WTF Vacation Bible School

[jenny_islander]

Eww. Just eww. Even if you don't deliberately expose your kids to this kind of stuff, the kids spread it around among themselves. When my daughter was 4, she came home from her completely secular pre-school and told me what the other kids had told her about Easter: "They hammered nails through Jesus' hands." That was one of the things that made me decide to start attending a UU church, to give them some other input about religion.

On another note (no pun intended), when I was in elementary school, the schoolbus I rode also picked kids up at the local Catholic school. They would get on the bus singing a song that literally said "Eat His body, drink His blood . . ." I thought it was an intentional gross-you-out song, like "Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" or something.

Oh, that one! It's a lovely little round.

Sons of God, hear His holy word,

Gather 'round the table of the Lord.

Eat His body, drink His blood,

And we'll sing our song of love:

Allelu, allelu, allelu, alleluia.

I learned it at a Baptist summer camp.

[Mela99]

Man, what happened to gluing cotton balls on to Jesus' sheep and making kites to say thank you to God, followed by Oreos and koolaid?

My childhood ceases to exist.

[BravaAmica]

My son is going to a National Parks themed VBS next week. We don't go to that church. I'm using it as a day camp. It's $15 for all five days. [i paid extra as a donation to the VBS scholarship fund- because I felt kind of guilty that I'm using their church program as childcare next week so I can go on job interviews.] He went to a VBS at this church last year [some kitchen theme] and it was light and fun- a couple of "memory verses," some annoying songs but that's it.

I'd be furious if the VBS emphasized the violence, pain and death of JC. Way to frighten kids.

[NjoyingNsanity]

Wow things must have changed from when I was a kid we did crafts, singing, snacks, sports and learned a few Bible versus. It was usually pretty fun I rembered one year we were raising money for some charity and whoever brought the most money got to throw a pie in the preachers face. The worst thing I ever experienced was a broken nose from taking a volleyball to the face while playing a game with some friends. My kids went to one a few years back that was really cool very low key on the bloody stuff, but had a carnival theme with midway games one night and pony rides another night. This year they went to one that felt it necessary to have the kids scream King James Version at the end of every verse of the BIBLE song.

Speaking of church songs He Touched Me always got a giggle out of me and my dirty minded friends once we were old enough to give it an alternate interpretation.

[formergothardite]

Man, what happened to gluing cotton balls on to Jesus' sheep and making kites to say thank you to God, followed by Oreos and koolaid?

My childhood ceases to exist.

I went to a KJV only IFB church as a child and that was pretty much our VBS. Make a little craft, sing Jesus loves me, eat junk food, play outside. Adults sat around and chatted.

Fundies have gotten so much more fundier since the late 70's early 80's.

[formergothardite]

Oh, last year I sent my daughter to a VBS that I thought was going to be way more liberal than it was. They asked her if she wanted to invite Jesus into her heart. She said no, not really. And she didn't want to go back after that because she didn't want somebody to live in her body. Jesus can go live in another heart.

[Smithie]

Huh. Given the topics and content of some of these VBS weeks, no wonder people were surprised when my (Christian) church did a science-themed VBS.

[samithemage]

When I was about 11ish I went to my friends VBS. It was there that I learned that Catholics weren't Christians. This was particularly traumatizing for me, since I was a good little Catholic girl at the time. Our Church didn't have a VBS at the time and my friend made her church's sound like so much fun. After that experience I became much more careful about the types of fun events I went to that were "hosted" by an evangelical church.

[ilovetchotchkes]

The one year I went as a kid-

It was at the liberal Baptist church in town. We made Jesus sandals out of cardboard and yarn, ate junk food and did crafts... And had a water fight.

Had there been a fire and brimstone message my mother would have flipped the hell out.

I know for a fact the Jewish summer camp my synagogue hosts is basically crafts, and swimming. :)

[SoybeanQueen]

I think you're right about the crown of thorns and beatings not being appropriate for 4 year olds. As someone else suggested, you may want to talk with the pastor about this if you've had good conversations with him in the past. Let him know what bothered you and why. He may not even know that someone decided to do that craft, and if he agrees with you, might be able to talk about age-appropriate stuff with the teachers.

VBS is definitely designed to encourage kids to become Christians, with the goal of getting the kids to church and to influence the community through those kids. I do believe in Jesus/God, and we do attend church, but even I hesitate to send my kids to VBS because they tend to push accepting Christ a whole bunch in that time, and I don't think my kids are old enough to grasp what that really means.

[mnb357]

VBS I will not touch. Even here in the Pacific Northwest they are creepily Bible Banging....I checked one out years ago at a Lutheran school. Dreary...very focused on how crrappy your life all be without Jesus. (Theme was Jesus leading them out of the jungle.) I LOVE the Episcopal sleep away camp, though. Nothing like seeing your six year old come back 3 days later singing that Episcopalians are " all up above, drinking beer and making love, there are no Episcopalians down in hell." (My daughter swore the line was "taking love" which still cracks me up.)

[javafriend]

Slightly off topic, but this brings to mind my favorite VBS experience. A group of 4-6 year olds was watching the video that came with our packaged VBS program. The VBS had a Western theme and the video featured the adventures of some very low tech puppet cowboys. At one especially exciting moment, when the all the kids were watching in silent, rapt attention, a spunky five year old got so caught up in the thrilling story that he suddenly yelled out, "WHAT THE HELL?"

Since this was a very low key ELCA VBS, the adults all laughed and no one told him he was going to hell.

[Austin]

As creepy as it is, it sounds normal for VBS, the object of which is to win souls for Christ. Or at least it was in our church. I taught VBS every summer I was in high school and the crafts and the songs and the stories were all salvation related, though we were more Veggie Tales and less Passion of the Christ.

This has been my experience, too. Our boys attended dozens of VBS weeks. What can I say? They loved VBS when they were younger and we have a lot of churches in our town where we had good friends. Everybody does VBS here, from the the most mellow Methodists to the fire and brimstone independent Baptists (we did veer away from those folks). Our boys loved any structured activity with games and snacks and we were evangelicals, so it seemed completely normal to us.

My husband directed several VBS programs during those years and yes, they are pretty much VBS-in-a-can. The church buys the curriculum which includes the lessons, crafts, songs, games, and pretty much everything that is needed. Directors sometimes make changes, or throw out stupid ideas, but it mostly comes put together and it's just a matter of coordinating all of the teachers, craftspeople, etc.

My sons' church just had theirs last week (Lutheran). One of my sons was the activity director and another taught a class with four/five year-olds. But there was no blood/gore or anything scary. Every day J and his helper acted out a Bible story, like Jesus feeding the 5,000 (that's one I remember seeing). Like tacky said, "more veggie tales than Passion of the Christ". I have never seen anything that, taken in the context of its culture, I found morbid or scary or whatever, so I wouldn't have liked the thorns in Jesus' head thing either.

Like Backyard Bible Clubs, VBS is expressly outreach. I am no longer a believer, so if my children were young today, I wouldn't send them. But VBS is very much part of protestant culture (not just evangelical) and a lot of people I know send their children even if they, themselves, are not that interested in church.

[Austin]

My son is going to a National Parks themed VBS next week. We don't go to that church. I'm using it as a day camp. It's $15 for all five days. [i paid extra as a donation to the VBS scholarship fund- because I felt kind of guilty that I'm using their church program as childcare next week so I can go on job interviews.] He went to a VBS at this church last year [some kitchen theme] and it was light and fun- a couple of "memory verses," some annoying songs but that's it.

I'd be furious if the VBS emphasized the violence, pain and death of JC. Way to frighten kids.

LauraElle, I missed your post the first time, but this National Parks themed VBS is the one that my sons were involved in leading last week at their Lutheran church.

The guys are still wearing the T-shirts, as they're pretty cool - lol.

There is no charge at their particular church, although I'm sure a parent could make a donation if they wanted to.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

This thread just backs up why I resisted sending my daughter to a VBS with her cousins. Not that it was a difficult decision for us to say no, anyway.

I never went to VBS as a kid, but I was completely traumatized at a daycare when I was 4 by being told that Jesus died for my sins. I was inconsolable, thinking I was personally responsible for someone's death. That was our last day at that place. I don't remember much of the details, so I'm not sure if a bloody cross was referenced or not. I just know my brother and I were elated not to go back.

[gimlet]

Hey, I credit a well-illustrated book of children's Bible stories with sparking a lifelong fear of whales. I don't remember finding details of Jesus and the cross that traumatizing, but I can see how others would find it so.

[Didi]

Ok, I am pretty "fundy" I guess and I cannot imagine a VBS where you didn't at least talk about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, and even I (and my husband who is WAY more fundy than I am) think that a craft where you are gluing thorns on Jesus crown is REALLY creepy and not ok.

When you say graphic was it "Jesus died, they put nails in his hands and thorns in his head, and a spear in his side" or was it like describing everything he was feeling etc etc? I have never been to any church's function that did not touch on the "Jesus died on a cross, and it was horribly painful, and then he rose again because he loves us!", but it might not have been traumatizing to me as a kid 'cause I always knew that was how he died... there was no day when I learned it I guess...

[Amygee]

I'm the new Religious Ed Director at our liberal Episcopal church and I just did my first VBS. I was so wary of the prepackaged sets that I wrote my own, based on the Beatitudes. My goal was first and foremost to provide an educational and entertaining program for our regularly attending families. I also hoped to attract parishioners who don't normally send their kids to Sunday School and maybe some new people who were looking for a church. I didn't do any altar calls or anything!

The main lesson of the week was that God loves us and blesses us. Jesus taught us ways that we can be blessed. I focused on 4 out of the 8 Beatitudes and we spent the week exploring them in art, cooking, music and drama. Plus we had snacks and games and a Veggie Tales video and why would I even have needed to mention the crucifixion?

All in all I made a small group of kids happy and inspired. Hopefully some of them will sign up for Sunday School this year.

I hope more liberal churches look critically at the prepackaged VBS programs. My church is fortunate to be able to pay someone (me) to do this, but a lot of small churches use volunteers, who may or may not have the time or inclination to go through the curriculum with a fine toothed comb.

[IamCanadian]

Oh, so much THIS. I can distinctly remember having that moment as a young child and how horrified I felt. My church wasn't one that preached about the intricacies of the crucifixion, nor did our cross inside the church have a Jesus on it. It actually wasn't until I was shown "Jesus Christ Superstar" at age 6 that I put the whole ghastly story together. My mom was raised Catholic and I guess she had gotten used to the gore from a young age, and she didn't think the film would affect me. But boy was she wrong...nightmares for days! 25 years later, I still can't watch it. :?

I agree. My uncle made the mistake of watching movie about the crucifixion one Easter while his grandsons (ages 6 and 4) were playing in the next room. Within days, little Davy (age 4) became very obsessed with erecting small sticks in the mud in the driveway. He was at it for hours and hours for days on end. When his mother asked what he was doing, he was playing crucifixion. He would say "this one is not Jesus, this other one is not Jesus,, THIS one...this is Jesus". Every time he drew a picture at school, it was crucifixion-related. And God help anyone who was wearing a crucifix. We all surmised that he was going to grow up t be either a priest or a serial killer.

For the record, my family is Catholic, but none of us goes to church outside of Christmas, Easter or weddings. Also, Davy grew out of it in about a year. It's just amazing how the what he saw in the movie affected him so much for so long!

[LilMissMetaphor]

Hey, I credit a well-illustrated book of children's Bible stories with sparking a lifelong fear of whales. I don't remember finding details of Jesus and the cross that traumatizing, but I can see how others would find it so.

Especially not for our current crop of youngsters who are inundated with visuals. Heck, I can't see how it's any worse than strolling down the Halloween aisles at Walmart.

Not that I'm saying I'd want my kids subjected to thorn-gluing crafts or the like. But if you send them to Bible school or Bible camp you have to expect the organizers might mention a few of the pivotal events of Christianity.

[Seven Severn]

The only things I remember about VBS are kickball, ping pong, and snack time. There was singing, also, but that's about it.

[genericJname]

Honestly, growing up in that kind of environment, I probably wouldn't even think of thorn-gluing as being weird/traumatic, but stepping back and looking at it it totally is. I remember from a young age learning about the details of torture that "I" put Jesus through by sinning.

I have not done any VBS for my almost 5 yr old son. He's gone to church/sunday school a few times with grandparents. I'm just starting to think about getting him a picture bible to have some background knowledge on all these stories. I really don't think I'll ever send him to any of these kinds of things unless maybe a friend begged him to go along and then we could talk about it afterward.

[heinz57]

Hey, I credit a well-illustrated book of children's Bible stories with sparking a lifelong fear of whales. I don't remember finding details of Jesus and the cross that traumatizing, but I can see how others would find it so.

Slightly OT, but how does a fear of whales manifest? I mean, I've never seen a whale in my life... (not snarking, really curious - I have a lifelong phobia of slugs, which I unfortunately get to confront on a regular basis)

[emilymea]

VBS I will not touch. Even here in the Pacific Northwest they are creepily Bible Banging....I checked one out years ago at a Lutheran school. Dreary...very focused on how crrappy your life all be without Jesus. (Theme was Jesus leading them out of the jungle.) I LOVE the Episcopal sleep away camp, though. Nothing like seeing your six year old come back 3 days later singing that Episcopalians are " all up above, drinking beer and making love, there are no Episcopalians down in hell." (My daughter swore the line was "taking love" which still cracks me up.)

Episcopal sleep away camp is great. Our local diocese does an amazing job with it. I also came back from my first year at episcopal camp singing that song... and Indigo Girls... and Muff the Tragic Wagon. That week at camp changed my life for the best.

[gimlet]

Slightly OT, but how does a fear of whales manifest? I mean, I've never seen a whale in my life... (not snarking, really curious - I have a lifelong phobia of slugs, which I unfortunately get to confront on a regular basis)

It was a bad combination of a kid with a genetic tendency towards anxiety issues, and a series of exposures to scary whale things that started with the book. Other whale things I ran into at the same time was a children's story about a whaler being swallowed by a whale and then cut out when the rest of the crew caught and killed the whale, the whale hanging from the ceiling at the Museum of Natural History, and another museum exhibit that had you sliding down an enclosed slide and coming face to face with a whale.

I couldn't/can't look at pictures or illustrations of whales without getting the prickly anxiety feeling down my back and looking at them out of the corner of my eye, watching Moby Dick is the equivalent of a slasher horror film with me covering my eyes, I had freakout on boats in open water with the recurring thought of the whales showing up, and when I'd be swimming laps I'd be overcome with panic with the (completely irrational) idea that a whale was in the pool with me.

It's called cetaphobia. About 10-12 years ago I went to an IMAX film about whales and just the sheer exposure helped tone down a lot of my reactions, but I'm still a bit creeped out by them.