By Shannon Baker, BCM/D National Correspondent
SEVERN, Md.—The news is spreading! Already, the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware has hosted two Vacation Bible School (VBS) Expos, designed to help churches prepare for their upcoming Vacation Bible Schools.
This year’s VBS Expo, held Feb. 25 at First Southern Church, in Dover, Del., and Feb. 26 at The Church at Severn Run in Severn, Md., featured Jeff Slaughter, who writes and performs the LifeWay VBS songs, and Jerry Wooley, the 
national VBS Director.
Over 450 people attended the two conferences, which explained this year’s “Big Apple Adventure: Where Faith and Life Connect” theme, based on New York City.
Expressing excitement over the large number of attendees, Wooley, the conference leader, noted that there is a direct correlation between the number of people being trained for VBS and the number of salvations that result from VBS. The more trained volunteers, the more salvations, he said.
He gave an in-depth explanation of this year’s Bible theme, based on Romans 10:17, as well as the five Bible stories based on people in the Bible who had their faith challenged.
Wooley also explained the intentional emphasis on evangelism in the curriculum.
“Over 8.4 million people live in New York City,” he said, noting, “We all live in a ‘New York’—whether it is New York City or Severn, Md. Wherever our town is, that’s the town we’ve been called to… to stand at the intersections of life and connect others to Jesus Christ.”
Several breakout sessions, led by children’s ministers across Maryland and Delaware, focused on the individual age groups and the different VBS rotations of crafts, snacks, music, missions and Bible study.
Three more expos will be held in Maryland:
April 8—First English Baptist Church, Frostburg
April 9—Georgia Avenue Baptist Church, Silver Spring
April 30—Trinity Baptist Church, Waldorf
Check the website at www.bcmd.org/vbs for more information or contact June Holland at (443) 463-3495 or jholland@bcmd.org or Gail Noda at (800) 466-5290, ext. 218 or gnoda@bcmd.org.