Our “Block Party: Building God’s Community” VBS has an assortment of needs as we approach our August 3rd launch date. Our Community VBS, sponsored by St. Matthews AME Zion, St. Paul’s Lutheran, and Sewickley United Methodist Churches, is free for children and youth from pre-school through 8th grade. We will gather from 5:45 pm until 8:00 pm from August 3rd through August 6th on the SUMC campus.

We need families to register children for VBS.

We will need volunteers for our Thursday decorating nights! We will gather from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm on the following dates in July: July 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, and the 31st. All are welcome, regardless of skill level.

The VBS Team needs volunteers for the following positions each night during camp (Sunday through Wednesday):

  • Adults/youth are needed to assist as squad leaders

  • An adult/youth is needed to assist with recreation

  • An adult/youth is needed to assist with our Lego building project

For more information, see Bill Utterback, Grace Rogansky, or Felicity Johnston.

VBS Prayer Project

Please consider wrapping our 2025 community VBS in prayer as we move toward our August 3rd launch. Your prayer is a foundational building block for everything we do for children, families and community. Please include our partners—pastors, volunteers, and families at St. Paul’s Lutheran and St. Matthews AME Zion churches of Sewickley—in your prayers as well.

Here’s the prayer plan:

  • July 1 through August 2: Lord, Shine your Light into every corner of our VBS preparation. Encourage the adults and youth who have volunteered, and those who are considering volunteering. Share your Light with our Marketing Team and show us how to reach families who need more of your Light and Love.

  • July 1 through July 5: Lord, Encourage families of preschoolers and our preschool team.

  • July 6 through July 12: Lord, Encourage families of middle school students and our middle school team.

  • July 13 through July 19: Lord, Encourage families of our K-5 students and our K-5 team.

  • July 21 through July 26: Lord, Encourage our Music, Bible Story, Recreation, Snack, Building Project, Guardian and support teams.

  • July 27 through August 2: Lord, Renew our strength, focus and joy as we step into final preparations.

  • August 3 through August 6: Lord, let every camper and volunteer see you in new ways each night we are together. Grow our relationships. Grow our understanding of how we can contribute to your community.

  • August 7 through August 9: Lord, show us how to keep building your community in ways that endure beyond our time together.