'Totally Catholic' Vacation Bible School generates excitement at R.E. congress

LOS ANGELES, Calif.(The Tidings) - Never in their wildest dreams did siblings Susan Lawson and Melissa Kaiser ever think they'd become self-publishers exhibiting their "totally Catholic" Vacation-Bible School programs at the largest catechetical gathering in the U.S., the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim.

Mothers with 11 children between them, they were busy raising families and doing volunteer work in South Carolina (Lawson) and Indiana (Kaiser). In 2001, Kaiser's neighbor, who wrote Lutheran VBS programs, asked her: "Why do Catholics buy VBS programs from us?"

Troubled by this question, Kaiser, 45, whose 81-year-old mother wrote inspirational saint stories while her eight children were growing up, called on two of her sisters --- Lawson, 51, and Mary Alice Beach, 52 (a Catholic elementary school teacher in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and mother of three children), and suggested they take up the challenge of writing Catholic VBS programs.

"Our goal was to write, develop and pilot a program and find a Catholic publisher to co-publish and distribute it," said Lawson. They decided their "Growing with the Saints" VBS programs would include saint stories penned by their mother, Margaret Windle, with Beach serving as curriculum consultant/writer, Lawson handling the marketing/writing, and Kaiser, the company's founder, acting as business manager, writer and vocalist.

"In order to develop a fun, comprehensive Catholic VBS from ground-up and self-publish, we all have to wear many hats and give more than 100 percent," said Lawson.

Two strikes, but not out

A Catholic publisher was impressed with samples of their work and offered them a contract to write the Catholic companion to a Protestant VBS program they were distributing. But incorporating King James Bible verses proved awkward to the Catholic companion authors more used to The New American Bible, and the writers and publisher amicably parted ways after a year.

When another Catholic publisher kept their materials for a long time trying to fit them into a curriculum line, telling the GWTS authors they didn't see the need for a specifically Catholic VBS program, Lawson asked that their submitted materials be returned. "We do think there's a need," Lawson remembers telling the publisher. In 2006, after deciding to embark on self-publishing, family members exhibited their first VBS program, "Set Sail with Saint Patrick and the Holy Trinity," at the National Catholic Educational Association Conference in Atlanta.

"There seemed to be a lot of excitement," said Lawson. Several Catholic school educators were happy that they could "finally" purchase Catholic-created VBS materials.

"Our program is so not generic," said Lawson. "We are unique in that our Catholic faith, Scripture, the sacred traditions, including the saints --- our true faith heroes and heroines --- are woven into every component of our programs."

At the NCEA conference, she noted, several priests mentioned that Catholics were way behind Protestants when it comes to evangelization and expressed their appreciation for Catholic VBS programs. "One priest was delighted that we included the saints in such an adventurous spirit. He said he became a priest, in part, because of his mother who read him the adventurous lives of the saints," said Lawson.

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Centers around the saints

Since debuting at NCEA, GWTS programs have been used by 250 churches, including parishes in Canada and Guam military bases. "We're growing," said Lawson, who recently compiled a mailing list of 450 churches that are interested in Catholic VBS programs.

The three GWTS 5-day format program kits --- "Set Sail with St. Patrick and the Holy Trinity," "Assorted Saints and the Virtues of Faith, Hope and Love," and "Parachute with the Angels and St. Catherine Labouré" --- include Bible verses and stories, themed crafts, games and activities, music, daily drama skits and a closing ceremony guide for ages pre-K through grades 5-6. The programs carry an Imprimatur from the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana.

"It's much more than just a one-week, fun summer program, but an opportunity to evangelize, re-evangelize and 'bring home' Catholics who no longer attend Mass," said Lawson. GWTS' latest VBS program, "Parachute with the Angels..." introduces characters from the Bible whose lives were transformed by the intercession of angels, highlighting the Annunciation and Mary's role in salvation history. The illustrated storybook on St. Catherine Labouré focuses on the power of prayer and Our Lady's gift of the Miraculous Medal.

"I like the fact that the programs are Catholic and unapologetically so," said Dione Grillo, director of children's ministry at St. John Eudes Church in Chatsworth. Two years ago, she ran a summer religious education program using GWTS' St. Patrick program. During the school year, she has used the "Assorted Saints..." VBS program as a religious education resource kit.

One of the activities enjoyed by the participants, she noted, was looking for St. Juan Diego's roses and finding Our Lady at the end. "It was fun. It was Catholic, and it was OK," Grillo said.
(For more information on Growing with the Saints, log on to www.growingwiththesaints.com.)

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This story was made available to Catholic Online by permission of The Tidings (www.the-tidings.com), official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.