Not your typical Community VBS this summer
Drive-thrus aren’t just for fast food.
The pandemic-adapted Bluffton Community Vacation Bible School will lead children on a discovery of Who Is My Neighbor? Learning to Love Like Jesus over five weeks this summer.
Children will complete each session in their own homes.
Spreading out VBS over the course of five weeks instead of five consecutive days is intended to give children and families something to look forward to throughout our pandemic summer days.
Rooted in Mark 12:28-31, children will expand their understanding of who their neighbors are and what it means to be a loving neighbor through a combination of short videos, Bingo cards, and drive-thru pick-ups of craft kits, game supplies, and snack shopping lists, according to this year’s VBS planning committee.
Videos will be released on a weekly basis beginning the week of Sunday, June 7, when VBS was originally scheduled. Drive-thrus are slated every Thursday from 6-7 p.m., beginning Thursday, June 11, and will continue over the course of five weeks.
No registration is required:
If children and their families are unable to participate in the drive-thru to pick up their kits, they can stop in the Jackson Street entrance of First Mennonite Church where extra kits will be available for pick-up at any time.
This new schedule and structure may also provide wider access to more children in case families are out-of-town or unable to participate during a particular week, or simply unable to accommodate the drive-thru time slot, since both the videos and the kits will be accessible any time.
The All Ability Playgrounds of Allen County fundraising project is the designated recipient of this year’s VBS offering.
The Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the Arc of Allen County are collaborating on this project; for more information, check out the website: https://allabilityplayground.org/.
Offering will be collected during the drive-thru pick-up times or can be mailed to:
Bluffton Community VBS
c/o First Mennonite Church
101 S Jackson St,
Bluffton, OH, 45817
If we can collect at least $100, the Bluffton Community VBS will reach the Swing Level of donors and will have a name placard on one of the playgrounds.
Check for updates on the Bluffton VBS Facebook page.
Stories Posted This Week
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Friday, October 16, 2026
- Production offers a modern take on the story of St. Clare of Assisi
- Bluffton volleyball edged in 5 by Van Buren
- Pirate girls soccer tie O-G
- October 16 Bluffton Schools athletics lineup, streaming
- Bluffton Council recap: Officers honored for 25 years of service
- Bluffton Clean Up teams up with Troop 3256 Cub Scouts
- Ada FFA: Feeding the Farmers
- Nov. 7 Fall Community Day at Bluffton University
- Quarry Farm Nature Preserve news for Fall 2026
Thursday, October 15, 2026
- DeWine announces $200M Rural Health Transformation program award
- Herb program with Marge Lafollette, Oct. 15
- Prairie seeding activity at Bluffton University, October 24
- Food for thought: Choline for the brain
- Results for 5K on October 2, Bluffton University Homecoming event
- 15 minutes with Sherry Miller, senior center activities coordinator
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, October 14
- CANCELLED Main St. closure on October 15
- Frederick Clyde Warren founded True-2-Form Plastics
- Pirate boys soccer beats Wapak in regular season finale
- Pirate girls soccer defeats Liberty Center
- Mennonite pastor to explore ‘good news’ in creation
- Bluffton University earns recognition in U.S. News & World Report rankings
- Obituary for Deborah "Debbie" Welch, 74
- Spirits and exorcism presentation during University Spiritual Life Week Forum
- Dodging bullets: Bluffton oral history 90+ years after Dillinger robbery
- Nora Matthews named BHS Student of the Month for September 2026
- ICAPP analysis on charter status and local autonomy