BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) — Despite its obscure origins in a rented room in America’s largest city, Vacation Bible School (VBS) has become a widely familiar term in our culture, identifiable with both kids and parents as a fun way to learn about God’s Word.

VBS traces its roots to New York City where in 1898 Virginia Hawes, concerned with the spiritual formation of school children, rented a beer hall in the city’s East Side to conduct an Everyday Bible School. Hawes envisioned a place where kids could safely spend their summer while learning about the Bible and receiving spiritual nourishment.

In 1901, after three years of Hawes’ effort, the New York City Baptist Mission Society picked up the banner of “Vacation Bible School” and established schools throughout the East Side. By 1921, VBS had spread well into the South and was a strong program across many denominations.

In 1924, the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway) created the VBS department led by Georgia pastor Homer Grice and first published VBS manuals for churches. Grice blazed a trail working with the Baptist state conventions to equip and train churches to reach kids in their communities with the gospel.

Today, 100 years later, more than 2.5 million kids engage with Lifeway’s VBS curriculum each summer across more than 25,000 churches. VBS remains one of the largest outreach efforts for Southern Baptist churches, leading to nearly 60,000 salvation decisions each year.

“VBS is a time-tested, successful strategy for reaching kids with the gospel that is still engaging, appealing, strategic and effective today,” said Lifeway President and CEO Ben Mandrell. “We can look back over the past 100 years and celebrate what God has done through Vacation Bible School.”

In Hawes’ time, there was an awareness that kids were not learning about the Bible as much as they used to. And that seems even more true today. VBS has consistently been about assessing the needs of the culture and deciding what timeless truth about Jesus needs to be shared.

“You can’t really separate it from being a Great Commission story,” said Melita Thomas, Lifeway’s VBS specialist. “It’s part of who we are and who we want to be.”

Gospel intentionality

From its beginning, VBS has had an evangelistic mission. Each year, a lot of prayer, discernment and dedication goes into producing evangelistic VBS curriculum and materials. Lifeway’s NextGen team is simultaneously operating the current VBS, preparing the next year’s material and brainstorming ideas for two years out. Alongside the curriculum, the team provides training for church leaders to introduce them to the new material and teach them how to adapt it to their churches. For every leader trained, it’s estimated there are 1.1 salvation decisions.

The team reminds VBS leaders that every role is important and has a kingdom purpose. Whether leading a group of kids, hosting games or providing snacks, volunteers are engaging in divine opportunities to share the truth of God’s Word with the next generation. They are reminded that the same kid who cannot pay attention during a small group may be able to listen to the gospel clearly during games. Each leader has a responsibility to ensure kids hear about Jesus’ love for them.

Over the five days of a typical VBS, kids have multiple opportunities to hear the gospel. And that’s always been priority No. 1.

“The format has changed,” said Rhonda VanCleave, publishing team leader of VBS. “But the heart cry that kids need to hear the gospel hasn’t changed.”

Next year’s VBS theme is “Magnified,” available at lifeway.com/vbs.