 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2012) |
Vacation Bible School, or VBS, is a term usually used to represent a week-long religious event in the summer.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2012) |
Vacation Bible School, or VBS, is a term usually used to represent a week-long religious event in the summer.
The origins of Vacation Bible School can be traced back to Hopedale, Illinois, USA, in 1894. Sunday school teacher D. T. Miles, who also was a public school teacher, felt that she was limited by time constraints in teaching the Bible to children, so she started a daily Bible school to teach children during the summer. The first Bible school enrolled 40 students and lasted four weeks. A local school was used for classes, while an adjoining park was used for recess. [1]
In 1898, Virginia Sinclair Hawes (often identified as "Mrs. Walker Aylett Hawes"), director of the children's department at Epiphany Baptist Church in New York City, started an "Everyday Bible School" for neighborhood children during the summer at a rented beer parlor in New York's East Side. There is a bronze plaque honoring her efforts located in her hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, in the foyer of First Baptist Church. [2]
Robert Boville of the Baptist Mission Society became aware of the Hawes' summer program and recommended it to other Baptist churches. Boville established a handful of summer schools which were taught by students at the Union Theological Seminary. During one summer, 1,000 students were enrolled in five different schools. In 1922, he founded the World Association of Daily Vacation Bible School.
One year later, Standard Publishing produced the very first printed VBS curriculum. Enough material was provided for a five-week course for three age levels (kindergarten, primary and junior). [1]
While not under the title of Vacation Bible School, Dr. Abraham L. Latham of the Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania, initiated a five-week, four hour per day summer Bible school in 1912 which, at its peak, had 650–700 students. This has been claimed to be the world's first summer Bible school. [3]
| | This section needs additional citations for verification .(November 2012) |
Many churches run their own Vacation Bible School programs without being under the umbrella of a national organization. Some churches opt to use themed curriculum programs from their respective denominations or independent publishing houses which provide easy preparation and include marketing tools.
Modern programs usually consist of a week-long program of religious education which may employ Bible stories, religious songs, arts and crafts, skits or puppet shows which cater toward elementary school-aged children. Groups of local churches who do not have the resources to run VBS for the entire summer may elect to co-ordinate their schedules to provide continuous childcare.
Most churches provide VBS programs at no cost to those attending, though some may charge a fee for the program.
Studies indicate that VBS is on the decline. Barna Research found that 81% of U.S. churches offered VBS in 1997, while only 68% did so in 2012. [4]
A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes.
A summer camp or sleepaway camp or residential camp is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps are known as campers. They generally are offered overnight accommodations for one or two weeks out in an outdoor natural campsite setting. Day camps, by contrast, offer the same types of experience in the outdoors but children return home each evening. Summer school is a different experience that is usually offered by local schools for their students focused on remedial education to ensure students are prepared for the upcoming academic year or in the case of high school students, to retake failed state comprehensive exams necessary for graduation. Summer residential and day camps may include an academic component but is not a requirement.
Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services.
The Church Educational System (CES) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students and adult learners. Approximately 700,000 individuals were enrolled in CES programs in 143 countries in 2011. CES courses of study are separate and distinct from religious instruction provided through wards. Clark G. Gilbert, a general authority seventy, has been the CES commissioner since August 1, 2021.
Weekday Religious Education (WRE) or Released Time for Religious Instruction (RTRI) is a released time religious education program for public school students in the United States. The program is administered during school hours, but by law must be conducted outside school property. Weekday Religious Education classes are offered in school districts in several states, most of them rural.
Harvey Cedars Bible Conference is a Christian retreat center in Harvey Cedars, New Jersey, providing conferences, retreats, and other events. The Bible Conference has a long history of biblically-oriented ministries and vacations for families and people of all ages and ethnicities.
All Saints Catholic Church was located at Goodlow Street opposite Kemper Lane in Cincinnati, Ohio and was once known as Christ Church. The parish was organized by Rev. S. McMahon in 1837. The Parish served the English-speaking community, most members came from the growing Irish population of Cincinnati. The original Church was dedicated on November 9, 1845. The Parent Parishes was the Old Cathedral on Sycamore, now known as. All Saints had a congregation of 200 families in 1896. The Parish was closed in 1936.
Engleside Christian School is a private pre-kindergarten through 6th grade Christian school in Alexandria, Virginia. It is Baptist by affiliation and a member of the Old Dominion Association of Christian Schools, a chapter of the AACS.
Henrietta Cornelia Mears was a Christian educator, evangelist, and author who had a significant impact on evangelical Christianity in the 20th century and one of the founders of the National Sunday School Association Best known as the innovative and dynamic Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, California and in charge of the college and young adult people in the mid-1900s, she built a dedicated, enthusiastic staff, trained and mentored her teachers and implemented a graded, age-appropriate curriculum from “cradle roll” to adults. Henrietta lectured and wrote passionately about Sunday school's power to teach others the Bible. Within two years, Sunday School attendance at Hollywood “Pres” was averaging more than 4,200 per week. She served in leading the Sunday School program from 400 to 6500. Henrietta Mears taught the college age program herself. Henrietta Mears was one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th Century. She founded Gospel Light, a publishing company for many of her training materials, Forest Home, a Christian conference center nestled in Forest Falls, California, and "Gospel Literature Internationals (GLINT)"., and profoundly impacted the ministries of Bill Bright and Vonette Zachary Bright, Jim Rayburn and Billy Graham and Louis Evans, Jr. who was the organizing pastor of Bel Air Church and led the congregation of the National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., with her emphasis on Scripture and a clear Gospel message for young people. Mears is believed by many theologians to have most directly shaped Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws, which defined modern evangelism in the 20th century.
Raleigh Christian Academy (RCA) is a private, Christian, coeducational, primary and secondary day school located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Also referred to as simply Raleigh Christian, the school seeks to educate students in a traditional Christian environment.
Coates College for Women was a liberal arts women's college in Terre Haute, Indiana. It opened in 1885 and closed in 1897.
Bethel Marthoma Church is a Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church located at Chengara, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India. Bethel Marthoma Church belongs to the Ranni Nilackal Diocese of Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. It is the biggest church in Chengara in terms of membership. Like all other Malankara Churches, St James liturgy is used in Bethel Marthoma Church for worship.
Christianity is the most widely professed religion in Malawi, with significant populations of the adherents of Islam and traditional faiths. Religious pluralism is both a prominent social value and enshrined in the country's constitution.
Standard Publishing is a nondenominational Christian publishing company associated with the Restoration Movement. It was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1872. Major publications have included its flagship journal, Christian Standard, and church education materials including Vacation Bible School curricula.
Rachel Henderlite was an American religious leader who was the first woman to be ordained a pastor of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), which later merged with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (1983) to become the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. She held professorships at several American colleges and seminaries, wrote six books, and was active in various ecumenical efforts.
Julie Sandstede is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she formerly represented District 6A in northeastern Minnesota.
The Third Presbyterian Church was a historic Presbyterian Church founded in 1872 in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was located at 9th and Potter Streets. The church was the location of the first summer bible school in 1912. The congregation closed in 1986 and was thereafter owned by the Chester Historical Preservation Committee. It was a stone Gothic Revival building designed by the noted Philadelphia architect Isaac Pursell. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 2019 but severely damaged by a five-alarm fire on May 28, 2020.
Special Religious Education (SRE), aka 'Scripture,' is optional instruction in a particular religious persuasion in New South Wales government schools ie. students attend after being opted-in by their parents or carers. Time is allocated in NSW government schools for qualified SRE volunteers to teach students about their chosen religion.
The Norfolk Mission College (NMC) was a privately funded public school for African American students in the Norfolk, Virginia area. The school was established by the United Presbyterians and the first class started in 1883. NMC taught thousands of students at various levels of education and provided for students who could not afford the fifty cent tuition. The school lasted until 1916 and was then sold to the Norfolk school board and turned into Booker T. Washington High School.After the new Booker T. Washington High School opened in 1924, the building became Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary School. In 1955, that building was demolished and now the Blyden Branch of the Norfolk Public Library is located on the same spot.
LifeWise Academy is an American educational program founded in 2018 as a free program that provides evangelical Bible education for public school students during school hours under released time laws.
