Town Hall Gymnasium The Destination

Of Choice For One Vacation Bible School

By Shannon Hicks

Faith at Newtown held its Vacation Bible School last week, offering local children from kindergarten through sixth grade the opportunity to spend two hours in the gymnasium at Edmond Town Hall each day, August 1–5.

VBS was led by Pastor Tim Kuhn, who was helped greatly by some of the young adults from his church, as well as by the pastor, wife, and a group of young adults from a sister church in Florida. Pastor Kevin Everitt, the student pastor and worship leader from First Baptist Church of Ruskin, traveled with his wife Mallory and 14 teenagers from the Ruskin church to spend just over a week in Newtown. The group stayed with members of Faith at Newtown during the week, presented a concert in Sandy Hook Center on July 30, attended worship services on July 31, and helped to lead — along with Pastor Tim, his wife Cindy, and six teens from the Sandy Hook church — Beach Bash, the 2011 Faith at Newtown Vacation Bible School.

The two churches have worked together for a few years, with the Florida group traveling north each summer during the same week. Lessons for Beach Blast, provided by LifeWay, a Nashville-based provider of Christian products and services, were based on 1 Corinthians 1:9.

Children had the option of dropping in for all five sessions, or just going for any number of sessions that was convenient to their schedule. Each child was assigned to one of four teams: Red Lobsters, Silver Surfers, Yellow Submarines, or Blue Beach Bums.

Registration was done each afternoon, when parents dropped their children off at the town hall, and all were welcome.

“Our door is always open,” Pastor Kuhn said on Tuesday afternoon, “for whoever comes in.” While most sessions averaged about two dozen children, the August 3 session drew 38 children, a record for the Sandy Hook-Ruskin collaborative effort.

The two-hour sessions went very quickly. Each opened with about an hour of physical activities — games and competitions that encouraged teamwork — and continued with a second hour devoted to bible lessons and quieter studies, singing, video screenings or craft time. It wasn’t an accident that the competitions came during the first half of each day’s gathering.

Bright colored sunglasses and flip-flops were encouraged, and one attendee was awarded at the end of each day a turquoise blue T-shirt that matched those worn by the chaperones. It was a coveted honor to be selected by Pastor Tim at the end of each day for that blue T-shirt.

On Tuesday afternoon young adults worked with the children on their team for a relay race. Chairs were set up across the length of the gymnasium at 45 Main Street, and teams of four had to run — while holding on to a length of hose — around the chairs, down the length of the gym and back, before handing their hose off to another four-member crew from their team. The relay race was done twice, building camaraderie even more than the adrenaline it produced.

“When they are excited, they are happy to work together, especially as a group,” Mallory Everitt said on Thursday, August 4. “We start with high energy, which puts them in a good place to learn about the word of God. The games create a sense of community and spirit.

“It also gets them a little tired, so they are ready to calm down and listen,” she added with a smile. “They’re all really attentive. They’re just great.”

“It all goes by so quickly,” Cindy Kuhn, Pastor Tim’s wife, added. “It’s just enough time so that the kids don’t get bored and I think we, the adults, are enjoying it just as much as they are.”

Tess Davenport was one of the students who decided to attend all five sessions. She had been to Faith at Newtown’s VBS in the past, but this was the first year she went for the full week.

“It’s fun,” she said Thursday. “I like the games, and snack time,” added Tess, who enjoys playing football, basketball, and baseball.

“It’s nice that everyone comes together. Everyone meshes nicely,” said Kristy Davenport, who met Pastor Tim when he coached a baseball team that her son Mike  was on a few years ago. The Davenports do not attend Faith at Newtown, but were among the local families who decided their children would respond to the church’s open invitation.

Shane Demers was another returning VBS attendee last week.

“I like the games,” he said, before adding that he looked forward to VBS.

What Shane may not have realized was that while he was having fun, he was learning lessons from the bible. Each day’s lesson was focused around a different word concluding the phrase “Dig Into God’s...” Students began on Monday with a “Dig Into God’s Promises,” and continued the week with Provision, Power, Plan, and Presence.

“We’re doing really great,” Mrs Everitt said Thursday afternoon. “It’s been very exciting, and the kids are having a lot of fun.. They’re coming earlier and earlier [each day], just so they can play.”

(Visit www.NewtownBee.com, and look for this story under the Features tab, where a slideshow offers nearly 50 photos from Tuesday and Thursday, August 2 and 4.)