My son was chosen "Disciple of the Week" at the local Christian Alliance Church's Vacation Bible School. While I tried to hide a sly smile at the thought of the only non-Christian child in the place winning this award, I also felt proud. I was proud of his quiet, good behavior, his attention to his teachers' lessons, and his open-mindedness to some of the different beliefs of the other children. I was impressed at the number of Bible verses he memorized, as well as all the kids' memorization skills. I can barely get through the Pledge of Allegiance without hesitation- never mind three lines of biblical verse.
This Alliance Church Bible School was a good one. Active volunteers of all ages, engaged pastors, a well thought out program, and a big turnout of children helped make it run smoothly. I like to observe a church's Bible School Camp for a few hours before I leave one of my children in its hands. There have been some good camps and some strange ones...Tarp Camp, for example, was a bit awkward.
At Tarp Camp (nicknamed for their use of 2 giant tarps for kids to sit on- one for the boys and one for the girls) the kids were separated by gender into competitive games. The games were of the ordinary type and could've been played in any UU congregation, but there seemed to be an unhealthy amount of gender based competition.
After the games, the children were seated on the tarps and shown a 20 minute puppet show, usually about a child getting into some kind of mischief, getting caught, and then finding Jesus. After the puppet show, children were asked to come forward if they felt the love of Jesus in their heart and wanted give their lives to him. This seems like a big decision to me, not one for a 5-10 year old to make without conversation with her parents or church leaders.
The worst thing to happen at Tarp Camp was not the mention of God or Jesus or six year olds being saved, but a "forced feeding" game where the children had to stuff each other full of dry snack bars in a timed contest. My daughter still has painful flashbacks of this "game." Being ready to please and not wanting to let the girls' team down, she allowed another child to stuff her mouth with bars, almost to the point of being sick.
Overall, I think VBS and Bible Camps are a good idea. They are usually low or no cost, open your child's religious horizons, and give him something to do during summer vacation. As with any new school, day care, or kid's club, checking church camps out is essential. Find out what the church's mission statement is, do a little reading on each church's beliefs, and most importantly, stay for a while yourself and observe. If you're uncomfortable with anything, talk to your child and consider a different camp.
- By Jill Carville -
No comments:
Post a Comment