Vacation transformation at Good Shepherd Church – Alexandria Echo Press

Instead, the items completely transformed and repurposed, creating an elaborate, full-sized gingerbread house set for the lessons taught at Vacation Bible School.

The woman behind the intricate set design, church secretary and former art teacher Shirley Johnson, has been working at the church since 1989. Now on Highway 29 in Alexandria, the church was originally housed in a smaller building. Because of space issues, decor for VBS was not always as detailed as it is now.

"We didn't do much then," she said. "We had a character, a tie-dyed sheet, stuffed animals and a paper palm tree. It's come a long way."

Now, the set building process takes months. The planning process for summer VBS begins in January, when the theme is established.

"We don't use anybody else's themes," Johnson said. "We write our own script, come up with the (Bible) verses, all the lessons. Pretty much before the meeting is over I can see it (the set) in my head."

From there, Johnson sketches out the set and begins brainstorming what materials the staff will need to construct it. In late May, the materials are brought to the church and construction of the set begins, typically taking about three months to complete. Assisting Johnson with construction are church members Don Kuelbs and Gene Ward.

Nothing from the set is ordered online or elsewhere. Each item involved is constructed by the church staff. For example, the multitude of M&Ms decorating the set this year are each cut from styrofoam and hand painted. The gingerbread frosting is fashioned from caulking, which was then spray painted white and glittered. The counters in the set's store were built from scratch.

This year, since the set involved a store, certain items were brought in by church members. Johnson even managed to track down the exact cash register she was envisioning.

"I have to give a shout out to ACE Hardware for that," she said. "I walked in one day and there sat that beautiful cash register, exactly what I wanted. I asked about it and they said it had been in the family a long time and they let us borrow it for the week. It would not have been the same without it."

Johnson says this year's set is by far the most colorful and animated, but sets from past years were special in their own way.

"One of my absolute favorites was Jesus University," she said. "We built bookshelves to the top of the cross (in the sanctuary). That was probably the most challenging because there were so many pieces to it."

Another challenging but rewarding set involved building a lighthouse.

"I think building-wise that was the hardest," Johnson said. "It touched the ceiling and was made of wood and styrofoam. You can do amazing things with styrofoam."

In some cases, materials from past sets are saved and reused for future sets. This year, the last of the styrofoam from a previous safari-themed set was used.

"The jungle is very precious to me," Johnson said. "I hated painting over it."

Johnson says one of the highlights each year is seeing the children's reactions when they come for the first day of Vacation Bible School, which runs in the evenings at the church.

"We're doing it for the children, sharing God's word in a proper way," Johnson said. "The kids do appreciate it. They have a lot of fun."

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Vacation transformation at Good Shepherd Church - Alexandria Echo Press