Holy Trinity Lutheran Church was ‘@ Home with Jesus’
Summer youth programming amidst a pandemic looks quite different from summer youth programming in a pandemic-free world. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New Prague came up with a different Vacation Bible School for this summer.
“We had to be creative this year and figure out how to put together intentional and relational- based programming from a distance ensuring that the safety of our community was being considered,” said Casey Fremstad, Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministry at the church. “Holy Trinity was not comfortable with the potential risk that hosting an in-person Vacation Bible School program posed to families, but canceling the entire program felt wrong. This is how ‘@ Home with Jesus’ was formed.”
The entire week of Vacation Bible School was adapted so that it could be done at home with families. Holy Trinity staff and volunteers put together an hour-long video program for each day of the week of Monday, July 6, through Friday, July 10. It featured skits, songs, dances, daily challenges and adventures with “flat Jesus,” a little flat paper doll that children colored themselves. It was inspired by the character “Flat Stanley,” who appears in a series of children’s books. Children received the “flat Jesus” either in their VBS supply bags or through an email.
There was also a drivethrough noisy offering at the church on Thursday, July 9, a fundraiser for the mission of the week, which was...
To see more on this story pick up the July 16, 2020 print edition of The New Prague Times.