Traditionally the ‘first’ of the local summer Vacation Bible School gatherings, Heritage Church in Escalon welcomed youngsters of all ages for this year’s in-person event.
Hosted at Heritage (formerly Escalon Covenant) on Escalon Avenue during the week of June 14 through 18, Heritage Children’s Ministry Director Kim Graham said they were extremely pleased with the weeklong VBS experience.
“It was for ages four to 12 and we had about 170 kids,” Graham said. “It was big.”
Theme for the VBS this year was ‘Victory’.
“Each day had a different theme leading up to that, the victory we have in Jesus,” Graham noted.
Last year, Heritage was able to host a modified VBS but this year, it was staged in a much more relaxed, familiar setting, as state restrictions loosened.
Graham said that the church has been using the curriculum created by the group Go Fish as their VBS theme for the last several years.
“Go Fish is basically a group of dads who got inspired to write good worship music, good for kids and adults,” she said.
With VBS attendees rotating through several different stations each day during the week, they did craft projects, learned songs, heard Bible stories and memorized verses, enjoyed snacks and more.
To close it out, there was a special Friday night concert on June 18, featuring the Go Fish group.
“They came out here from Nashville, Tennessee to perform for us,” Graham explained. “They did a concert and it was fun, we had some food trucks out there, there were about 200 people.”
Several VBS volunteers helped keep things running smoothly throughout the five days of the VBS program. Normally, Heritage would host its VBS the week after school got out for the summer but they waited an extra week this year, allowing for a little more pandemic breathing room.
Meanwhile, officials at the church said while they had hoped to host a Fourth of July celebration for the community this year – it was canceled last year due to COVID-19, they did not have adequate time for planning and getting everything in place. But, they added, they do plan to return for July, 2022 and once again put on a festive family event at the Community Center.
