What’s the opposite of a postmortem; that’s what we need to call this “day after VBS.” North Heights is not dead; we are alive and well. I hope we never say “remember that year at VBS when we had over 400 in attendance?” I hope we never say that unless it’s followed up with “remember when we thought that was big?!”

This year has been record-breaking. Every time I think about it, I shake my head in amazement, but maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I should have expected exactly this. After all, hard work does tend to be rewarded with success. Still, I’m blown away at how successful this VBS was. I’ve never before seen numbers like we had. Anywhere. But that just means the bar has been raised. Let’s take 45 or so weeks to recharge and then get back to work.

Let’s set a goal for 500 in 2024!

In the meantime, there are too many thanks to go around, but here are a few to start with:

Thank you to all the adults who signed up to help, be it by passing out food, organizing the crafts, teaching classes, walking kids to and fro, and more. I know of congregations twice our size that didn’t have half as many volunteers. You’re all amazing.

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to decorate our building. Every VBS I’m stunned at the decorations and every year I wonder how we can top what came before. Somehow, every year, it’s topped. You turned our large building into an awesome laboratory, a mesmerizing time tunnel, and (as always) a Bible-era marketplace. I know of church buildings half as large as ours that weren’t anywhere near as delightfully decorated. You’re all amazing.

Thank you to everyone who attended. Whether you came with grandchildren, children, or just on your own because you love doing Christian things with Christian people, you helped us achieve our biggest VBS in history. I know of congregations our size (if not larger) that might have set a goal of reaching 250 or so, maybe 300 for their biggest night. We exceeded that every single night. Just consider this: Last year our goal was 300. This year we opened with 342! You might think “well there’s no topping that,” but then we did: On Monday night we had 367! After that, you might think, “well that’s the peak; there’s no topping that,” but then we did it again! On Tuesday night we had 419. And then on Wednesday night, when so many visitors were sure to be going back to their home congregations, we basically matched the number we had at our peak (415). I can’t even put into words how incredible that is. Do you know, I went back and checked the numbers from last year, and just like we did in 2023, back in 2022 we broke the previous year’s goal on night one, and then broke our new goal on night two. We did the same thing this year, but with vastly increased numbers. That’s what growth looks like. That’s the definition of a growing church.

As we speak the Devil is sitting on a tack, and all of you made it happen.

God bless you, North Heights.

You’re all amazing.

~ Matthew