{"id":31347,"date":"2022-09-10T15:26:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/tallahassee-churches-bear-one-anothers-burdens-through-city-wide-virtual-vbs\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:26:47","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:26:47","slug":"tallahassee-churches-bear-one-anothers-burdens-through-city-wide-virtual-vbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/tallahassee-churches-bear-one-anothers-burdens-through-city-wide-virtual-vbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Tallahassee Churches \u2018Bear One Another\u2019s Burdens\u2019 Through City-Wide Virtual VBS"},"content":{"rendered":"
JP Linton, minister of music and families at Seminole Baptist Church, speaks on stage as ministry leaders gathered in Panama City, Fla., during the Florida Baptist Convention NextGen VBS Training Feb. 22. Linton is one of the Tallahassee area leaders hosting the city-wide virtual VBS. Photo credit: Jenny Whitaker <\/p>\n

By Joy Allmond<\/em><\/p>\n

The vision at Bradfordville First Baptist Church is to make disciples who love upward, inward and outward. And this summer, the \u201coutward\u201d component of that vision will take on new meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do funnels through that vision and Vacation Bible School is a huge part of that,\u201d said Jenny Whitaker, children and family ministry director at Bradfordville FBC.<\/p>\n

As she began hearing about local churches deciding to cancel VBS or, at best, have their summer decision in limbo due to the COVID-19 crisis, the wheels began turning for Whitaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time someone said it [that they may have to cancel VBS], it just broke my heart,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I thought that there had to be a way for us to share this burden, to lean in and bear one another\u2019s burdens together as ministry leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year Bradfordville FBC hosted about 300 kids. This year, they could reach thousands, with the help of numerous other Tallahassee-area host churches, including Morningside Church, Celebration Baptist Church, First Baptist Church Tallahassee and Seminole Baptist Church.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Kids ministry leaders from these churches will build connections with local families and congregations through Lifeway\u2019s 2020 VBS, themed \u201cConcrete & Cranes.\u201d And it will all be livestreamed on the \u201cVBS Tallahassee\u201d website June 15-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe began to dream together about what could happen in our community,\u201d said Whitaker. \u201cNot just as a way to present the gospel and reach kids for Christ, but to do it in a way that we connect with our city and the kids who have been disconnected for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effort already has 20 local congregations (partner churches) spanning multiple denominations registered to participate, including 17 in Tallahassee and three others in the North Florida region.<\/p>\n

The VBS Tallahassee Facebook Group has more than 300 members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done little advertising at this point, so this is all a result of word of mouth,\u201d said Whitaker. \u201cWe anticipate these numbers will steadily increase as we encourage registration and do some focused ads to reach our demographics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie Pafford, children and families pastor at Morningside Church, said that along with dreaming comes trusting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realized very quickly that we were not in control of this process,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd naturally what we would do in any situation is call on God first. That\u2019s what we did, and we\u2019ve been trusting Him along the way to give us direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitaker added that the virtual VBS helps fill a need for local parents, since many local camps are cancelled for the summer, and there\u2019s a \u201cbig hole in summer children\u2019s programming.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that even though kids will be participating from their homes, the city-wide virtual VBS still provides a connection\u2014one formed through simultaneous activities and common experiences to share outside of their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing we\u2019re doing is creating a buzz,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re creating T-shirts for them to wear wherever they go outside of their homes, whether riding their bikes or on essential errand runs with their parents. That helps them communicate, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m doing the VBS Tallahassee. Are you going to do it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitaker added that as kids approach the end of the school year, even if it\u2019s on Zoom calls for their classes, they\u2019re talking about what they\u2019re doing for the summer. And that\u2019s another way the city-wide effort is connecting them\u2014even before it happens.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  The Power of the Ordinary Moments<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The host churches are also asking partner churches to indicate they are participating in VBS Tallahassee on their church roadside signs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs people are driving through the city seeing the same thing over and over, they\u2019re hopefully going to wonder what is going on\u2014why all these churches are doing the same thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For simultaneous connection, Whitaker said the team will create interactive opportunities through the livestream. \u201cFor example, one of the things we\u2019ll probably ask on day one is to tell us in the comments section what elementary school they attend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even that week in June, Whitaker said, the kids will all know the words and motions to the songs, the snacks, the crafts and the Bible stories, which will be presented by the kids ministry leaders of the host churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis effort helps the kids realize that even though they\u2019re separated and isolated in their own area, they\u2019re still connected,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd partner churches don\u2019t have to do a thing. We provide all the content, supply lists for snacks and crafts, an email template to get their families on board, and some promotional ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitaker said there\u2019s another critical opportunity for the city-wide virtual VBS: an after-the-fact, two-way connection between area families who participated and the partner churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can provide a list of kids who registered from each partner church\u2019s zip code,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd as we get more church partners, we\u2019re putting them on an interactive map on the registration website. People can zoom in and see close-by churches that are doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turns out, the Tallahassee city-wide virtual VBS is attracting churches and families beyond the region. To date, 232 kids have registered to participate from seven states. Twenty percent of the registrants have indicated they are unchurched.<\/p>\n

Pafford said this kind of collaboration helps to reinforce to all churches that they\u2019re all members of one body.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re God\u2019s church,\u201d he said. \u201cThis year\u2019s effort to create a virtual VBS gives churches from smaller congregations to larger ones an opportunity to combine talents and resources to create something bigger than we can do alone. Naturally, we\u2019re much stronger together than we are apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Whitaker and Pafford encourage churches of all sizes, all over the nation, to consider banding together for the sake of the gospel for this critical annual ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cVBS is such an important and vital part of ministry because it\u2019s not just one week,\u201d said Whitaker. \u201cIt can be the start of somebody\u2019s story.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOY ALLMOND (@joyallmond) is managing editor of <\/em>Facts & Trends.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n

4 VBS Strategies for This Summer<\/h2>\n

Free download<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Related posts:<\/h3>\n
A Solution to Your VBS Volunteer Problem The Most Critical Event on Your Church\u2019s Calendar This Year What the Church Must Do to Keep Kids\u2014and Parents\u2014Spiritually Engaged <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JP Linton, minister of music and families at Seminole Baptist Church, speaks on stage as ministry leaders gathered in Panama City, Fla., during the Florida Baptist Convention NextGen VBS Training Feb. 22. Linton is one of the Tallahassee area leaders hosting the city-wide virtual VBS. Photo credit: Jenny Whitaker By Joy Allmond The vision at … Continue reading “Tallahassee Churches \u2018Bear One Another\u2019s Burdens\u2019 Through City-Wide Virtual VBS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}