Tree of Life: God’s Promise of Salvation

Concordia Publishing House’s 2022 Vacation Bible School offers more than a new theme – it offers whole new avenues for your congregation to customize and use. This year’s theme “Tree of Life: God’s Promise of Salvation” uses 10 key stories in God’s salvation plan broken down into three areas: Creation (tree of life/tree of knowledge of good and evil), Cross (which is sometimes pictured as a tree of life and we know brings us eternal life), and New Creation (referencing the Book of Revelation, where we see the perfect life we will have forever with Jesus).

But this year brings even more ways to reach your congregation and community. Learning from experiences in 2020, CPH set out to create flexible kits that involve the whole family, not just kids. Their top priorities? Jesus, outreach, and families. This new theme has adaptable components, much like their Jesse Tree Advent Kit. There is a Church Kit, which is available at a much lower price than starter kits from previous years, and a Family Kit, which can be sent home as additional material for family learning and further engagement.

CPH also realized that VBS materials need flexible scheduling. Some churches love offering a morning VBS that lasts for five days. But many churches struggle with finding volunteers or have busy families. This theme is designed to be easily used as an evening, a one-day, or weekend VBS. Taking it one step further, since many churches try to give volunteers a break over the summer, this theme can also be used as a summer Sunday school program or even a congregational sermon series.

By having so many different avenues of learning, churches can easily take material and apply it throughout the year. For example, a church could do a weekend VBS in July, send families home with the additional Family Kit, have a winter sermon series based on this theme, and then host a “VBS reunion” in early spring. Having so many ways to extend the VBS experience throughout the year connects with visitor families, so that the relationship grows more past that first visit.

To learn more about “Tree of Life: God’s Promise of Salvation” reach out to Anna Johnson at CPH at anna.johnson@cph.org.