Children have a Bible blast in Wantagh

While the Church of St. Jude in Wantagh sees most of its activity on Sundays, the building was buzzing from July 6-10, when the Episcopal church held its annual vacation Bible school.

About 100 people converged on the building each weekday morning. The 80 campers were joined by 20 teenage volunteers. It was the 11th year the church has held the summer program, according to Director Wendy Morgan.

This year’s theme was “Bible Blast from the Past.” In the parish hall, there was a time machine that served as a prop for skits each morning. The children were divided into groups based on the theme, including pilots, astronauts and time travelers.

Activities each day included crafts, play time, snack and Bible study. All the campers and volunteers gathered in the church each morning to review the lesson of the day and for song practice. The children performed those songs for their parents on the final day of camp. Wednesday featured a pancake breakfast.

Justin Corabi, 11, of Wantagh, has been coming to vacation Bible school at the church for eight years, along with his twin sister, Olivia. He said he enjoys making new friends while learning more about his faith.

His family belongs to the parish, and Justin came a week ahead of time to help set up for the program. “I really stay active in the church the entire year,” he said. “I want to help out and make this place better.”

Making the world a better place is part of the camp, as each year the children do a community service activity. This year they collected teddy bears and other stuffed animals for patients at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in New York City.

Several girls in the program, Kimberly Greenblatt, Olivia Marlow, Brooke Ferrari and Maeve Lang, opened a lemonade stand in their neighborhood that week and raised $147, which was used to buy 150 teddy bears.

“I thought if we got a lot of bears, it would really help the hospital,” Kimberly said. She explained that she wanted to show the patients at St. John’s that there are people who care about them.

“It would just make the kids in the hospital feel better,” Olivia added.

Morgan said that Bible school was open to children of all faiths, and said only about half of the participants are members of St. Jude. She explained that vacation Bible school is as much about community outreach as it is a church program.

Nick Miller, of Wantagh and a recent MacArthur High School graduate, was one of the volunteers. He also belongs to the church and supervised children in the outdoor play area. “Everything about it is awesome,” he said of the program. “It’s usually just a good time. It’s meaningful.”

Miller took part in several of the morning skits. He said he wants the children to have fun, but also learn. Most important, he said, is that they take with them the lesson from each day’s Bible study. “It’s good for young kids to learn morals,” he said, “because it’s just when they’re forming opinions in their lives.”