‘Vacation Bible School’ tradition originated in 1894

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is an annual summertime occurrence within the international faith community. It’s a time when churches open their doors to welcome young people to step inside and enjoy a week of fun, activities, arts and crafts, games, music, storytelling, fellowship and spiritual exploration.

 

Most religious historians agree that today’s model for VBS originated at the Hopedale (Ill.) United Methodist Church in 1894.

 The Hopedale United Methodist Church was founded in 1869.

Martha J. “Mattie” Pritchard Miles was the 24-year-old wife of the Rev. David Thomas (D.T.) Miles, who was assigned as the Methodist pastor there in Hopedale, a rural village located about 25 miles south of Peoria in central Illinois.

 

This is the Miles family portrait.

Mattie Miles was employed as an educator with the local public school system, and she also taught a Sunday school class for youths at the church. She said she felt “limited by time for teaching Bible studies to her pupils,” so she made plans to teach children during the summer.

In so doing, Mattie Miles is credited as being the founder of “America’s first daily summer Bible school.” Her program, offered during the summer of 1894, lasted four weeks and had 40 students.

 

Another pioneer in VBS history was Virginia Lucretia Sinclair Hawes, a native of Charlottesville. Va. She was the wife of Dr. Walker Aylett Hawes of King William County, Va. The couple relocated to New York City when he was dispatched to carry out a “medical ministry to children” there in 1898.

 

Virginia Hawes found work as head of the “children’s department” at The Baptist Church of the Epiphany in New York City’s East Side. She taught many of the children who were also being seen at her husband’s clinic, kids who were being treated for injuries received while playing in the streets.

“She surmised that they needed something safe and fruitful to occupy their time,” wrote Willie R. Beaty, author of a booklet titled “New Horizons in Vacation Bible School.”

“Mrs. Hawes rented a beer parlor near the church for six weeks in the summer of 1898 to conduct her evangelistic ‘Everyday Bible School,’” Beaty said. While some gasped at the thought of using a saloon as a location for a ministry for children, Virginia Hawes thought it was perfectly fine. It was a large space and unoccupied by patrons during “school hours.”

She had 57 students to enroll. Virginia Hawes told Bible stories and introduced the children to memory verses, games, crafts, drawing and cooking during the daily lessons. Under her direction, the Everyday Bible School expanded to seven locations by 1900.

 

The program gained support from Dr. Robert G. Boville, executive director of the New York City Baptist Mission Society, who promoted the VBS concept to other churches. He also recruited students from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City to serve as teachers.

Dr. Boville established a “VBS movement” in the United States and founded the World Association of Daily Vacation Bible Schools in 1922.

In 1923, Standard Publishing of Cincinnati, Ohio, which specialized in printing religious publications and church education materials, introduced VBS curricula on three different age levels beginning with kindergarten.

Today, VBS is almost a “rite of passage” in the South, said Abigail Wilt, a contributor to Southern Living magazine. As a little girl, she attended VBS at her Grandmother Margaret’s church in the Smoky Mountains at Canton, N.C.

 

“I spent many summers reciting Bible verses, building Noah’s Ark out of popsicle sticks and running around (full of energy) with a red-stained Kool-Aid mouth,” Wilt said. “Kool-Aid’s the sticky-sweet summer drink of choice that runs through the veins of all VBS kids.”

This is VBS Week at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Morehead City, N.C., and about 35 youths are participating, ages pre-K through fifth grade. 

The theme of VBS this year is “Epic Australian Adventure.” Materials are produced by Concordia Publishing House of St. Louis, Mo.

Children are introduced to the Sugar Glider, from the possum family, and the Quokka, one of the smallest species of wallabies.

 

Promotional literature describes the action of  “going on an epic adventure through Australia to encounter amazing animals, lush landscapes, stunning sea life and wondrous wilderness. And most importantly, we will be guided by our Savior, Jesus, who tells us, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’ in our theme verse, John 14:6.”

“Kids will discover how to keep Jesus as their guide, navigating through life’s distractions and challenges. As they journey through the unique Australian plains, they will learn to stay on the right path, walking with faith and purpose.”

Here are some more of the creatures that are featured:

 

The Rev. Karl Zorowski, pastor at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, said VBS has been a proud tradition of the congregation since “at least the 1960s,” and the program has been directed since 2008 by Shannon Banks, who also serves as the church music director.

 “Together, we select a curriculum each year, and Shannon is in consultation with other area churches, as we attempt not to duplicate themes that others are using,” Rev. Zorowski said.

“The children’s ministry is vitally important to us at St. Peter’s, and VBS enables us, as a church, to show the community that we are here to bring children together so they can learn more about Jesus,” he said.

“Children today are subject to the influence of a lot of voices in the world that are bombarding them with a lot of different messages; we want to ensure that one of the messages they hear is that of the Gospel,” Rev. Zorowski said. “We love to see the changes in children over the course of the week.”

There’s also the additional benefit in that VBS offers members of the church an opportunity to work together as a team.

“An effective VBS includes numerous activities such as music, crafts, games, snacks, and, of course, Bible lessons; this variety of needs presents a chance for our volunteers to share their gifts and talents,” Rev. Zorowski noted.  

“For many people in the community, VBS is the face they see of the local church. Through the years, I have heard from parents outside the church about how much their children love VBS at St. Peter’s.”

On Thursday (July 24) the VBS students learned about Uluru, one of Australia’s famous natural landmarks.

The ancient sandstone monolith near the middle of the continent is located in the Northern Territory. The land is sacred ground to the indigenous Aborigines who have lived in this area for tens of thousands of years.

It is believed the rock was created more than 500 million years ago. To put this fact into perspective, the first mammals and the dinosaurs inhabited the Earth between 200 million and 300 million years ago. So, a fun fact for kids is that Uluru is about twice as ancient as the dinosaurs.

Uluru is 2.2 miles long and 1.2 miles wide. The circumference around the base is 5.8 miles.

It stands 1,141 feet tall, which is about 78 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower (1,063 feet) in Paris, France.

Uluru appears to turn bright red at sunrise and sunset due to the way the sunlight interacts with the iron oxide in the sandstone.”