Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill.
It’s Bible School time in Holly County. That’s great for Dad’s paper since all the churches have been putting ads in the Hollyhill Banner to get kids to show up at their Bible Schools. I know some kids that make the rounds of Bible Schools in the summer. I used to go to two or three every summer when I was a little kid. Loved all the crafts the teachers came up with. Once we did these little coasters with our school pictures stuck on the bottom of the glass coaster with felt them stuck over that. I’ve still got mine somewhere. It was a terrible picture with my hair looking like it hadn’t been combed for about a week. At least that way I was glad when somebody set a glass down on top of the picture.
But I do love Bible School. Still do even though I’m too old to be one of the kids now. Instead I get to be one of the teacher’s helpers. That’s just as much fun since now I get to help the kids make their crafts, learn the Bible School songs and play the games outside. While I’m pouring their Kool-Aid and handing out cookies, I get to pour a little for me too and pick my favorite cookies. That’s the graham cracker ones covered with chocolate. Aunt Love never buys those cookies for us at home. Too expensive. She says we’d be eating a nickel’s worth with every cookie. Aunt Love likes making the grocery money stretch.
I like everything about Bible School from the opening assembly where we all march in while Mrs. Wilson plays “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Three kids march to the front holding the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible while we start with the pledges.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.”
“I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands, one brotherhood uniting all Christians in service and love.”
“I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s holy word, and will make it a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path and hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.”
After each pledge we sing a song – “America, the Beautiful,” “Onward Christian Soldiers,” and “Holy Bible, Book Divine.” We might not be the greatest singers, but we’re enthusiastic. Dad says singing like you mean it is better than getting every note exactly on pitch. After the pledges we get to sit down while Dad leads us in saying our week’s responsive reading and memory verse. Dad likes to use 2 Timothy 3:16-17. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
After the opening assembly we head back to our classrooms. I’m helping the Beginner teacher this year. I love teaching the kids to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and “Deep and Wide.” It’s so cute when they get mixed up on which way is deep and which way is wide. Of course, I get mixed up sometimes too and that makes the kids really laugh.
I think my favorite Bible School story is about the boy giving his lunch of five barley loaves and two fishes to Jesus. Can you imagine how he felt to see his little lunch turned into enough to feed thousands of people? With twelve baskets left over. Do you suppose the disciples put some of those leftovers back in his sack or basket where he had his lunch to take home to show his mother? Wonder if she believed his story if she wasn’t there with him? I mean think about the story he had to tell when he got home.
“Hey, Mom, you’ll never believe what happened. I was headed to that place I like to go fishing and I saw all these people listening to a man preach to them. I forgot about going fishing and sat down to listen. I guess you might be surprised I could sit that still but I could have listened to him all day. Everybody else must have felt that way too because nobody left. It got to be dinner time and the man, his name was Jesus, told his disciples to feed the people. I heard one of them saying something about not having any food so I told him he could have my lunch that you fixed for me this morning. It wasn’t much, but you’ll never believe what happened then. Jesus took my lunch, said thanks over it, and told his helpers to pass it around to the people. And they all had all they wanted to eat. Not only that, but they gathered up twelve baskets of leftovers. All from my little lunch. See, here’s some of the leftovers they let me bring home. You have to come see this man, Jesus.”
That’s not the way Mrs. Haskins teaches the story to the kids, but I can imagine that happening. I just hope the little boy’s mother did go see Jesus so she could know her son was telling the truth. Even if she didn’t, she had to have heard the story from some of the people who were there. Here it is a thousand plus years later and we’re still telling the story.
Did you go to Bible School when you were a kid? What did you like best about Bible School?
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VBS has changed a lot over the years. Especially the beginning. When I was growing up and when I began teaching at 16 it began with marching in to Onward Christian Soldiers and the three pledges. Now they don’t do that so much anymore and none of the old songs are sung. The ones mentioned by Josie and in the comments. This was in military and Baptist churches. Now the songs are completely foreign to me. I guess I’m getting old. No, I am getting old! 😝
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Jocie here, Karen. My dad says everything changes except the Lord and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Aunt Love says things do change but hardly ever for the better. She’s not into anything modern. But we still do Bible School the old fashioned way with “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “Holy Bible, Book Divine.” But a new song every once in a while wouldn’t be so bad.
Oh, and Dad says each year is a blessing. Even Aunt Love agrees with that although she says each year also brings some new aches and pains.
My favorite thing about Bible school was the songs, too. The crafts were OK, but I didn’t do them very well. And I liked the Bible stories. I wish we had pledges like you did. I guess Presbyterians didn’t know how to do them. Then when i was older I got to teach Bible school a lot because I was the pastor’s wife! The most unfavorite thing about it as a kid was I wanted to go swimming right when it was time for Bible School. My grandchildren call it VBS because they say no school is involved. Oh, well.
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Jocie here. I’ve never been great at crafts either, Birdie. Nothing ever turns out the way I want it to, but back when Mama Mae was still alive, she always acted like she thought anything I made was the greatest. She was what was greatest. And gee, no wonder you weren’t excited about going to Bible School. Everybody wants to go swimming when it’s hot. Nor that I’d have any choice about that! Church is having something, then I have to be there. Guess that’s part of being a preacher’s kid. And you’re like Leigh – a preacher’s wife. Leigh loves teaching Bible school, but then she loves being a preacher’s wife.
Hi Jocie!
My Bible schools growing up were much like yours. I remember one year all the churches served the same cookies and grape koolaid. I guess the local grocers must have had a sale on those. I got so tired of grape koolaid, I still don’t like it, decades later! But I do LOVE VBS!
A few years ago the kids in my church decided that they wanted to keep saying their pledges after Bible school was over. So now every Sunday they take turns leading the congregation in the pledge to the Flags and the Bible. I think that’s pretty neat that they started a new tradition.
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Jocie here. Lavon, that’s the neatest thing. About those pledges. I’ll tell Dad about it and see if he would want to do that sometimes. Maybe not every Sunday but at least the Sunday before and after Bible School. That would be sure to make the older people remember some of their own Bible school times.
The same cookies at every Bible school?? That would get old, unless they were those chocolate ones I love. Then it would be okay. And I like grape Koolaid. As long as it has enough sugar. One of the ladies who helps with refreshments sometimes forgets to add sugar. You can imagine how that can twist your mouth around. But somebody usually notices and sneaks in some sugar so as not to hurt her feelings. She’d been doing Bible school refreshments forever and has the sweetest smile for us kids. Of course, it’s really fun when more than one adds the sugar. Talk about something sweet to drink! But we manage to slurp it down and then go outside to run off some of that sweet. And I’m like you I LOVE VBS. They should put that in the ad next year. WE LOVE VBS!
Yes, I went to my own church’s Vacation Bible School and that of my next-door neighbors. My favorite parts of the VBS were the crafts and the snacks, but I also enjoyed learning different lessons/principles from the Bible.
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Jocie here. I love the crafts too. Making something. I’m not great at it though. I try but I’m just not as neat making stuff as some others, but I’m good at helping the kids smear the glue and paste on whatever needs pasting on. We did one of those collages last night at Bible school where you stick on pieces of paper on construction paper. Sounds sort of boring when you write it like that, but it was fun. We did have lots of scraps of paper all over the floor. Mrs. Haskins let me take the kids out to play while she cleaned up. She told me to be sure not to let any of the kids wander off. At this age of the Beginners, you have to make sure you keep a head count. We played duck, duck, goose. They loved being the goose. Our lesson was about Noah building the ark. Glad you had fun at Bible school like I do, Suzanne.
I went to Bible School every summer as a child. When I became a teen I played the piano for VBS. When I married I taught VBS. One summer my teen daughter even taught with me. Later I took my grandsons to VBS. What great memories. I will always treasure and cherish these times God has given me. What a blessing!
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Jocie here. I agree, Rosemary. Bible schools are the best. You make me think of the great women here at Mount Pleasant who put everything aside to devote a week to kids at our church. Even Aunt Love likes to help out in Bible school. She makes the Kool-aid. Orange and grape. You get a choice of having a purple mustaches or an orange one. 🙂 Have you ever mixed them? That turns the drink into something sort of brown. Aunt Love frowns but she lets the kids do it.
I loved going to Bible school especially the songs. Wonderful memories.
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Jocie here. Oh, yeah, I like the songs too, Lucy. My favorite is the one about joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Dad likes the verse that says “I’ve got the peace that passeth understanding down in my heart.” That one is a tongue twister, but we have fun singing it.