2026 St. Mark’s Vacation Bible School

For a host of reasons, summer is one of the most eagerly awaited times of year for kids….teachers, too, but that’s another story for another time.

For kids, summer translates to a lot of play time, sleeping in and biggest of all, no school!

With that understanding, in order for kids to actually look forward to a week-long summer camp that contains the word “school” in its title, it better be a pretty compelling program with a proven track record of success.

Year after year, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church’s Vacation Bible School rises to the occasion with such fanfare that, truth be told, it’s a form of school kids never want to end.

And, with its “Illumination Station” theme for the 2026 campaign, the week of learning more about Jesus being the light of the world through fun activities and education was, by all accounts, the best VBS ever.

“Last year’s VBS, which was my first, was a huge learning curve for me,” said St. Mark’s Director of Children’s Ministries, Kaitlyn Nott. “I felt like I’d gotten more into my groove this year. Plus, I had such a great team. VBS goes so much more smoothly when you have the right leaders in the right spots. This year, my team was incredible and I could not have done any of it without them.”

VBS consists of 100 kids on campus from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. for a week. Based on age, the little whippersnappers are divided into teams. It’s with those teams that they go everywhere and do everything.

Once again this summer, each morning started with everyone from all teams together in the Commons for a fun start to the morning that included, skits, dances and, of course, a lot of laughter and smiles.

Once the teams were sent out, features of VBS for all included art, music, science, Bible and snacks.

In order to maintain the kids’ attention in fun ways without lulls in action, Nott’s team was in place and busy quite early on.

“Anne Brent was among the many who proved to be a great and creative help for me,” Kaitlyn said. “She was fantastic. There was so much prep work that started in January, and she was such a huge help. We prepared for months and months.”

Jenny Mac, who also leads St. Mark’s MomCo kids material, taught Bible and, according to Nott, “was incredible.”

“She was able to teach each story in a way that each age group could understand and be intrigued,” Kaitlyn said of Jenny. “She just made everything so clear…and everyone had such fun with it. She portrayed all the stories in a way that really connected with the kids’ hearts and not just their heads. That’s the goal with everything in Vacation Bible School. We want all the material to resonate with their soul. She did that.”

With music being such an integral part of VBS week, it takes a special person to – pardon the pun – hit all the right notes. Kaitlyn’s cousin, Maggie Bowling, rose to the occasion.  

“Music is always a huge part,” Kaitlyn said. “We want kids to praise and worship God, but we also want them to jump around and have a party. Maggie was the perfect go-between for all of that. She really brought a new vibe to music.”

Kaitlyn and Maggie even choreographed all the dances themselves.

“I heard from multiple moms that this year’s VBS was their kid’s favorite camp of the whole summer,” Kaitlyn said. “To me, that’s both special and important because it meant learning about God for them was fun.”

According to Kaitlyn, seeing the kids make connections throughout the week of who Jesus is and what his qualities are was “just the best.”

“Getting kids to learn and understand that Jesus wasn’t just a good teacher, but that he was God, was really cool,” she said. “God was, for sure, there and present all throughout the week. When it’s over, it’s sad on one hand because you work so hard for months to pull it off. But, then it becomes a scenario of ‘what now….what’s next’. More than anything, though, we’re just all thrilled that it all went so good.