VBS Family Night
VBS Family Night is an important ministry of your VBS. It is a great way to get to know the families of the kids who have been attending your VBS. VBS is one of the greatest outreach tools for a church, and while some people may not come to church to hear a sermon, they will come to see their kids perform. Below are some tips to help make your VBS Family Night Successful.
- Members should park as far away from the church building as possible. Let the guests have the good parking spots!
- Ask couples or outgoing church members to sit at different tables to serve as hosts and hostess. This helps keep conversation flowing, makes sure no one is sitting alone, and helps guests feel more comfortable.
- Greeters should man every door to help guests find the event location. Guests that have not been to your church need to feel comfortable from the minute they step on to your property, and that includes knowing where to go. Have people available to assist and direct the guests to the sanctuary, worship center, etc.
- Church staff should play a pivotal role. This helps guests put names with faces and to get to know the church staff.
- Teachers should greet and help parents of the kids in their class. Parents want to meet the teachers who have been teaching their kids all week.
- Have fun! Family Night should be a fun event for all involved.
- Follow Up. Get information from those visiting so that you can contact them and follow up with them and let them know more about your church and the programs you offer.
We do our VBS at night – and do Family day on Sunday for our morning service. Then we invite everyone to stay for lunch and we show a slideshow of the week while everyone is eating. We have a had GREAT turnout doing this! We make sure our pastor preaches too so everyone gets to hear God’s Word!
I was not overly impressed w/the Family Night ideas given in the VBS Director’s book this year. So, I started brainstorming on vintage aviation ideas. One idea that kept coming back to me was USO shows. As a young child, I loved watching Bob Hope’s USO shows on TV, whether they took place on a ship, an airfield, or a flatbed truck. So, a USO-type show is the idea we’re pursuing for family night. We plan on having the “show” outdoors and hopefully, we’ll use one of our farmer’s big flatbed trucks for the stage. Each VBS class will perform a VBS song that has been specially chosen for them and one in which they have practiced each day. In between songs, we may have some comedy bits and some fun songs from the adults, like “Boogie, Woogie Bugle Boy.” We also hope to have some VBS testimonies from the kids and adults. Of course, being that it *is* VBS Family Night, we have to have food and may do a wienie roast (and marshmallows for s’mores). Of course, the biggest prep we can do for Family Night and for every part of VBS *is* prayer!
I love the idea of hosts/hostesses at each table!