Welcome to The Ministry Lab's curated list of Camps, Retreat Centers, and VBS. Here you'll find:
If you don't find a resource to fit your need, don't hesitate to consult with The Ministry Lab's director, Emily Meyer, who is happy to assist you.
Kindom Crafters: Imagine, Build, Discover (Chalice Press) is a BuildingFaith Top Pick for 2024!
Building Faith expressed confidence in both the theological foundations, and fun factor of Kindom Crafters, saying, “This curriculum’s attention to justice sets it apart from many others.
The primary writer for Kindom Crafters is Rev. Lee Yates. He is also the Managing Editor for InsideOut Camp Curriculum which is a partnership of Chalice Press and six mainline denominations.
If your congregation is looking for an inexpensive VBS curriculum—just $74.99, with no shipping—that is easily adaptable and has plenty of room for your own imagination to shine through, Kindom Crafters is a perfect match.
JUST Like Me was created through an intentional development and writing process that included as many diverse voices as possible. Development and writing team members from across the country gathered their skills and expertise to create a biblically based and theologically informed curriculum.
Lynn Barbeau's Multigenerational One-Day Bible Camp offers a swift mix of prayer, song, Bible, and indoor and outdoor activities and games. Super accessible for planners, engaging for grandparents, parents, youth, and children, and centered on Psalm 8 and creation care.
LOVE COMES FROM GOD — BUT HOW DO WE EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE?
We see God’s love in close friends and family. We know that such love links our lives, teaching us about commitment, intimacy, grace, and faith. As we seek to create and strengthen life giving relationships, we remember that such love flows from God, links us all together, and we give thanks.
Sample Pages from Linked by Love
Linked by Love all-inclusive summer camp curriculum includes materials for a full week's worth of activities for different age levels. You'll find:
Planning camp, training staff, and creating life-long memories has never been easier!
Linked by Love Daily Overview
Arts Camp: A Creative, Customizable Alternative to Vacation Bible School and Beyond
by Christina Clark
FruitFULL Faith: A Spirit-Filled Life
Have you ever seen God at work and wondered why the moment was so clear? Have you wondered what you could do to try and connect with those moments and feelings? Paul’s letter to the Church in Galatia will come alive this week as we explore the “Fruits of the Spirit.” Seeing this fruit all around assures us we have encountered God. We will see how these same fruits flow freely from us when we walk in the Spirit. Scripture is honest about how complicated life can be. The “Fruits of the Spirit” show us we are on the right track as we observe, receive, and embody these virtues.
Welcome to Changemakers Lab, an interactive Vacation Bible School curriculum where children learn that everyone can make a difference in the world! The five Bible stories in this curriculum explore examples of people who experienced and brought about change in the world around them. These people provide a model for asking hard questions, working together to solve problems, reaching across differences, caring for all people, and imagining a new world. Kit includes two copies of each Leader Guide, one of each student booklet, Poster Pack, Music & Resource USB, two Invitation Posters, and samples of the Invitation Postcards and Student Certificates.
Operation Restoration VBS invites kids to be menders in God’s world. As they make connections between Bible stories and mending actions, they’ll discover simple ways to live out faith in daily life. Everyone at Operation Restoration explores language and practices to mend God’s world.
From GenOn Ministries: God's World in Community: Creation Care:
The VBS Book includes short morning and evening prayer services for families, five scripture stories and five corresponding activities.
The VBS Journal includes 2-3 open-ended questions for each scripture story AND each activity.
The VBS Psalm Coloring Book includes verses of Psalm 148 with blank spaces for illustrations or journaling.
Orange's Make Waves VBS Kit provides tools for a hands-on, memorable week that encourages kids to grow in faith and share God’s love with the people around them.
MennoMedia's 2022 VBS Passport to Peace focuses on
Compassion Camp: What Every Living Thing Needs
Compassion Camp: Be Loved. Be Kind. Be You.
Compassion Camp: Changing the World with Lovingkindness
Illustrated Ministry; get the pdf here; join the Facebook group here; listen to original sing-along songs here or watch here.
Prayers for Compassion Coloring Pages: Volume 2 includes five beautifully illustrated prayers from Compassion Camp. You can also pick up Volume 1 here.
Sparkhouse offers multiple summer programming resources:
ReNew and Creative Arts Camp are both for children and are structured in the traditional five-day VBS style.
Journey Together and Good Stewards Together are both intergenerational and have a default structure of one event per week throughout the summer, though they can be adapted for other time frames.
ELCA World Hunger offers numerous VBS approaches - including many with adaptations for at-home engagement:
Who Is My Neighbor? - MennoMedia’s 2019 VBS curriculum
St. Christopher's Episcopal Church offers their Summer 2021 VBS: God's Backyard Bible Camp for others to use. Thanks, Marion Hunner!
Growing Green Hearts offers multiple curricula combining faith & science to encourage creation care and youth leadership.
Clergy Stuff offers resources for Narrative and Revised Common Lectionaries, including confirmation, worship, preaching, children's stories, and VBS.
Faith Alive 5-session Summer Units series (for kindergarten through grade 6) contain everything needed: song lyrics and music, reproducible pages, complete session plans, and more.
Series includes:
Building Faith offers their VBS and Summer Camp Curriculum Top Picks for 2024
This year’s top picks for new curricula are:
For the full slidedeck of all reviews, follow this link: Building Faith VBS and Summer Camp Curriculum Reviews 2024.
