3 to 6 Months Before High Seas Expedition Vacation Bible School
Begin praying for your church's High Seas Expedition.
Ask God to prepare the hearts of church members, workers, and children who will attend VBS.
Choose a format for your High Seas Expedition.
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Will you meet in the morning, afternoon, or evening? |
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Will you meet every day for a week or once a week for several weeks? |
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Will your program be for children only, or will entire families be invited to attend? |
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Will you meet at your church or another location? | |
Set High Seas Expedition dates.
As you're considering dates, you may want to find out about other summer programs offered by your church or your community so you can avoid conflicts.
Choose a Director.
If you're reading this manual, that's you! The Director is responsible for planning, recruiting staff, and overseeing all details to ensure that High Seas Expedition flows smoothly. For an even easier voyage, consider recruiting a Crew Leader director who will train, encourage, and check in on Crew Leaders throughout High Seas Expedition. (Remember, your new favorite word is "delegate"!)
Set a budget.
Look through the entire High Seas Expedition catalog to get an idea of what you'll need for your program. Write down the cost of each item you'll need, and then tally the total cost to set your budget. Your church may already include VBS in its budget. If so, find out what funds are available. If your church doesn't have a VBS budget in place, don't worry! Money for a quality VBS program needn't be a stumbling block. There are countless ways that you can easily (and painlessly) raise the funds you need. Consider the following ideas:
- Collect an offering to cover expenses.
- Charge a per-child registration fee for High Seas Expedition. Give discounts to families that register more than one child.
- Invite congregation members to "sponsor" children by contributing a per-child amount. (See the Registration section of the Ultimate Director Go-To Guide for more specifics on this idea.) Now a program called Giving Spree™ is available on VBS P.R.O.™, a new online registration tool. Giving Spree makes sponsorship and supply collection easier than ever.
- Hold a creative fundraiser! Have a hammy volunteer walk around before and after church wearing a High Seas Expedition T-shirt and a sailors hat, carrying a string mop and a bucket. Ask members of the congregation to fill the bucket with change. Your volunteer will get a workout walking with a bucket full of all those jingly coins!
Start collecting decorations.
Look for fishing nets (we used soccer nets, which looked perfect), ship's wheels, blue paper or cellophane, wooden barrels, lanterns, crates, and nautical knick-knacks. You might even let members of your congregation know what you're looking for so they can keep their eyes and ears open for potential decorations.