VBS 2025 is a wrap!
Thank you for joining us on the roadtrip of a lifetime. We hope you join us next year for another exciting adventure!
Our Roadtrip Snapshot
On day one…
We got to meet Navigator Brian and Scout the Dog, joining them on a road trip to discover that God is with us on the journey!
Explorers learned the story of Sarah and Abraham as they went on a journey with God. Then, they made a pitstop to learn about dry ice, created their own custom license plates in craft time, and learned a new song about God always knowing where we’re going!
On day two…
We danced with the Traveling Troubadors to a new song about a wee little man named Zacchaeus! We learned that God is with us when we’re lonely.
Explorers learned more in story time how Jesus met Zacchaeus, showing him that God loves him even when he was doing wrong things and was all alone. Travelers went on to paint race cars in craft time, do an expermiment with foam, and play a game of trivia with Navigator Brian.
On day Three…
We dove deeper into the New Testament, learning about Paul on his journey of ministry and traveling all of the Ancient Near East. We learned God is with us, near and far.
Explorers discovered through Paul’s story how God’s presence has no boundaries, God is with them as they share the good news about Jesus! They got to create journals to track their adventures, learned about gravity and sound waves, and learned one final song from the troubadors.
The History of VBS
The origins of Vacation Bible School can be traced back to Hopedale, Illinois, USA, in 1894. Sunday schoolteacher D. T. Miles, who also was a public schoolteacher, 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.
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.