Mennonite Weekly Review

WARDEN, Wash. — The strange creatures and complex language of Revelation make it an unlikely choice for vacation Bible school.

The nearly finished statue of Emperor Domitian dwarfs pastors’ children from the three Warden churches — Jandica Backell, Elijah Roth and Analyce Harper. — Photo provided

But Warden Mennonite Church and two other congregations, Community Church and Assembly of God, teamed up to create their own VBS curriculum on Revelation, “Follow the Lamb!”

The Aug. 2-6 program immersed children in the world of early Christians as they heard God’s word in the last book of the Bible.

“People have a lot of misconceptions about the Book of Revelation,” said Brad Roth, pastor of Warden Mennonite Church, who wrote skits for the program. “But taken in its first-century context, Revelation speaks a timely message to the church in our society.

“Revelation is not a scary book filled with strange predictions. It’s about who we will worship. It’s about following Jesus in a world that tries to draw away our love and allegiance.”

Between 60 and 70 children attended daily; about half are not part of any congregation. Children were divided into classes named after the seven churches of Revelation. Each class had a lampstand with a symbol taken from the letters to the seven churches.

Children saw skits that showed the struggles early Christians faced as they resisted participation in emperor worship. Much of the action centered around an 8-foot statue of the Roman emperor Domitian, made out of papier-mâché and chicken wire.

During the course of the day, each class took a trip to the island of Patmos (in the darkened church basement) where the Apostle John taught them about his visions of being faithful to Jesus.

“I think it’s probably the first time we’ve had a rowboat on wheels in our basement,” Roth said.

During the daily opening and closing, participants sang classic spiritual songs as well as two original songs written especially for the program. One song used the tune from Marilyn Houser Hamm’s hymn “Come and See.”

“We get in the habit of thinking that VBS is kind of like granola — you have to buy it in a box,” Roth said. “But we’ve been baptized. We have the Holy Spirit. There’s all kinds of creative energy in our small-town churches that can be tapped.”