In the words of my KidMin colleague, Katie Atcheson, “VBS is my favorite week of the year.” This is the week where anything goes and anyone can come. Both little people and taller people are actively sharing the love of God. We make sure that every learning style is addressed, from the crafty to the drama queen, from the wet game boys to the snackers. And we share the family stories of the Bible. We plan for 5 months to pull off 5 days. It’s glorious!

But now what?

1. Instead of filing the registration forms, place them in your bible and pray for each one to continue to grow in their faith. Pray their families will find a church home or become even more connected to the family of faith.

2. Be ready when they come through the door on a future Sunday morning or on campus for a camp or other future KidMin special event.  Be ready to greet in the children’s hallway.

3. Add their contact info to your database so you can invite them, with a personal note, to the next 3 things you have on the calendar that involves:
Worship – Blessing of the backpacks the Sunday before school starts
Belonging – Drive in movie night on a July Friday where there is mingling and chatting
Mission – Fall packing party for Operation Christmas Child

4. Leave a few things up on the walls for when the kids bring their families on a future Sunday. The space will resemble what they enjoyed for the week, and it’ll feel more like home.  The stairway is great for this!

5. Follow up with your volunteers by personally inviting them to join your KidMin team in another service opportunity, especially your first-time volunteers. (I trust you have already shown your appreciation through a goodie, a thank you note, or a planned pool party for your youth volunteers).

6. Send a letter to each child’s parents who made a decision to follow Jesus.  Offer suggestions to help their new disciple grow in his/her faith and knowledge of God and His son, Jesus. And don’t forget to add a flyer with the upcoming happenings.

7. Wear your VBS tshirt often over the next 90 days…you’ll never know when you may run into a child at the grocery store or Home Depot.  It’s a great conversation starter and you can offer a personal invite.  The Kingdom of God grows through the ministry of conversation.

The last day of VBS is not the end of my favorite week of the year. It just might be the beginning of something fabulous!

What other suggestions do you have for followup?

If you’ve been on church staff for any length of time, you know what it feels like to prepare, plan, and market a great idea only to have so few come that you wonder, “Why don’t they come?” It happened last night at the Family Drive-In Movie.

We have access to a huge stand up movie screen and a high end LED projector. We have a fantastic back parking lot that could hold 200 lawn chairs with beautiful shade and a fantastic breeze. We had a girl scout troupe with fresh movie popcorn and lemonade to sell at 50 cents each to support a local animal shelter with the theme of lost animals as we showed “Homeward Bound.” We had picnic tables and a sno cone machine. We had indoor bathrooms. We had beautiful weather. It was free.

Who came? I’m glad you asked.

Our pastor and his family came. He is kind enough to set the projector and screen up. The moms of 5 girl scouts came. Our staff parish chairperson and his family came. The lovely champion of Family Movie Night came. Our youth director came.

And a new family came with 3 little people who had never before set foot on campus. They were welcomed by the few in attendance, but had to wonder, “Where is everyone?”

Yes indeed, it takes only a few to build a faith community. But it happens so much easier and more quickly when the founding community comes out: to visit, to welcome, to greet, to show around, to make connections with new people, to introduce themselves to new faces, to make some new friends-in-the-Lord, to perhaps be the answer to someone’s prayer through the relaxed time of shared fellowship.

It is not my intention to be negative, but it would be dishonest to not express my disappointment. So, even when you do all the preparing, marketing, sharing, and planning well, sometimes they just don’t come.

This Sunday, we have a giant, inflatable, dual water slide inviting everyone in the community to come. It was originally scheduled for 2 weeks ago, but the bad weather caused us to reschedule. Sliding Into Summer may be about running through a water slide for little people, but what will our surrounding community think about us if the founding community of faith doesn’t come out to welcome and greet them?

“I am carrying on a great project and I can not go down.”  Nehemiah 6:3