The early weeks of spring have most church leaders busy with Easter preparations, so it’s no surprise if Vacation Bible School isn’t even on your radar yet. Summer still seems really far away, so why even start thinking about VBS so soon?

While there’s no shortage of work to do now, Vacation Bible School isn’t a small endeavor. Considering how much work goes into making VBS successful, April is a great time to start the planning process with your leadership team. Here are a few reasons to start planning now for a great VBS experience this summer:

Reason #1: Creativity Takes Time

A fun and impactful Vacation Bible School doesn’t just happen by accident. Planning VBS takes careful thought and time to get those creative juices flowing.

Choosing a VBS theme, using ideas, finding a vbs curriculum, settings the dates, putting the schedule together, compiling worship set lists, deciding on (and making) decor, and all the details involved, are all time-consuming activities.

If your leadership team starts planning for a June or July VBS in April, that only gives you about eight weeks to make it happen. While that may sound like a lot of time, it really isn’t. Factor in volunteer availability (or lack thereof), and other projects, ordering, designing and shipping VBS banners and signage, or events that staff members need to work on during that time.

Reason #2: Volunteer Availability

Church volunteers have full-time jobs and family responsibilities that consume their time. If you want their help, you’ll need to ask for it well in advance so they can carve out the time to serve. Preparing for VBS often involves making decorations, setting up crafts for kids, creating lesson plans for the week, making food, and more.

Invest the time early on to identify the volunteer roles you'll need and determine how many people you'll need in each role.

You might want to schedule a few work nights in the weeks leading up to Vacation Bible School for these preparations. You'll also need time to recruit volunteers, screen any new volunteers (conduct background checks and possibly do interviews), and provide training.

Reason #3: Coordination with Other Departments

Typically the children’s ministry or youth ministry departments take the lead for VBS planning. However, that isn't the entire team that needs to be involved. The key areas here that often get overlooked are Facilities, Communications / Marketing, Finance, IT, and Security. Why do you need to get those departments involved?

Here’s why:

Facilities:

• Reserve the room(s) needed for Vacation Bible School - including what rooms you need for any work nights so they can make appropriate room assignments
• Ensure the campus is ready for an influx of kids that week with appropriate VBS indoor and outdoor signage
• Avoid any significant maintenance projects or renovations during this timeframe

Communications / Marketing:

• This team will create the graphics, flyers, social media posts, and print materials for VBS. They’ll need to know the theme several weeks in advance of when you need them to promote VBS.
• The Communications team will likely handle promoting a VBS week. This may include coordinating announcements, information in the bulletin and in email newsletters, updating the church website, and more.
• Communications may also work with the VBS Director to coordinate community outreach efforts. Families not connected to a church may still want their children in a Vacation Bible School program, so reaching out into the community so more people know about VBS can help increase participation.

Finance:

• Hopefully, there is a budget set aside for Vacation Bible School. If so, you’ll need that information to ensure your team stays within the budget. The Finance department should have those details. They will need to know if you’re charging a fee for VBS so they can coordinate the collection and proper accounting of those funds.

Security:

• The church’s safety or security team will need information about a VBS week so they can plan to support it. With minors involved, you want to make sure the campus is secure and that any adults working or volunteering that week have been adequately screened in advance.

The coordination efforts with these departments is vital, so working with them early in the event planning process is best.

Reason #4: Time for Registration

Facilitating a VBS schedule is much easier when you have a good idea of how many kids will attend. After all, you need time to gather supplies, order food or snacks, recruit volunteers and teachers, and more in the weeks leading up to Vacation Bible School.

To get that headcount information, you'll need to start early enough to give parents time to begin preregistration. This means you'll need to get a registration form ready online a few weeks before the VBS program begins. Consider offering an early bird discount for parents who register their children by a certain date (maybe 3-4 weeks before VBS starts).

Planning well in advance will make the week leading up to Vacation Bible School less stressful. You're also giving your team a much higher chance at a successful VBS program when you begin the planning efforts early. While summer may feel a long way off now, go ahead and get your key leaders together to start planning VBS. When this year's VBS is over, you'll be glad you did.