For my series “Superhero VBS On A Budget” (including detailed lesson plans and curriculum) click here.

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“With God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

VBS 2013. Superhero Kids. No budget. Thank you, Pinterest!

Last spring, I agreed to coordinate our church’s Vacation Bible Study. Our congregation had just bought an existing church building in my neighborhood. Adjoining our church’s property is a city park, where kids from the neighborhood play in an organized soccer league every fall and spring. I knew that VBS would be the perfect time to invite our neighbors in. But I didn’t know anything about how to “do” VBS

I quickly discovered several companies that publish curriculum for VBS. For a few hundred bucks, they will provide you with a kit that covers marketing, music, art, Bible stories, and all the other specifics that you “need.” But most of the available curriculum operate under the assumption that your VBS will be 5 days. In a small church like ours – where money is tight and volunteer workers are scarce – purchasing a 5-day curriculum just didn’t seem like a great option.

As I vacuumed my house one day in April, I was praying about VBS. The idea “superhero” came to my mind. BAM! Immediately after that, I recalled a tune that I knew would be perfect for our theme song. KABOOM! Then came the Bible verse and stories that we would use. POW! SHAZAM!

When I attended VBS as a child, I remember having recreation, arts & crafts, and Bible story time. I approached a few key people about heading up each these areas. Then, Pinterest saved our bacon.

We marketed our event during the neighborhood soccer games with balloons and photo booths…

Each night of VBS, we worked on decorating a different piece of our superhero costumes…

During recreation time, we modified quite a few games to fit the superhero theme, including: using our “superhero shields” to catch balls and using our superhero powers to break boards (with the assistance of our resident Tae Kwon Do black belt…)

…And our Mad Scientist performed all kinds of experiments that helped to reinforce concepts from each evening’s Bible story.

Where did most of these ideas and how-to’s come from? Pinterest, of course! Yours truly presented the Bible lesson, theme song and Bible verse each night. (Of course, I couldn’t get any pictures of that!) I found videos to help tell the Bible stories. We used a Cityscape Backdrop similar to this one for our set:

Although my team of helpers was awesome, this blog isn’t about patting them on the back. As a group, we had very little formal training in professional education and limited experience in children’s ministry. What we had was Divine help and an awesome resource in Pinterest.The same Superpowers that motivated and helped us are available to you, dear friend.

Don’t wait for your children’s pastor or some other leader to step up. Pastors and ministry leaders are great to have, but they can’t do everything. Think about how many MORE people could be reached if you answer God’s invitation to make things happen. If you see a need at your church or in your neighborhood, start praying. Consider who you could ask to partner with you. It could be that YOU are a person who needs to take on the role of caped crusader. So grab your costume and get moving.

Check out my Superhero VBS board on Pinterest: