The Un-organizing Church

Barna published a recent study about Vacation Bible School (VBS). The research compares VBS numbers from 1997 and 2012. In general, VBS numbers are down from 81% to 68%.

About half of the reasons congregational ministries gave for not having a VBS was either lack of volunteers or lack of time. Anyone with insight of how congregations operate know that these are nearly one in the same reason.

It’s easy for a boss to feel busier when his company is going out of business. Once volunteers get low, the administration feels busier, even though it’s an indication that numbers are dropping. Congregations don’t have VBS because they don’t have time because they don’t have volunteers because their numbers are dwindling.

And the numbers are dropping across the board. That’s been the consistent message from Barna.org, as well as a whole lot of other sources, including those not related to research.  · · · →