This is a highly valuable resource, and it provides a good framework for congregations to develop their own Vacation Bible School programs. One of the reasons it appealed to me was that the VBS coordinators had clearly defined goals for the week. They also acknowledged the challenges their congregation faced. The traditional VBS structure of meeting for a week in the mornings was no longer working either for families or volunteers, and they were spending too much on curriculum materials.

The aspect I most appreciated was the emphasis on establishing a sense of God's family and making it an intergenerational event. I liked their goal of getting as many people involved as possible, not just the parents of the kids attending. Even adults were engaged both in teaching and learning. They truly involved all age groups. The only time kids were in age-specific groups was during the classroom time. During other activities, they were with all ages. The coordinators came up with some great ideas for intergenerational activities.

In her book, Fashion Me a People, Maria Harris offers koinonia (community) as the true starting point for congregational education: "Only out of life together as a people do patterns of worship or programs for teaching or outreach make sense." This VBS program does just that. The coordinators' first two goals are about involving everyone from the congregation and establishing a sense that the church is a family. Those goals came before choosing or writing the curriculum.

This program did a great job of incorporating all eight of the multiple intelligences cited by Jane Vella in Taking Learning to Task. In light of that, this resource gave me a renewed sense of the relevance of VBS. The VBS structure provides learners with extended learning time, allowing them to engage in activities they often don't have the time for during shorter class periods like Sunday School. This allows for coordinators to touch on all of the multiple intelligences. VBS definitely is not an outdated program, but congregations do need to evaluate if the particular structure they're using is outdated (i.e., not keeping up with the current realities of family life).

This resource appears to come from a relatively small church and worked well there. I think it would also work very well is a much larger church, where it can be difficult for parishioners to develop community. VBS coordinators in other congregations can easily take ideas directly from this structure or use it as a framework for developing their own ideas for a "family VBS".