CullmanTimes.com, Cullman, Alabama

Local News

June 12, 2008

Summer tradition

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  • Joseph Cantrell, left, and Jeremy Pugh take part in an egg race held June 5 during Fairview West Baptist Church’s week-long Vacation Bible School. David Lazenby

    Summer tradition

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By David Lazenby

davidl@cullmantimes.com

HANCEVILLE — Shortly after classes end each year, another type of school starts at area churches.

Currently, Vacation Bible School is in session. Students across Cullman County are now enrolled in temporary institutions that provide a curriculum steeped in Christianity.

However, Milt Hill, the interim pastor of Fairview West Baptist Church in Hanceville, said VBS is not just for youngsters.

In fact, he said, “Vacation Bible School is the most important activity of the church for reaching the lost in our community.”

“Vacation Bible School is reaching out to families — it’s not just the children,” said Hill while watching a group of fifth graders take part in a group race to fill a bucket with water using the exchange of sponges.

Hill said VBS is such a useful church tool because it “drops the guards of people.”

“When a child has made a decision in Vacation Bible School, I always go into the home immediately after their decision to talk to the parents about that child’s decision, and many times — more often than not — I lead the whole family to Christ,” said Hill.

Hill added VBS “gets us into homes like nothing else does because they know what we’re there for.”

During the church’s week-long VBS activities, children as young as 3 years old were learning about the Lord.

Five-year-old Colton Smith said he learned about the Christian principal of evangelism at VBS.

“We tell people that don’t know Jesus — we tell them about it,” explained Colton, adding his VBS class used mail this week to spread the word.

Another student at the church, Spencer Hasting, said VBS involves as much entertainment as it does education.

“We’ve been singing songs,” the 4-year-old said. “Vacation Bible School songs.”

Hill said, “It’s an event the children remember all their lives. That’s the fun part of it.”

For some VBS administrators, the event is equally memorable.

“Everything is unusual for me,” said Mary Bernard, a first-time VBS coordinator at Fairview West Baptist Church. “We’re having a real exciting time.”

Teresa White, a member of Greater Vision Baptist Church who is also new to VBS administration, said she expects the church’s June 16-20 VBS to be a “rewarding” event.

Like many area churches, Greater Vision Baptist Church is using the “Outrigger Island” theme created by Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, a large provider of Christian products and services.

Another church using the tropical theme, East Point Church of God, was decorated with the motif in mind, including the creation of a volcano model.

At Fairview West Baptist Church, classes were more advanced for the school’s senior students.

Twelve-year-old Jeremiah Cantrell said, “We’ve been learning how God died for us and how we can get to Heaven.”

Terri Boulton, 11, added the class has also studied the plight of Moses and the Israelites he lead out of Egypt, a story revealed in Exodus, a book from the Old Testament.

Terri said a VBS craft class built on this lesson when the students created a sand jar that included dyed dirt representing the parting of the Red Sea.

“They’re seeing that it’s okay to be religious and it’s okay to be Christian and to have that identity,” Hill said. “When they come at peace through their profession in Christ, then they begin to find that identity in a very special way.”

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