Free · Certificate included
Vacation Bible School (VBS) Volunteer Training
The two-adult rule, fast screening, safe pickup, and the everyday judgment calls that keep a week of VBS safe.
What you’ll learn
- Adopt a ministry safety mindset and apply the two-adult rule everywhere
- Onboard and screen a flood of one-week volunteers quickly and correctly
- Run check-in, check-out, and authorized pickup safely at VBS scale
- Keep every child supervised and counted across rotating stations
- Handle restrooms, buddies, and appropriate boundaries the right way
- Prevent and respond to allergy and snack emergencies with confidence
- Follow fire, severe-weather, lockdown, and heat plans without panic
- Guide mixed-age behavior positively and report suspected abuse correctly
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Create a free account →Course outline
- 1
The ministry safety mindset & the two-adult rule
Vacation Bible School is one of the most joyful — and most volunteer-heavy — weeks a church runs.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 2
Screening & onboarding a flood of one-week volunteers
VBS has a screening problem no other week has: you may need dozens of volunteers cleared in just a few days, many of them first-timers who signed up at the last minute.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 3
Check-in, check-out & authorized pickup at scale
The most vulnerable minutes of VBS are drop-off and pickup, when hundreds of children and adults swirl through the doors at once.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 4
Active supervision across rotating stations
VBS runs on rotation: your crew cycles from Bible story to crafts to games to snack to music, all morning.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 5
Restrooms, buddies & appropriate boundaries
Bathrooms and quiet corners are where both wandering and abuse risk concentrate, so VBS needs clear, boring routines for them.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 6
Allergies, snack safety & first-aid basics
Snack time is a highlight of VBS — and, for a child with a food allergy, a real hazard.
6 min Quiz Interactive - 7
Emergencies: fire, weather, lockdown & heat
A calm, prepared adult is the best thing a frightened child can have.
7 min Quiz Interactive - 8
Positive behavior, mixed ages & mandated reporting
VBS mixes energetic toddlers, big kids, and tweens, often in the same crew.
8 min Video Quiz Interactive
Sources & further reading
- Church Law & Tax — Why Your VBS Needs the Two-Adult Rule for Child Protection
- Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company — Protecting Children: Safety Guidance for Ministries
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (Child Welfare Information Gateway) — Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect in Youth-Serving Organizations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Managing Food Allergies in Schools & Child-Care Settings
- National Weather Service — Lightning Safety — When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors
- Adventist Risk Management — Vacation Bible School Safety Toolkit
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