VBS was the idea of Mrs. Walter Aylett Hawes, a doctor's wife. Her goal was to get children off the streets of New York. In 1898 and 1899 Mrs. Hawes rented a beer hall in New York's East Side to conduct her Everyday Bible School. In 1900 Mrs. Hawes' pastor, Howard Lee Jones, insisted that the Bible school move to the church building, Epiphany Baptist Church. After two weeks it became clear that children from the East Side would not attend at the church, so Mrs. Hawes moved the school back to a site near the beer hall.
In the early 20th century, VBS became a growing trend. While Mrs. Hawes
was indeed a Baptist, VBS was a non-denominational event in those early years.
In 1922 the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention assigned
the work of VBS to the Sunday School Administration Department. In 1924 a
Vacation Bible School Department
was formed and Homer Grice, a pastor from
Georgia, became its first director.
At that point VBS was usually a 4-week event!
–from New Horizons in Vacation Bible School compiled by Willie R. Beat
