How to Keep the VBS Excitement Going All Year Long

For many churches, it can be difficult to recruit enough volunteers for VBS. But those who do choose to volunteer usually have a wonderful time, pouring themselves into the lives of children from the church and community. But, as the months between VBS programs stretch on, the excitement can die away, and volunteers, forgetting how much fun they had last year, might hesitate to sign up.

One VBS leader on our Answers VBS Discussion Page asked other VBS leaders for advice on how to keep the excitement going all year long so people would look forward to registering the following summer (content edited slightly for clarity):

Our VBS ended last week, and thankfully there's still so much excitement about the week. I've already had several people say how they'd like to help next year. I know it's a ways away, but does anyone have ideas about how to keep momentum and excitement up for next year? The problem is that people tend to forget about how wonderful VBS is 6 months later, when it's time to sign-up to volunteer again.

And the other Answers VBS leaders responded with some great ideas (content edited slightly for clarity):

• Periodically post pics in the bulletin and advertise the new theme. If you use video screens, utilize them for an occasional VBS memories slideshow and to indicate what is up next, with the new theme image.
• The music is what gets me excited! Maybe you could play the Time Lab [2018 Answers VBS] theme song on Sunday morning when it gets closer to volunteering, to remind them of the excitement that occurs during that week.
• Always schedule your VBS for the same week. Many (not all) will schedule themselves around it. By doing this, you make it easier on yourself to plan, easier on potential volunteers to help, and easier on families to plan for it.
• We have the kids choir sing some of the songs and during announcements we have reminders of what we learned. You could also consider volunteer-only activities once a month leading up.

Our 2019 Answers VBS is definitely something to get excited about! Our theme is The Incredible Race: Exploring God’s Love for the Nations . This unique VBS tackles a huge issue in our culture today—the one human race—in a kid-friendly, fun way that points kids back to what God’s Word says and the true history revealed in Genesis. Kids will love racing around the world as they discover God’s love for the world and learn about our mission as Christians to share the gospel with everyone from every tribe, people, language, and nation.

Learn more at AnswersVBS.com.