Time Line for VBS

The success of your Vacation Bible School really depends on your ability to organize and plan. Planning Vacation Bible School is a difficult task to take on. You must to be ready to choose a curriculum, to recruit and manage a staff of volunteers, organize supplies, and to promote your program, just to name a few of the things you will be in charge of. It sounds overwhelming, but once it is done you can have the amazing feeling of knowing you have influenced so many children and the way they see God, their peers and their community.
1. Christian Education team must meet and decide the goals for Vacation Bible School.
2. Decide if they want a daytime or evening program and set a date; book the church rooms for the program.
3. Pick out your curriculum.
4. You can also write your own or buy curriculum and modify it to fit your needs. After you know what classes you will offer, you will know how many volunteers you need and also how to set up your schedule.
5. Each classroom will need one teacher and one assistant teacher, and each group of children will need a guide.
6. Vacation Bible School is a church wide program and it is important your congregation knows their help is needed. It is beneficial if your pastor promotes volunteering for your big event. When you ask the congregation to help make sure to find out what areas that specific volunteer is most interested in.
7. You need a group in charge of advertising and public relations, crafts, games, science, decorations, snack, and et cetera. Each group will be in charge of a different classroom. They will need to learn their lessons, and be prepared to go with the flow of the children. (A hint: have a group in charge of gathering materials for all of the rooms. They can ask the congregation for things and go to the stores. They don’t have to teach and they can still be very involved in Vacation Bible School.)
8. The advertising and public relations committee will need to advertise your Vacation Bible School to the congregation and surrounding neighborhoods and communities.
9. It is important that you have a volunteer training day. It will allow you to get all of your volunteers on the same page and show your volunteers how to accomplish the goal they have set forth. You will also see how far along each committee is and what they need help with. You should go over the main themes for each day and double check that each class has a supply list and has started gathering items for their lessons.
10. Keep up with how each group is doing and what supplies are still needed.
11. During Vacation Bible School you must go with the flow. After the first day you will have a better understanding how each day will go and know how to handle the situations brought on by your group of kids.