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By Jason Stump
Guest Columnist

There’s nothing quite like the taste of “bug juice” in a paper cup and cookies on a napkin served up by church ladies in a fellowship hall. Together with your friends with your nametag hung around your neck with a piece of yarn. Maybe some glue, or paint, left to peel from your fingers later. If you’re lucky, a craft you made will be displayed for a year, or so, before heading to the attic. If you are truly looking for a keepsake, there may even be a scar on a knee or elbow from visiting the recreation station. Water balloons, kickball, hula hoops, cones, yarn, Popsicle sticks, clay, paint, spaghetti stains, and PB&J. Summertime and community love. 

Ahhhh….the sweet and sometimes sweaty memories of Vacation Bible School. We may have been unaware of it, but we were certainly living out the sacred words, “Do This in Remembrance of Me.” There’s a lot to be learned in the practice and living out of things. 

In a rapidly evolving world, one in which we really don’t know what the world we are preparing children for will look like in even 20 years, there are some things I believe will remain eternal truths and essential, life-sustaining needs. 

Play, as research proves, is essential to learning at all life stages. Not necessarily competitive events, though they certainly have value, but play for the sake of fun, imagination, collaboration, and physical activity that benefits bodies and spirits. Crafts, outdoor relays and simple tableside games. They all do this.

Storytelling, a human practice as old as our species. Passing down information from one generation to another, especially that which has moral value, is no doubt part of the sinews that hold humanity together. It is as valuable to the storyteller as it is to the listener sitting “criss-cross applesauce” on the floor. 

Singing and music. On top of the way it improves our cognitive development and strengths, there are other proven benefits as well. It improves motor skills, builds relationships, expands communication, enhances imagination and makes people happy. When was the last time you did a little air guitar or played the steering wheel drums? 

And lastly for this column, but certainly not the final benefit, my favorite: eating together! In the planning, preparation, serving and consuming of communal meals, or snacks, there are so many layers of love and nourishment. Imagine the retirees planning what meal they’ll prepare for children they’ve never even met. Some will bring the pasta, some the bread, and we can’t forget the cheese! Others will cook, clean up, or dish it out. How cool is that? People of one generation putting in all this for children several generations behind that they’ve yet to meet. Then there’s the parents, who, at least for a few days, have a little less to worry about and fit into their schedule. There will be fewer dishes, a little less stress, a few moments alone, or added moments of quality time, and much more. Then, perhaps the most precious and important: the children. Learning to say “may I have” or “thank you.” Learning to share. The joy of eating with friends you haven’t seen since school ended and meeting new friends. The memory of those folks, who maybe you’ve never met before, saying “come and eat.” So similar to the words I used just before serving Holy Communion: “Come, for all things are ready.”

Friends and neighbors, whether you believe in a higher power or not, if you desire to have your children grow into Christ followers, or you think that Christianity is harmful to humanity. The benefits of having your child participate in a loving, inclusive and life-sustaining VBS program adds skills and experiences to their life that will prepare them for what lies ahead. While we have no idea what the world will be like, I do believe we know what people will need to be like: playful, imaginative, loving, industrious, communal and happy. Those skills cross industries, politics, theology and culture. Learning, practicing and experiencing them at a young age provides long-lasting benefits. 

I encourage you, as one who can still taste the “bug juice” and PB&J and can hold my finger up and sing “This Little Light of Mine” in life’s storms: seek out a VBS for your family this summer. Give yourself and your children the benefits that will carry each of us through what may be some difficult, divisive and tumultuous times ahead. At the very least, go to a place where you will hear the words, “You are loved.” Those words are true, and they can be trusted. 

If you want help finding a VBS near you, or more than one, reach out. I’m glad to help!

REV. JASON STUMP is pastor of Oakland Christian United Church of Christ in Suffolk. He can be reached at pastorstump@gmail.com.