Vacation Bible School, or VBS, is a term usually used to represent a week-long religious event in the summer.
[1] In 1898, Virginia Sinclair Hawes (often identified as "Mrs. Walker Aylett Hawes"), director of the children's department at Epiphany Baptist Church in New York City, started an "Everyday Bible School" for neighborhood children during the summer at a rented beer parlor in New York's East Side.
There is a bronze plaque honoring her efforts located in her hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, in the foyer of First Baptist Church.
Some churches opt to use themed curriculum programs from their respective denominations or independent publishing houses which provide easy preparation and include marketing tools.
Groups of local churches who do not have the resources to run VBS for the entire summer may elect to co-ordinate their schedules to provide continuous childcare.