, plan a picnic, plan a game day where children who attended your VBS bring their parents to play the games they learned at VBS, sing the songs, enjoy some of the snacks, show their parents the very cool science projects they experienced at VBS . . . there are so many possibilities!
• Group does a great job if providing ideas for these opportunities in their curriculum - be sure to check out their follow-up ideas. 

These are just a few of the reasons why Group VBS makes solid dollars and cents for your ministry when it comes to spending money you budget for evangelism. It is one of the core reasons for VBS - helping children - and families - learn the truth about how God loves them and they are able to love Him back. It is also a great way to help children and families who have made the choice to believe, grow in their walk in ways they will remember!

So as you think about VBS for this year, please know it makes sense and cents for your church to budget for VBS. And know when you use Group VBS resources, they are designed to get the point into the hearts and minds of the people - old and young - in your community!

Next week I will write about additional ways to use Group VBS resources to impact the children and families in your church and community.