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SBC DIGEST: LifeWay to host virtual VBS preview events; Baptist nursing leader dies


Virtual VBS preview events will help prepare for 2021

By Aaron Wilson

NASHVILLE (BP) – As ministry leaders and volunteers look forward to next year’s Vacation Bible School, LifeWay is offering digital VBS Previews for churches to get their first look at the upcoming theme, train and equip their teams, and be encouraged and inspired to make next summer the best VBS ever.

“There are a few silver linings to all of the craziness we’ve lived through in 2020, and virtual VBS Previews are right at the top,” said Melita Thomas, VBS and kids ministry specialist for LifeWay. “Online VBS Previews allow more people to attend than ever before since people likely won’t have to take off from work and because there are no restrictive travel expenses. Also, churches that have only been able to bring a handful of people to VBS Previews in the past can now bring their entire team.”

This is the first time LifeWay will host all-digital VBS Previews. Each live event will include more than 20 breakout sessions and will offer training for both English VBS and Spanish EBV resources. Preview Dates for 2021 include:

  • Friday, January 22 — 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CST
  • Saturday, January 23 — 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CST
  • Friday January 29 — 12 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CST
  • Saturday, January 30 — 12 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CST

LifeWay will offer two VBS curriculum choices for 2021: “Concrete & Cranes” for churches that didn’t get to host VBS in 2020 or that want to revisit the curriculum, and “Destination Dig,” a new theme centered around biblical archeology. The latter allows kids to take the role of junior archaeologists as they embark on an adventure to study pieces of the past to learn the truth about who Jesus is and why He came. Along the way, they’ll discover the truth of Jeremiah 29:13, that God reveals Himself to people when they seek and search for Him with all their hearts.

Read the full story here.


Lori Spikes, executive director of Baptist Nursing Fellowship, dies

By TAB Media Staff

Lori Spikes, executive director of Baptist Nursing Fellowship, a ministry of national Woman’s Missionary Union, died Nov. 21 after being hospitalized with COVID-19.

A graduate of Samford University, Spikes was a registered nurse for more than 40 years. She served as an International Mission Board Journeyman in Honduras from 1980 to 1982. She and her husband Jim served 20 years in Chile, where she was a parish nursing volunteer, coordinator of volunteer medical teams and administrative assistant. They also served with the American Peoples Diaspora in Europe and Canada for five years before returning to the United States in 2015. Spikes was chosen to lead Baptist Nursing Fellowship in 2018.

Spikes is survived by Jim, her husband of 38 years; daughters Amanda Johnson, Allyn Farmer and Andrea Spikes; and five grandchildren.

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  • BP Staff