The Big Question

This month’s question is: ‘Have you ever been involved in a church holiday club?’

“I got involved in Holiday Club about seven or eight years ago – I had to think about it a bit first but decided to go for it.

“I did not know what to expect the first time so was slightly nervous but I loved it. Since then I have been involved in every Holiday Club at Kirkliston Parish Church.

“I am now the Children’s and Families Worker and am organising it for the first time.

“Holiday Club is crazy, energetic, serious, fun and rewarding.

“Working with people all volunteering their time and energy to spread the love and message of Jesus is amazing.

“The children are awesome and so responsive.

“Their sense of fun and willingness to participate in everything from games to bible discovery is uplifting – putting your energy into a week of Holiday Club can be exhausting but watching the children respond and the joy they bring makes you forget the tiredness!

“I love being able to demonstrate that Jesus is in my life and life with Jesus is not boring. Growing up for me, church was a serious place and fun limited and I am so glad that I can be the big kid at heart that I am serving God! Meeting with children who have had limited contact with church might sound challenging but being able to talk about how Jesus has changed our lives and showing them how relevant the message still is today is an amazing and rewarding experience.

“Thinking about it? Go for it!”

“Last year, I was a part of the holiday club week in Ferguslie Park, Paisley. I was a team leader with Tim Raynes from Scripture Union Scotland.

“There were two elements to our days: the afternoon where we used SU’s ‘Team Builders’ material to built friendship with primary aged children and an evening event for teenagers outside in the community of Feegie.

“In the afternoon, we’d make memories together and, as best we could, show the children the love of Jesus.

“I can still recall, finding that love of dancing (don’t try to picture that too much”); the daily fun of the drama as my character continually ate biscuits; times where we’d speak about Jesus’ life, eat together and create crafts.

“In the evenings, six others and I off ered football and basketball in the ‘purple cages.’ There, I discovered the joy of not caring about the torrential rain as we ran around a tarmac pitch, where the goals seemed more like swimming pools and I’d return home with soaked feet, wet jeans, but not really caring because it’d been so much fun together.

“Sure, there weren’t many young people who wanted to join in, but those who did welcomed us. Sometimes I sensed that they were wondering if we didn’t really have homes to go to and why we’d come outside in the rain to find them?

“For me being in the holiday club is something I’d do over and over and over again.”

“The first week of the summer holidays is imprinted on my mind – it is our church’s annual holiday club!

“I’ve grown up attending holiday club, then during my teen years began to help on the team, and now I’m assistant team leader.

“Each morning we find a new story, spending time in groups, doing challenges and most importantly, talking to the children and being able to tell them about Jesus.

“Group times are one of my favourite parts of holiday club, because it’s during this time that the kids get to tell us stories, ask questions, and often share jokes!

“Each afternoon, the older kids come back for a quiz, followed by sports and games and in the evening, our session consists of arts and crafts, and games.

“This is a space where questions can be asked and talking more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

“Our final session of the day is our Teen Programme.

This is filled with ice cream floats, Bible scavenger hunts, and a time for young Christians to be together.

“My church’s holiday club is full on with the amount we pack in to one week, but the kids love it, and we do too!

“We get the chance to plant the seeds to the very young, and often they encourage us to grow more!

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

“I have been involved in holiday clubs for many, many years (more than I care to mention) both as a volunteer and as leader.

“They are a great way to reach children and their families that might not otherwise step across the threshold of your church. And by doing so enables conversations and relationships to develop.

“We usually use material produced by Scripture Union – which provides a whole programme of activities, games etc. But we do adapt it to our situation.

“For example we rarely use the drama provided as we don’t have enough people to do this. And we might change some of the suggested crafts and games.

“It is important to plan well and have enough people to volunteer so as not to over stretch and stress your team.

“The real appeal of a holiday club is that often families are looking for things to keep the children occupied over the holidays. And by off ering to do this we are helping them.

“Of course it off ers an opportunity to share the Gospel message but that’s not my first priority. Being able to get to know the children and families is a gift. And it is fun!

“This year we are trying something diff erent. Instead of running our holiday club over a whole week, we are running it one morning a week, each of the weeks of the school holidays. And alongside this hoping to off er other activities on other days. I am excited to see how that works.”

“The last holiday club which I volunteered at was jungle themed. The games and activities tied in with the animal theme, with the Bible stories of Daniel in the lion’s den, Jonah and the whale and Noah’s Ark fitting around the same theme too.

“For the games and activities I helped the younger children complete their animal crafts before running a game of dodgeball outside with them – the dodgeballs being flies in the jungle they had to avoid.

“After learning about diff erent animal stories in the Bible, we led a session of praise, incorporating Rend Collective’s ‘My Lighthouse’ as well as some classics – ‘He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands’ and ‘Give Me Joy In My Heart’. This was a very popular part of the day, with the children (and adults!) of all ages getting into the songs old and new.

“We had around 30 kids and their families each day, and following the day’s activities we reflected as a team on how the programme had run, sharing ideas on how to make the next holiday club even better.

“All the families had really engaged with the day and the children all took something away with them – be it an animal mask they’d made, new friends they’d met as well as an understanding of the Bible and God’s love.

“It was very encouraging to see how many of the Bible stories were already known to the children – even those we don’t see every Sunday.”