St. Andrew Presbyterian Church

VBS 2021: ocean Commotion

Welcome to Ocean Commotion: The 2021 At-Home Vacation Bible School! There is still time to fill out a registration form here.

Your beach bag is jam-packed with materials and supplies to help you dive into three water stories: Noah’s Ark, Jesus Calls the Disciples, and Jesus Calms The Storm. Whatever life throws at us, God is guiding us and Jesus is loving us.

Our key scripture focuses on Psalm 23, especially verse 2: “He leads me beside still waters.”

It’s been a rough year for kids and adults. The stressors just kept coming at us. Now is a good time to think about ways to calm ourselves and remind ourselves that God is always with us. When we find ourselves in the middle of life’s storms—including a global pandemic—what can we do to cope and how can we find peace?

Materials and resources for each story are bagged together. There is one kit for all age levels, although some of the activities have options that are more challenging. It’s up to you to decide which activity is just right for you. We have included most of the supplies you need for each activity, except for a few common household items.

Download your ocean commotion 2021 Booklet Here

Registration Form

A note to adults:

Hello, friends! Welcome to Ocean Commotion: A Stay-At-Home Vacation Bible School Kit.

This is our second year for a stay-at-home VBS kit. Last year, the decision to cancel in-person VBS was clear. Schools were closed, large group gatherings were not an option, and the Covid-19 pandemic was a relatively new phenomenon.

This year, the decision was not quite so obvious. VBS planning starts months in advance. As we moved past Christmas and into springtime, the pandemic outlook was brighter. Vaccinations were on the way! However, the decision to meet in person or stay at home had to be made in late winter so we could prepare our plan. It still seemed pretty iffy and we weren’t exactly sure what the summer would hold. We chose to play it safe and offer At-Home VBS again.

Perhaps by the time you read this the world will be different, large groups will be meeting again, and everyone will feel safe. Or maybe not. We chose to act on the side of caution. As much as we would have loved to gather a large, energetic, fun group of children and leaders together for a week, it just didn’t feel like the right decision in February.

So here we are, ready for Ocean Commotion—a three-part at-home packet jam-packed with stories, science experiments, art projects, Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness, and more.

Take a look at the enclosed booklet to get all the details.

Thank you for including this Ocean Commotion in your summer plans!

Heather Woodin

Director of Children’s and Family Ministry

hwoodin@saintandrew-ic.org

319-338-7523

Ocean commotion 2021 Booklet

tHE tHEME sONG: cOMMOTION ON THE oCEAN

You can't have VBS without a catchy theme song, and St. Andrew's own Dave Duys has written this song especially for this year's theme.

The videos below provide a chance to sing along with Dave to the full song with all verses or a chance to slow things down and learn the words to the chorus.

The lyrics can be found by downloading the Ocean Commotion 2021 Booklet.

Part I: Noah's Ark

Watch the video below to see the Stephens family act out the story of Noah's Ark.

Then turn to Part I of your Ocean Commotion 2021 Booklet and follow the instructions.

Part II: Jesus Calls His Disciples

Watch the video to see the Benson family act out the story of Jesus calling his disciples.

Then watch the second video for a view of what it would be like if Jesus came to the Iowa City area and called children here to be his disciples.

Then turn to Part II of your Ocean Commotion 2021 Booklet and follow the instructions.

Part III: Jesus Calms the Storm

Watch the video below to see the Penn family act out the story of Jesus calming the storm.

Then turn to Part III of your Ocean Commotion 2021 Booklet and follow the instructions.