Vacation means Vacation Bible School for many

School is out. Vacation Bible school is in.

Area churches are once more embracing Bible school, part of their outreach to the youngest members of Christian families, with maybe a friend or two tagging along to do crafts and enjoy refreshments along with the Bible stories.

Bible school builds Bible knowledge along with memories of good times at church.

New Zorah Baptist Church (July 3-6), First Baptist (June 3-7) and Church of Christ (June 20-22) in Morgan City and Good Hope Baptist (June 3-7) in Patterson have all submitted Bible school dates to this paper’s Wheel House calendar.

At New Zorah, the pastor is the Rev. Terry Joseph. But beginning at 5:30 p.m. Monday, the ring master was Natalie Johnson, who directs the church’s Bible school.

The first night drew 71 people, including 11 volunteer teachers. The students ranged from pre-K age to high school, and an adult Bible class was underway near the church kitchen. Johnson expected another 20 students for Tuesday’s class

Four classes, including the pre-K students, were conducted in the sanctuary’s pews and on the choir stand, all with a minimum of chaos.

New Zorah has had to make some accommodations. The familiar Bible school snacks like cookies and Kool-Aid have given way to brown-bag lunches the kids can take home. COVID and a new consciousness about sugary snacks led to the change.

Also, the teachers have to be careful about the crafts they choose, or they’ll watch the congregation file into newly finger-painted pews come Sunday.

The Bible school lessons are slicker these days. Baptist Bible schools have a theme of “God’s Super Heroes: Adventures in Faith!”

The first night’s lesson was about Abraham and Sarah, who learned at age 90 that she would bear a child. She laughed at the idea. But when the child was born, she named him Isaac, which means “laughter.”

The lesson is about faith and patience – not a bad way to keep the little ones quiet in their seats on the first night of Bible school.