Sch'dy churches get together for Vacation Bible School

"Davey and Goliath," familiar faces from old-time TV who brought faith-based values to children, made an appearance of sorts at St. Luke's parish in Schenectady last week, when they were the theme of an ecumenical Vacation Bible School called Camp Creation.

About two dozen children from pre-K through sixth grade met for three hours each morning to participate in the camp. The ecumenical endeavor was the brainchild of a group of churches in Schenectady that have banded together into the Central State Street Ecumenical Cluster.

"We've needed something like this in the neighborhood for our children," said Doreen Wright, the parish's pastoral associate for faith formation.

Working together

The group, which was formed nearly ten years ago, focuses on neighborhood issues and concerns, according to Linda Borowsky, pastoral associate for parish life at St. Luke's. She said that the leaders saw the need to give their children an opportunity to know Christians from other denominations.

The participating churches include Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Stanford United Methodist Church, Tabernacle Baptist Church, St. Paul the Apostle parish, Woodlawn Reformed Church and St. Luke's.

Each church donated equal amounts of money to cover the cost of the summer camp, which is offered through the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's website, www.daveyandgoliath.com. The churches also donated money for food and materials, and volunteers to work each day of the camp.

Lessons

Through such activities as Cabin Crafts, Discovery Outpost, Snack Shack, Goliath Games and Davey's Drama, children learned faith-based lessons from Scripture.

Rashad Hill, 11, who will start sixth grade at Central Park Middle School in September, said that he learned "how to worship God" from the stories. Rashad is a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church.

"I learned about some things that Jesus did, like feed a lot of people bread and fishes," commented Serge Wamukendi, 11, who will start sixth grade at Mont Pleasant Middle School. He is a parishioner of St. Luke's. "What I liked the most was that we learned about things to do to help each other everyday. That, and playing basketball for a little while."

Helping out

One the last day of the camp, the children and their families gathered around Davey and Goliath's wishing well to drop in donations for a neighborhood cause.

"We're remembering the Self family who recently lost six of their members in a house fire," Ms. Wright explained. "We're also offering prayers on their behalf."

"This program has brought people of different faiths together," noted Andrea Singleton, a member of the Consecration Temple Church of God in Christ. "We may have some differences in doctrine, but what the children are learning is all scriptural. The children are reading right from the Bible, and the moral values they are learning are good for everyone.

"God has brought us together as one community, and our children need to have Christian influence in their lives. After all, we all worship one God."

(St. Luke's Martha Ministry, five groups of ten women each, baked goodies for the children. "They baked cookies, brownies, cupcakes and home-made bread every day," said Ms. Wright. "Our cooks and bakers have been wonderful.")

(8/19/04)