Cedar Park UMs develop lessons for Bible classes

First UMC, Cedar Park, believes in keeping Vacation Bible School simple.
For the past three years, the 153-member congregation has chosen not to purchase VBS packages. Instead, church members have built programs that Pastor Melanie Miner said take the kids “back to the basics” of Vacation Bible School.
Cedar Park’s VBS program runs in the evenings and is scheduled for July 11-14.
Miner, a former first-grade teacher, was quick to point out that she believes the curriculum offered by Cokesbury and other publishers is excellent. But her congregation prefers more freedom to be creative, which is what church members get by developing their own VBS.
“Our parents and our kids love our Vacation Bible School,” Miner said, “because they get to be involved in creating it.”
Each summer has a theme, she said, and each night has a focus. Beyond that, she said, VBS evolves with the creativity of the children and the adults who lead it.
This summer’s theme is “We are all members of God’s family.”
“The focus of the first night is humankind,” Miner said. “We are created in God’s image. The second night is ‘We are part of God’s family.’ The third night is about loving one another, and on the fourth night, we’ll celebrate the gift of family.”
Throughout the week, children collect canned goods for the food pantry.
“When we get to the third night, and we’re talking about loving people no matter who they are,” Miner said, “we plan to take the canned goods to the food pantry ourselves and stock the shelves.”