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It's VBS time again
This was Max's second year of VBS, and this time we picked a church that had a daytime program. It's been two months since he had any kind of schoolish program, and I felt it was time. He's bored. I'm tired of him being bored. We needed a mini-break. Max doesn't generally go for new experiences enthusiastically, but he needs to keep the social skills he learned last year in preschool sharpened for the fall. We went to a local Congregational church and his friend Tyler was there too, in the same group as Max. I was hoping that would help him feel comfortable, and I also stayed with him the first day so that he wouldn't freak out. I don't want to be a helicopter mommy, but I also don't think a VBS teacher should have to deal with a full-on meltdown. Not that I really thought he'd have one, but it's always a possibility. He just doesn't have that much classroom/daycare experience.
On the whole, I think he liked it. He got to do a lot of age appropriate stuff - playing with a parachute, doing crafts, coloring, having snacks, hearing stories, etc., etc. He liked his teacher and he liked being busy. Every morning he'd say he didn't want to go, but every time I picked him up he said he had fun. He was good for his teacher and never cried or got emotional. He didn't get groovy like some of the other kids did during music time - he put on his "solemn" school demeanor, instead - but overall, it was a success, I think.
I have to give the VBS people credit. This is a lot of work, and they do it for love. The program was well organized, and the teachers and other volunteers were friendly and good with kids. And not only did they have the VBS program, but there was an ice cream social Thursday night which was served by many church volunteers. I'm going to have Max write a thank you note and we'll send it next week. Every time I go to one of these things I'm reminded once again of the staggering amount of work that goes into one of these programs.
As far as the program itself went, this year's theme was "Beach Party: Surfin' the Scriptures." That kind of sums it up. While I don't expect a comprehensive religion course from a 4-day deal, anything that advertises itself as "Surfin' the Scriptures" can best be termed religion lite. The day I observed Max's class got a very pared-down version of the story of Gideon [Judges 6-7] phrased in language I can only describe as deceptive. Gideon didn't have an army of soldiers, he had a "team." And they weren't going out to meet and hopefully annihilate their mortal enemies, the Midianites and Amalekites, they were, essentially, scrimmaging. The interesting details of the story - the paring down of the army, the choice of jars, torches, and shofarot as weapons instead of swords and arrows - was glossed over. Gideon was a winner because he obeyed God and he and his team didn't even have fight - that's what these 4-year-olds got. Plus the wet wool bit.
Look, I know these are little kids and their attention spans are short. The story in its original language is a bit much for them to handle, and there's perhaps too much going on for a ten minute lesson. And maybe the violent intent isn't age appropriate, although Max certainly could handle this. He loves military stuff right now. Given these constraints, I'd say scrap the story and pick another for the preschool set. I wouldn't compare what was going on to a soccer match and downplay how frightening it must have been for these Israelites to go out and meet peoples who have routinely been oppressing them without weapons. Gideon is probably not the poster child for the day's virtue, Obedience, anyway. In this story, before he agrees to anything, he puts God to the test twice. Two miracles he requires before any army assemblage is done. I'm not sure what the good folks at Cokesbury VBS were thinking when they selected him as the exemplar of this virtue. And I really don't agree with the watered down version of events they included for this lesson. Max's teacher was prepared and enthusiastic. Her materials were not in any way on par with her enthusiasm.
And is it just me or is the beach a rather incongruous image for a religious training exercise? Jesus was no stranger to beaches. Throughout the gospels he fishes, walks on water, and talks to the crowds from boats, but those boats were working vessels and not recreational vehicles or surf boards. Does everything have to dressed up as "fun" to be interesting?
The program's music was just as light as the instruction. Again I had to sit through some excruciating praise choruses. [Again I hate the synthesis of pop culture and Christianity. I'll just link here to last year's rant so I don't have to re-type.] I will say that the kids, especially the older volunteers seemed to be having a lot of fun with the music, and that this was good, clean fun. It just wasn't reverent or especially enlightening.
Overall, I would give the church an A for effort and for providing a great free social opportunity for the neighborhood's kids. To Cokesbury, I'd say, "Is this the best you can do? Is this the most you think kids can absorb about God, Jesus, and the Bible?"