Campers at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica, California paint crosses during vacation Bible school crafts time.
Jason DeRose/NPR
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Jason DeRose/NPR
At Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica, California, about 20 elementary school children were captivated by Katie Nakata as she taught them a song:
“In the beginning, God created the sea,” she sang.
“In the beginning God created the sea,” they repeated.
Nakata was one of four young men who led Mt. Olive’s summer Bible school. As the morning service began, the three ran toward each other and held hands.
“In the name of the Father,” they shouted. “And in the name of the Son. And in the name of the Holy Spirit. Three in one, we welcome you to worship!”
Looks like a resort Bible school from any era: daily worship, singing, crafts, lots of games—and of course, Bible stories.
But there was one big difference: Some of the campers weren’t members of this congregation — or any congregation — and may not have heard the Bible stories before. Mt. Olive advertised online and put up signs inviting the entire community to attend.
It’s not just the stories in the Bible that are strange.
For decades, churches have offered summer camps for kids called vacation Bible schools — often referred to by their acronym, VBS. Now they are adapting to the changing dynamics of family life and religious involvement. Instead of recruiting volunteers from their congregations to run vacation Bible schools, Mt. Olive hired Lutheran Retreats, Camps and Conferences to create and lead the program.
VBS summer camp is a service for parents who can’t easily take a week off work to volunteer, said Mt. Olive pastor Christie Webb.
“They’ll say, ‘I’m looking for something to do this week with my kids, and this is an inexpensive way to take care of my kids during the week.'”
At one time, most vacation Bible schools were free because they were run by volunteers. But the need to hire staff means that some now charge a small fee.
One of the working mothers whose sons attend VBS at Mt. Olive is Christa Peters, who works in health care. She said religious education is important in her family, but it’s not just about 8-year-old Rigby Peters learning specific songs or stories.
“He is building a community based on the morals and values that we believe in as a family,” she said.
Rigby said he was looking forward to spending time with old friends from the congregation and meeting new ones. However, he admitted he would rather be at soccer camp.
But he planned to combine his sports interests with attending vacation Bible school. That included craft time.
“Probably make soccer bracelets,” he said.
Julia Chin, a pianist who lives in Shanghai but is visiting family and working in Los Angeles this summer, also brought her children to VBS at Mt. Olive.
She found it online and is grateful that it doesn’t end at noon like some other summer programs for kids. VBS Camp opens at 8 a.m. and staff provide child care until 5:30 p.m. to accommodate most work schedules.
Religious education is declining nationwide.
With these innovations, you might think VBS is booming. But it turns out fewer congregations are offering them. “And that’s a little sad,” says Scott Thumma, a sociologist of religion and director of the Hartford Institute for Religious Studies.
Before 2020, just over a third of congregations offered vacation Bible school. Now, that number is less than a third.
Thumma said there has been a similar decline in Sunday school. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 88% of congregations offered Sunday school. That number has dropped to 81%.
“We are talking [about] Nearly 30,000 congregations that once provided religious education for children no longer do so,” Thumma said.
Reasons include a lack of interest in religion among young people, plus competition from flashier groups. Think surfing or coding.
But for congregations that still hold vacation Bible school, there’s still plenty of energy.
Welcome to “Camp Mess”
At First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, youth pastor Jamie Jones expects about 30 kids for what she calls Camp Messy. It sounds more fun than “vacation Bible school,” and “faith in general is messy,” she explains.
“But God has also done some pretty amazing things.”
Things like the creation of the universe. The recent biochemistry grad at the University of California, Berkeley, plans to offer hands-on science and religion lessons. This isn’t your parents’ vacation Bible school.
“On the first day you’re going to learn about light. Obviously sunlight,” she said.
Another day, children will build volcanoes to explore God’s creation of the earth. For the lesson on human creation, Jones will teach about the respiratory system and how God breathed life into humanity.
All of these activities fit into the spirit of Messy Camp: “exploring the world around us and how we can make a difference,” said Tricia Guerrero, pastoral associate at First United Methodist Church.
It’s that difference, she said, that helps the congregation look beyond themselves and serve people in every way possible.
“We don’t cling to the idea that the goal is membership,” Guerrero says. “The ultimate goal is community and reaching out beyond our church doors to connect with our neighbors.”
