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Compassion Camp: The Progressive, All-in-One Vacation Bible School Curriculum

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Vacation Bible School
Vacation Bible School
Vacation Bible School

When it comes to picking out Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs, finding a curriculum that’s both theologically progressive and comprehensive can be daunting. For years, churches have had to figure out how to piece together various materials to develop a VBS experience that aligns with their values. Enter Compassion Camp, a breath of fresh air in the VBS curriculum world, offering a complete curriculum designed for today’s progressive churches.

A Singular, Comprehensive Package

What sets Compassion Camp apart is that with one purchase, you get the entire curriculum. When you choose Compassion Camp for your VBS program, you’re choosing simplicity and completeness. With your one purchase, you receive the whole curriculum—there’s no need to buy additional materials or supplemental add-ons. 

Theologically Progressive and Engaging

Compassion Camp: What Every Living Thing Needs is an earth-care curriculum focused on the more-than-human world. While humans are a part of God’s creation, we aim to explore the needs of every living thing for shelter, food, water, air, and community through awareness, gratitude, wonderment, reciprocity, and kinship, and specifically, practice ways humans can have compassion for the more-than-human world regarding those needs.

With Compassion Camp, you won’t have to completely rewrite the Bible content or discussion sections. The material is engaging, relatable, and appropriate for kids of all ages. Learn more here.

Engaging, Lively, and Meaningful

“In my twelve years of doing VBS here at First Pres Santa Monica, I can’t remember a VBS program more engaging, lively, meaningful, and loved by children, parents, and staff than Compassion Camp.”

–Peter Earhart
Director of Children’s and Family Ministry
First Presbyterian Church
Santa Monica, CA

The curriculum includes a Director’s Guide with over 400 pages of material, activities, games, sheet music, and more, ensuring a well-structured and engaging Vacation Bible School program. Leader guides for each component of Compassion Camp, including a five-session version for youth, provide clear instructions and creative ideas to facilitate each session effectively. Learn more here.

Music and Lyrics to Enrich the Journey

Compassion Camp’s Theme Song: A Creation Hymn

Music is vital to any VBS program, and Compassion Camp excels in this area. The Director’s Guide contains chord charts and sheet music for six original songs, also available on popular music streaming platforms. Additionally, lyric videos, including instrumental versions, are accessible on YouTube, adding an audiovisual dimension to the VBS experience.

Flexible and Adaptable for Your Church’s Needs

Flexibility is a cornerstone of Compassion Camp. Whether planning a traditional 5-day Vacation Bible School program or looking to spread it out over several weeks, Compassion Camp adapts to your church’s unique needs. Its versatility also makes it suitable for family camp weekends or as part of a church-wide program. Learn more here.

20% OFF through Cyber Monday

In the spirit of making Compassion Camp accessible to more churches, we’re excited to announce a special offer. From now through Cyber Monday, Compassion Camp is available at a 20% discount. This is an excellent opportunity for churches to embrace a progressive, comprehensive VBS curriculum at an unbeatable value.

But don’t wait too long – the sale will end in:

High Praise from Experienced Vacation Bible School Leaders

The impact of Compassion Camp is best highlighted by those who have experienced it first-hand. Peter Earhart, Director of Children’s and Family Ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, CA, shares, “In my twelve years of doing VBS here at First Pres Santa Monica, I can’t remember a VBS program more engaging, lively, meaningful, and loved by children, parents, and staff than Compassion Camp.” Read more testimonials here.

Take the Next Step: Download a Free Sample

We understand the importance of experiencing the curriculum before making a decision. That’s why we invite you to download a free sample of Compassion Camp. This sample will give you a glimpse into the rich content, progressive approach, and practical resources that make Compassion Camp a leading choice for VBS programs. You will receive the entire first session to review and show to your colleagues and other decision-makers in your community.


Compassion Camp combines theological progressiveness with comprehensive content. Its one-purchase, all-inclusive nature, coupled with the engaging and dynamic materials, makes it an ideal choice for churches seeking a meaningful and impactful VBS experience. Take advantage of the limited-time discount and download a free sample today. Embrace a VBS curriculum that aligns with your values and simplifies your preparation process. Choose Compassion Camp for your next VBS program. Learn more here.

Use Illustrated Earth Posters with Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS

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Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS is most likely one of the most popular VBS curriculums available for the summer of 2016. Cokesbury's Surf Shack VBSIn addition to Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS, Group’s VBS options are also viewed as the a standard VBS curriculum that churches across the theological spectrum use.

I’ve worked at churches that have used these types of VBS curriculums before, and I am aware of what the appeal can be about programs like Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS. You get everything you need to run the program for the week. They often come with videos, shirts, all the appropriate marketing materials you’ll need, original music (often including videos of kids dancing and teaching the music)…they can be quite appealing.

Depending on the size of your church and the number of children you’re used to having come to your summer VBS program, Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS might be more than you need. But if you are planning on using Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS, we have made a very interesting discovery here at Illustrated Ministry. Actually, someone told us about it at a conference we were at last week, and I’m excited to share that with you.

As you know, An Illustrated Earth: Celebrating God’s Creation, is our summer product that we created primarily for summer Sunday School classes, but as I’ve said before, I think An Illustrated Earth could also be adapted to fit into a VBS program your church may be trying to develop. You won’t get a box with everything you need to run a VBS program, like you might with a Group VBS or Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS. But it will provide you with some themes, stories, a lesson and a giant coloring poster.

An Illustrated Earth is broken up into three modules, and Module 1 is Water Stories. Last week someone told us that Cokesbury’s theme for this summer was Surf Shack: Catch the Wave of God’s Amazing Love. I thought it sounded like a fun theme – and then I looked at the five Bible stories they’ll be using that week for Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS.

Bible Stories from Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS

These are the stories they are covering during the week:

  • Session 1: Genesis 1: Creation Story
  • Session 2: Exodus 2: Miriam Cares for Moses
  • Session 3: Matthew 3: Baptism of Jesus
  • Session 4: Luke 8: Jesus Calms the Storm
  • Session 5: John 21: Breakfast on the Beach

Now, take a look at the stories that we had chosen for Module 1: Water Stories, before we had heard anything at all about Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS:

  • Week 1: Genesis 1: Creation Story
  • Week 2: Exodus 14: Parting of the Red Sea (not the same story, but still a Moses story)
  • Week 3: Matthew 3: Baptism of Jesus
  • Week 4: Mark 4: Jesus Calms the Storm

As you can see, 3 out of the 5 stories from Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS are the same stories we are covering in our water module. So if you are doing Surf Shack this summer, and are looking for an additional activity to have as part of your program for the week, our large coloring posters would be a great option.

Below you can see the poster designs for the three stories that Surf Shack is also covering in their curriculum:

Order Your Posters Today

If you think these posters would work with how you’re using Cokesbury’s Surf Shack VBS, you can get the posters for Module 1: Water Stories in two different formats here.