MennoMedia
Customer requests put VBS 2012 on fast track
MennoMedia to release Bible school materials in December
By Cynthia Linscheid
HARRISONBURG, Va., and WATERLOO, Ont.—Customers eager to preview and select Mennonite vacation Bible school materials won’t have to wait quite as long this year.
“Typically, our customers use Bible school materials during the summer months,” said Mary Ann Weber, MennoMedia’s managing editor for curriculum. “But they begin exploring options far in advance. Previously some customers wanted to purchase our yearly VBS curriculum earlier than we’ve been able to provide it, so this year we worked hard to move our deadlines up.”
Weber said the 2012 files are at the printer and that the VBS materials will arrive in the MennoMedia warehouses in Harrisonburg, Va., and Waterloo, Ont., by about Dec. 15.
This year’s curriculum, Take Me to the Water: God’s Love Flows, includes flexible materials for age 4 through grade 8. The content may be organized for a traditional weekly plan or as a 12-week program.
Take Me to the Water includes several items new for MennoMedia customers. “We’re very excited to be able to offer individual MP3 downloads of the songs in addition to a song CD,” said Weber. Two other new items will be made available free online: a PowerPoint slide show with the Bible memory verses that can be used during worship or gathering and a calendar for children to use at home after Bible school is over.
Weber worked with a team from Virginia Conference of Mennonite Church USA to develop the materials for VBS 2012.
In recent years, the publisher (then known as Mennonite Publishing Network) worked with groups in other regions to develop VBS materials, including Central Plains Conference, Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada, and Mountain States Conference. (MennoMedia was formed last July from a merger of MPN and Third Way Media.)
“The writers for VBS 2013 are from Manitoba, and they are already hard at work,” said Weber. “We will have those materials available in the fall of 2012.”
Added Weber: “VBS development teams have been a great way to draw on the gifts of people from Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA. Different people bring fresh ideas and perspectives to our materials.”
Find Bible texts, daily themes, and sample materials for Take Me to the Water at www.MennoMedia.org/VBS. Items may be purchased in a boxed set or individually. For more information or to place an order, call 1-800-245-7894 (U.S.) or 1-800-631-6535 (Canada).
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