Robert F. Smith Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 (edited) Many Protestant churches have vacation bible school (VBS) each summer, and I think that it is a great thing. Especially for the kids. I went to one when I was a kid, and had a great time. Someone from the First Baptist Church, at 1144 Columbia Lane in Provo, Utah (only a few blocks from my house), left a note about it on my door the other day. All ages are invited, but there will be arts & crafts for the children and youth. it will be held from July 11 - 14 (Tues-Fri) at 6:30pm each day. They also offer free e-books, fbcprovo.org/ebooks.html . Have any of you ever attended one? Edited July 6, 2017 by Robert F. Smith
bluebell Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 I haven't. I wouldn't have a problem sending my kids to one as long as they could guarantee that they wouldn't be teaching anything anti-mormon. 2
longview Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 I remember attending Jewish Community Center summer activities somewhere on the east bench of SLC. It was probably sometimes in the 60's.
rpn Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 In my neck of the woods --- southeast, mormons are often excluded from Christian activities, and not allowed in VBS (sometimes that is because Mormon kids know a lot more about bible stories than most of the other kiddos who attend and it can be hard to overcome the I-know-that-answer, but often it is because mormons aren't christian and are a cult and we don't want to be exposed to them).
BlueDreams Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 41 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said: Many Protestant churches have vacation bible school (VBS) each summer, and I think that it is a great thing. Especially for the kids. I went to one when I was a kid, and had a great time. Someone from the First Baptist Church, at 1144 Columbia Lane in Provo, Utah (only a few blocks from my house), left a note about it on my door the other day. All ages are invited, but there will be arts & crafts for the children and youth. it will be held from July 11 - 14 (Tues-Fri) at 6:30pm each day. They also offer free e-books, fbcprovo.org/ebooks.html . Have any of you ever attended one? My little bro did down in TX when he was younger. He really enjoyed it. I don't know what it would be like up in UT.
mnn727 Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 Growing up Protestant, I attended every year as a child. Great time. I still remember the kool aid and the cookies we got each day during it.
LittleNipper Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 (edited) 12 minutes ago, mnn727 said: Growing up Protestant, I attended every year as a child. Great time. I still remember the kool aid and the cookies we got each day during it. In the Riverside, New Jersey area we'd get Drink Atoast and pretzels. But what I loved were the Bible Drills. That was when the kids were told to hold their Bibles up high and were told to look up a verse. The director would state book and verse and the kids would repeat the book and verse ------ the director would say "Charge!" And the kids would have to look it up stand up and read the verse as quickly as possible. We'd also memorize verses to earn prizes. Edited July 6, 2017 by LittleNipper
Traela Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 I went with one of my friends. It was fun, sort of like quarterly Primary activities (which we sent allowed to have anymore ), but every day for a week.
Jane_Doe Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 3 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said: Have any of you ever attended one? Attended as a child, no. Helped out with as an adult: yes. My good friend is Methodist and I've helped her out with it. It's a lot of work involved. They're usually great things. 1
Robert F. Smith Posted July 6, 2017 Author Posted July 6, 2017 2 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said: Attended as a child, no. Helped out with as an adult: yes. My good friend is Methodist and I've helped her out with it. It's a lot of work involved. They're usually great things. My grandpa Smith was a Methodist minister and he always had VBS each summer, while grandma always ran the Ladies Auxiliary -- like the LDS Relief Society, they were his most dependable helpers. 2
Jane_Doe Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 5 hours ago, rpn said: In my neck of the woods --- southeast, mormons are often excluded from Christian activities, and not allowed in VBS (sometimes that is because Mormon kids know a lot more about bible stories than most of the other kiddos who attend and it can be hard to overcome the I-know-that-answer, but often it is because mormons aren't christian and are a cult and we don't want to be exposed to them). *rolls eyes* Makes zero sense. After all, if Mormon's are in Hell-bound, won't do your best to "save" them? 1
Okrahomer Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 I attended once at a Disciples of Christ Church at the end of our street (in Oklahoma) when I was 6 or 7 years old. My very LDS mother did not hesitate to give permission. If she was worried I might get the wrong religion, she gave no hint. Maybe she was just grateful to get me out of her hair for a few hours each day. :-) I remember singing "Deep and Wide"...a lot, because there were hand motions that went with it. 1
Scott Lloyd Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 8 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said: Many Protestant churches have vacation bible school (VBS) each summer, and I think that it is a great thing. Especially for the kids. I went to one when I was a kid, and had a great time. Someone from the First Baptist Church, at 1144 Columbia Lane in Provo, Utah (only a few blocks from my house), left a note about it on my door the other day. All ages are invited, but there will be arts & crafts for the children and youth. it will be held from July 11 - 14 (Tues-Fri) at 6:30pm each day. They also offer free e-books, fbcprovo.org/ebooks.html . Have any of you ever attended one? Are you certain they allow in Mormon kids? In my childhood, we had summer Primary, which seems a lot like Vacation Bible School as I understand it. I'm afraid we lost something precious in the Church when we stopped holding Primary on weekdays after school and on weekdays during the summer. I remember it fondly.
Robert F. Smith Posted July 7, 2017 Author Posted July 7, 2017 9 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said: Are you certain they allow in Mormon kids? In my childhood, we had summer Primary, which seems a lot like Vacation Bible School as I understand it. I'm afraid we lost something precious in the Church when we stopped holding Primary on weekdays after school and on weekdays during the summer. I remember it fondly. Of course they let in Mormon kids. A great opportunity to "turn" them. The LDS owe a lot to the Protestants. Recall how we used to speak of the "Sunday School Superintendent" -- just like the Methodists -- but have changed that in order to imprint everything with a "presidency." 1
RevTestament Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 8 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said: Many Protestant churches have vacation bible school (VBS) each summer, and I think that it is a great thing. Especially for the kids. I went to one when I was a kid, and had a great time. Someone from the First Baptist Church, at 1144 Columbia Lane in Provo, Utah (only a few blocks from my house), left a note about it on my door the other day. All ages are invited, but there will be arts & crafts for the children and youth. it will be held from July 11 - 14 (Tues-Fri) at 6:30pm each day. They also offer free e-books, fbcprovo.org/ebooks.html . Have any of you ever attended one? I did. That is one of the good things the Baptist Church does. I really enjoyed the way my teacher tried to get the class to participate and fielded different interpretations. I didn't always agree with their interpretation, and in fact this class was the first time I heard the voice of the Lord - he essentially told me the teacher was wrong - but no biggie - that only makes all Protestants wrong. Anyway our teacher was a gentle soul, and I have fond memories of him, so that helps. If you don't know who is teaching the class though, it may be prudent to sit in a session or two if you decide to allow your child to attend. I recently listened to a video testimony of a man born a Muslim in Palestine - as a child he attended Bible school because they invited in the street kids, and it ended up changing his life. He is now in Tyre serving the Syrian refugees who went there. This man really understands the heart of the gospel. His name is Mohammed Yamout. I think his story would make a great family home evening session, and I used it that way: 1
Scott Lloyd Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 (edited) 11 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said: Of course they let in Mormon kids. A great opportunity to "turn" them. The LDS owe a lot to the Protestants. Recall how we used to speak of the "Sunday School Superintendent" -- just like the Methodists -- but have changed that in order to imprint everything with a "presidency." Sunday School as it was originally founded in the Church carried a strong Presbyterian influence in its administration, owing to the fact that Richard Ballantyne, who founded the first Sunday School in the State of Deseret (Utah), was a native of Scotland who had been Presbyterian before his conversion to the Mormon faith.* Much of the early organization of the Church was similar in some respects to what the people had been used to in other Christian faiths. It has always struck me how similar the Women's Relief Society in Nauvoo was to the ladies' aid societies that flourished in many Christian sects, although the Relief Society in Mormonism became much broader in dimension, due to the inspired direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Our early hymnody was borrowed both from American Protestantism and British religious tradition, influences that remain very strong to this day. *It's interesting to note that Ballantyne's Sunday School was exclusively for children. It was not until much later that adult curricula were added to the Sunday School organization in the Church. Thus, for a time, there were two parallel organizations in the Church -- Sunday School and Primary -- that had nearly identical functions. It is ironic that children are no longer enrolled in Sunday School, though it was exclusively for children in the beginning. Edited July 7, 2017 by Scott Lloyd 2
Garden Girl Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 18 hours ago, mnn727 said: Growing up Protestant, I attended every year as a child. Great time. I still remember the kool aid and the cookies we got each day during it. As a child, I would occasionally attend Seventh Day Adventist summer Bible School... and occasionally would help our elderly SDA neighbor walk to her Church on Sat. mornings. That was when my hometown of Rialto, CA did not have an LDS ward and we had to ride the city bus into San Bernardino to a ward (we were very poor and my single mom did not have a car, but she had a bicycle with a big basket that I would ride in, and she would ride it to the store, etc in our small town). Finally, when I was a teen (1953-1958) people in Rialto attended Fontana ward as part of San Bernardino Stake. Today, Rialto has multiple wards and is a Stake. GG 1
Jeanne Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 (edited) Living on a government post, my kids had a great time with friends at bible school. They enjoyed all aspects of it and we made sure we saw their little program after it was done. Funny thing though, my daughter's non-LDS friends wanted her to sing in their choir and she was not allowed. Edited July 7, 2017 by Jeanne
Jeanne Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 There was a guy in our ward who offered to teach a Bible class for the post. He was exed.
RevTestament Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 58 minutes ago, Jeanne said: There was a guy in our ward who offered to teach a Bible class for the post. He was exed. Jeanne I like you, but this seems like it could be misleading. He was exed because he offered to teach a Bible class? That is what you make it sound like. Are you putting a totally unrelated statement in with his offer to teach a Bible class? Are you trying to say he was exed and so then he couldn't teach the class for you to take? 1
Jeanne Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 1 hour ago, RevTestament said: Jeanne I like you, but this seems like it could be misleading. He was exed because he offered to teach a Bible class? That is what you make it sound like. Are you putting a totally unrelated statement in with his offer to teach a Bible class? Are you trying to say he was exed and so then he couldn't teach the class for you to take? I am sorry I wasn't more clear. He taught bible school classes with the kids a few years in a row. I was inactive at the time but worked with his wife. She told me that this was the reason why. Perhaps this affected his testimony somehow but she said this was the beginning of a process in the church. Teaching at the Post Chapel may/could have been a problem, I don't know.
Scott Lloyd Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 14 minutes ago, Jeanne said: I am sorry I wasn't more clear. He taught bible school classes with the kids a few years in a row. I was inactive at the time but worked with his wife. She told me that this was the reason why. Perhaps this affected his testimony somehow but she said this was the beginning of a process in the church. Teaching at the Post Chapel may/could have been a problem, I don't know. It sounds very much to me like there was more to it than the mere fact of him having taught a Bible class. 1
Jeanne Posted July 7, 2017 Posted July 7, 2017 Just now, Scott Lloyd said: It sounds very much to me like there was more to it than the mere fact of him having taught a Bible class. I think so too..though I knew his family well and that his children attended church with my children. But this is only what his wife would say...but like you, I think there was more to it. It seems though that the beginning of all of this was teaching at a bible school class..I am thinking he may have went outside the boundaries in class of what LDS may actually believe.
Recommended Posts