Attending church on Sundays and Wednesdays was not enough during the summer. We got an extra dose of Jesus for a solid week of activities and Bible study during Vacation Bible School, otherwise known as VBS. Some years the sessions were held in the morning, some years at night, as adults tried to figure out the best schedule for busy parents and for the adults working with the kids. We marched into the church for opening assembly singing “Onward Christian Soldiers,” music composed by Arthur Seymour Sullivan. Yes, that Sullivan, half of Gilbert and Sullivan. The man could do more than write patter songs. One child carried the Christian flag and one carried the national flag. They were placed in holders at the front of the church so that we could pledge to each as part of the opening. I regret to say there were handicrafts involved in VBS. I remember making a cross out of matches that had been struck, so that the match had a blackened edge. One of our youth group leaders had been striking matches and blowing them out for days beforehand. Here’s what I remember best, perhaps the only Bible content I can actually pinpoint when and where I learned it. Ephesians 6 is an extended metaphor and encouragement to “Put on the whole armor of God.” One year, that became our theme. We spent the week learning about the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation. We made all the armor—probably much innocent aluminum foil was sacrificed. And it all fit with the “Onward, Christian Soldiers” theme. Why I should remember this, when the whole analogy is male, baffles me. Perhaps part of the reason may be because we didn’t spend time on any feminine metaphors, which are few enough in Scripture. I had to find on my own, many years later.
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Baptist GirlI was a conservative Baptist girl who grew up to become a career Christian, working first in a Baptist school and then in a Baptist college. For about three decades, it was very good until it wasn’t, and I had to leave. But the Baptists formed me. This is my homage to the good times and good people of the world I left, finally, at forty-three, when I became an Episcopalian. These are my memories; others might disagree with my recollections. So be it. Archives
January 2024
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