I could use some input on how the worship rally usually flows. Do you do pledges, sing songs, etc.? We're trying to incorporate brief Missions into the rally too. Does anyone have suggestions?

I personally don't like to use the pledges every night, though if your church is used to doing so, you may find it difficult to remove them. If you do them, I always like to do them first, after a brief welcome, and have a different student each night carry in the flags and Bible for them. Usually we do the theme song and then read the motto and theme verse together. Then a prayer, the worship rally video, another song, announcements, and dismiss by class, collecting the offering as you dismiss. If you're going to do your missions moment during the worship rally (which I personally would not recommend, but it is better than not having missions at all) I would probably play the missions video after the second song. The main thing about worship rally is that it is meant to get the kids excited about the night (or afternoon) and so you want the person leading to be energetic. Usually during the announcements we recognize those who have brought a guest and have some kind of hand out, even if it is just a peice of candy, that we give both the guest and the one who brought them. One thing that I've been thinking about doing this year is bringing in a beach ball to toss around while the kids are coming in and getting seated. Keep it exciting, dont have a lot of down time during your worship rally, because it is meant to be fun. Try to bring it down a little near the end to settle the kids down before they head off to Bible study, but definitely keep things moving. I really do hope though that you choose to have a missions time instead of trying to compress it into worship rally. Missions is a passion of mine and I don't believe there is any substitue for that small group time with a person who has a passion for missions. For some of those kids, it is the first time they are introduced to missions, and it is far more powerful when it is done in a setting where they can ask questions that will help the better understand it. Sorry if I got off on a little bit of a tangent there, but the bottom line is this, do missions, however you can, but I would encourage you to give as much time as you can to it, PLEASE! You never know if a future missionary is attending your VBS, and they may not know either if you don't introduce them in a way that they are able to interact with learning about missions, instead of just watching a video or hearing a story. Anyway, I hope I helped you a little at least, and please pray about not putting missions on the back burner!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bcfbrian7800,

Here's our schedule
Welcome
Pledges
Motto
Verse
Theme Song
Worship Rally Video
Song - In the past we've done a different song each day - I didn't really like that.
Mission Video
Announcements and Emphasis on the Mission Offering
Release by class while the Theme Song is playing

We don't have a separate missions rotation so we incorporate the mission video into the Worship Rally. This year we're giving our mission offering to a local organization and I'm going to have them come and set up a room on Tuesday for the classes to tour and get a very short presentation. Our teachers are really great about incorporating the missions material into their Bible studies and activities. They'll talk about the mission video off and on all day. We also make a very big deal about missions in the Worship Rally and with the offering.

Missions is very important to me, but we just can't seem to fit a missions rotation into our schedule. So, we do what we can to make it a part of our VBS.

This has always worked for us:
Processional (different kids each night carry the flags and bible)
Pledges (US Flag, Christian Flag & Bible)
Prayer (usually by pastor)
Theme Song
Welcome & Motto
Scripture (Psalm 86:11)
How to Become a Christian
Explain evenings events, prizes, etc.
Closing prayer
Recessional & Offertory

During last 10 minutes we have a short closing ceremony in which we sing the daily song which the children learned during the mucis rotation and have closing comments and prayer.

Thank you all so much for the great input! I am still feeling my way through all of the information and I'm having a great time with it! Thanks for the suggestions!

Ours is sort of like timyers except that we use the worship rally video - 1 segment for each night. They are really not that long. We have a large screen TV/DVR combo on a tall stand that we usually decorate with the theme. The students love it. Even the adults. We even show the last segment (no 5) on commencement night to the students and the parents and grandparents, etc.
ASanders
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