The Party's Over...
Leah.Davenport • June 19, 2017
Whew! There is nothing like 'VBS tired'. Whether you have 30, 300, or 3,000 in your Vacation Bible School, workers get tired...really tired. It is a bone-aching tired. However, it comes with a huge plus - knowledge that you had a chance to have a positive impact in the life of a child
. Makes it all worth it, doesn't it?
What's next? VBS has come and gone. Now what? We have a few suggestions for you.
- Followup - Check out this updated blog post with ideas for finding those you need to reach out to, and links to help articles to help you accomplish that. This is your best opportunity of the year to reach unchurched families. Don't let it pass you by.
- Express Gratitude - You have quite a few people to thank - parents for bringing their children (you might do that with 'front-porch visits' - see the blog post mentioned above), workers for their commitment to make that week happen, housekeeping staff for cleaning up after you all week, office staff for whatever support they gave you throughout the week. Be sure to thank them with an email, or cookies in the break room...something that lets them know their participation did not go unnoticed.
- Clean up your data - Admin users, run the Duplicate Finder to get any duplicate records merged so you can minister effectively to the right people. Staff, once you've finished with the VBS orgs, drop everyone and make those orgs Inactive (your Admin can do that from the Org > Search page , just let him know when to do that for you). Remember - you can always find those that attended VBS by using Search Builder. See the blog post mentioned above. Children do not need to stay enrolled in VBS all year!
- Rest - You probably don't have long to do this, as some other event or program is probably just around the corner. But do take some time to get refreshed and energized so you do not get burnt out doing God's work at your church. Read a new book; go to the zoo; have an old-fashioned picnic in the park with your spouse, your children or grandchildren...or just catch up on some sleep. Take care of yourself (and don't neglect your own spiritual gitemth) so you can minister effectively to others.
Read more...in this updated blog post about effective VBS followup.