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Faith and fun
Catholics tout vacation Bible schools as good for kids and community
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published July 11, 2008
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Vacation Bible schoolers Ingrid Keller (center) and Sarah Nofar (right) listen as adult volunteer Marylynn Tice tells the story of the Good Samaritan. |
Clarkston — When it comes to vacation Bible schools, Stefan Hubble of St. Daniel Parish knows the ropes. A 14-year-old, Stefan attended his parish’s summer program for 10 years — first as a kid himself, and now as someone who helps facilitate games for the kids.
“It’s helping out with the Church,” said Stefan last week, when St. Daniel hosted its popular summer program. “It makes me happy that I’m actually helping and being a part of it.”
Around the archdiocese, ministers, parents and teenagers are seeing vacation Bible schools as a valuable way to build community in their parishes. As young children listen to accounts from the Bible, make crafts, play games, and have loads of fun, the rest of their parish communities cooperate and lend their time to make the programs a success.
Ask Beth LeAnnais, director of religious education at St. James Parish in Ferndale. St. James recently was clustered with St. Mary Parish in Royal Oak. This year, at the vacation Bible school, half of the young participants were from St. James and half were from St. Mary.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to show the families that we can gather in a like setting, and that there are few differences between us,” said LeAnnais.
For the 68 youngsters who attended the cluster’s Bible school in late June, making new friends from a different parish wasn’t a problem. And, like at St. Daniel, former campers also showed up to lend a hand.
“Twenty-four teens and young adults who were home from college ministered all week long with the young ones,” LeAnnais added. “Words can’t describe how wonderful these teens are to give their time. That’s always a huge advantage for the parish.”
In the West Wayne Vicariate, neighboring parishes coordinate their vacation Bible school schedules with one another, so kids get a chance to attend more than one.
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Aided by teenage volunteers, vacation Bible schoolers partake in a game of “waterball” – tee ball played with a spongy, water-soaked ball. |
“Every year we have at least 100 kids,” said Donna Stachulski, who has run vacation Bible schools at St. Linus Parish in Dearborn Heights for the past 17 years. “They come from all areas, not just from our parish. So they might come from the community or other parishes in the area.”
For example, she said, St. Joseph and St. Martha parishes in Dearborn hold their summer programs in mid-July, while St. Linus schedules its vacation Bible school for late July.
Over the past decade, more Catholic parishes have begun to host vacation Bible schools. In the Archdiocese of Detroit, about 70 parishes host the programs each year.
Also in recent years, directors of religious education and other ministers have had more resources at their disposal regarding vacation Bible schools. During the 1990s, companies such as Group Publishing and Standard Publishing Co. started making Catholic versions of their popular vacation Bible school programs.
This year, St. Daniel Parish is using Standard’s “God’s Big Back Yard” program, which focuses on various service projects the youngsters can do for their community.
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Jillian Karolski focuses on her coloring while making a placemat for a homebound person. St. Daniel’s vacation Bible school attendees did a service project each day of their week-long program. |
“I like everything!” said Rose Allen, an enthusiastic 6-year-old, regarding St. Daniel’s vacation Bible school. “We made placemats. It’s going to someone.”
Indeed, the placemats were going to the local Meals on Wheels charity, to be delivered along with meals to the homebound.
“They have nowhere to go,” explained Julia Reggirello, another 6-year-old. “And they might be poor and they can’t drive, or maybe they’re sick.”
Each day, the program includes an activity for the Bible school students. The children at St. Daniel potted flowers for homebound seniors, and also wrote letters for them.
In addition to the service activities, the children learned about Moses through Scripture accounts. The accounts were reinforced through the use of games and music.
“We want them to have fun when they’re learning,” said Sandy Vanheulen, who directed this year’s vacation Bible school at St. Daniel. “They seem to learn better when they don’t realize they’re learning a lot. They learn through their actions and through their crafts.”
Vanheulen says the outdoor games are the hands-down favorites for most of the kids.
“The games are fun, and they sometimes teach you about the Bible,” agreed 9-year-old Emma Lohmeier.
Other 9-year-olds in the program said they liked the music – complete with hand gestures and dancing.
“I like the music because we sing about God and Jesus,” said Dana Pangori, 9. “We do dance moves to the words. Some of them are a little tricky, but they’re fun.”
Whether they’re running around in the sun, completing a kind gesture for someone in need, singing and dancing, or listening to Bible stories, the Bible school students always are in the company of their friends, ministers and volunteers. It’s an apt way to approach your relationship with Christ – just ask the veterans.
“When you’re here with your friends,” said Stefan Hubble, “it just makes it easier and more fun.”
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