This year’s theme at Stettler United Church’s summer vacation Bible school was “The Gospel according to Dr. Seuss.”
Running from July 25-29, the camp for youth in the Stettler area was designed to keep children occupied with activities and crafts, all while learning important lessons from the Bible.
“Not unlike the parables of Jesus, lots of food for thought came from Seuss’ seemingly over-the-top stories and illustrations,” Jan Richardson, who ran the school, said. “‘Oh the Thinks You Can Think,’ was the book that lead our discussion time each day. Helping to sort out the silliness from the substance, and realize the references Dr. Seuss had made about human nature and that of the nature of God (was) incorporated into and explored through songs, prayers, crafts, snacks and games.”
Richardson said that the school, which is dependent on the many volunteers who donate their time to help run the week-long extravaganza of crafts, music and fun, received federal government funding this year. The money allowed them to hire a summer student to fully dedicate their time to programming for the week-long event, which ran from 9 a.m. to noon.
“Along with helping the church in other ways for nine weeks, Cassidy Munholland was the coordinator for this year’s kids’ camp,” Richardson explained.
“Our week ended with the story/theme ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go,’” Richardson added. “As Cassidy talked about going back to (the University of Alberta) in September — with this summer’s unique experience to add to her resumé — the kids told her about their dreams of becoming doctors, police officers, parents, ambulance attendants, veterinarians, and authors. That’s quite the list. Hopefully this week together helped equip everyone for faith and life. Such a high calling.”