Neighborhood Ministries

Many churches have large Vacation Bible Schools in their church but often only those from church come. Usually there are only a few visitors unless the church makes a great effort to reach those in the immediate area of the church. Kids can not come without transportation and often parents are busy or not interested. In addition, churches often have difficulty getting enough volunteers to staff it. By having small neighborhood VBS at homes of members, it enables members to reach the children in their neighborhood. More children can attend because they don’t need transportation. Since they can walk to it, their parents don’t have to take them. Parents are more likely to let their kids go and kids are more willing to attend since it is in their neighborhood and those attending are from their neighborhood. It also requires a lot less volunteer staff. The church member hosts it and can help with it and those who feel called to teach can conduct several VBS sessions on different weeks in different areas. Members can also get to know their neighbors as they hand out invitations. It also costs less because kits can be ordered as needed rather then planning for a big group that may or may not show up. In a neighborhood VBS, you have a good idea ahead of time how many are coming so you don’t have to order a lot of extra.