2021 Summer Ministry: What did it look like?

The summer of 2021 here in New England has been less than stellar but summer ministries around our region have exploded! It has been awesome to see the many, different ways that churches in all six states have approached their summer outreaches. There has been a renewed excitement to reach out to families and kids and get them reconnected and to get to know others in the community.

Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School has continued to be a strong and effective way to reach people in our neighborhoods.  With Covid still lurking some churches chose new approaches.  Lori McDowell, VBS Director, at Middletown Baptist Church, Middletown, RI, chose to do their VBS outside for the most part.  They did their opening rally in their large and airy sanctuary and transitioned outdoors for all of the rotations (Bible study, recreation, crafts, missions and snacks). McDowell noted, “Volunteers had to be creative with the decorations but all in all the energy and expanse of being outside worked well.”  They even had challenges with rain later on in their week and made minor adjustments to help the kids have great active learning experiences.

Hybrid VBS and block party

Christian Fellowship Church in Londonderry, New Hampshire took a hybrid approach and offered their Vacation Bible School online during the week and ended the week with a block party on Saturday morning.  Ron Mills, VBS Director, shared that they had “more volunteers than they have had in years past.” Students from Northeastern Baptist College in Vermont were recruited to help with music and marketing. They are already looking forward to getting started on next year’s event and plan to host it in person.

Weekly Wednesday nights

Pam Sanders, Children’s ministry director, at Faith Baptist in Warwick, RI, reported doing their Vacation Bible school on Wednesday nights throughout the summer. This meant taking the curriculum and making it last twice as long. They used their creativity and kids were able to continue enjoying fun while learning truths of the Bible. Their church leadership used their VBS to invite parents to prayer and Bible study at the same time as the kids enjoyed their VBS experience. Their VBS experience will be a launching point for their fall children’s ministry.  

Adult Vacation Bible School

Adult Vacation Bible School has not been widely used here in the Northeast, but Church of the Vine in South Carver, Massachusetts, has been engaging adults through this VBS class for decades.  They have found that their adult class is typically larger than any of the classes they have at VBS.  The adults take part in every part of the VBS experience and they even have fun with all the silly music and even participate in raising money for missions.  Church of the Vine has found that this class offers parents a great baby step into church life and they have seen many families start coming to church because of this ministry to adults.

Countless churches throughout our region engaged their communities through sports camps, movie nights, ice cream socials and many more creative ways to make important connections to build relationships. Now that summer is winding down, they are now diving into the hard work of follow up and finding the next opportunity to continue the connections of summer. Please keep these efforts in prayer and pray for the expansion of the Kingdom across this region.

Sandy Coelho serves as lay leadership development coordinator at the Baptist Convention of New England.