VBS is coming, and most of the stress is not about the theme, it is about the systems.

In this episode of the Kidmin Podcast, Kenny Conley welcomes his guest, Allegra Collins, former kidmin leader at Mariners Church and current preschool curriculum developer at Awana. Together, they unpack what it really takes to plan and execute a great VBS from an operations perspective, whether you have 50 kids or 2,000.

You will hear practical ideas like building a single master spreadsheet, color-coding tasks by urgency, delegating to key leaders early (think January and February), creating volunteer roles for the weeks before and after VBS, and preparing a “VBS binder” so everything lives in one place during event week. They also talk budget basics, registration timing, schedule planning, and why the weekend after VBS matters for connecting families and recruiting ongoing volunteers.


00:00 Intro and first guest: Allegra Collins
01:10 Allegra’s background: campuses, Awana, two under two
01:23 Mariners connection and launching five campuses post-COVID
02:50 Why VBS operations matters (and how big it can get)
03:19 Allegra’s VBS memories and what changed behind the scenes
07:24 If you do nothing else: one spreadsheet and start early
09:01 Turning VBS into a task list you can reuse every year
10:40 Prioritizing prep work and color-coding urgency
12:21 Staffing beyond kidmin: security, first aid, photo, tech
13:16 Recruiting pre-week and post-week volunteers
15:31 Delegation and building a coach team (even for small churches)
16:36 When to start meeting: January and February vision + roles
18:05 Why empowering leaders makes VBS better (and backup coverage)
22:29 Budget basics: attendance goals, charge vs free, per-kid costs
26:18 Donation lists, gift cards, and scholarships
28:15 Designing schedules: space, backups, travel time, flexibility
31:05 Quick-fire hacks: margin on day one, easiest rotations first
32:31 The VBS binder: central playbook for leaders and rotations
33:35 Registration timing: open early, close 2 to 4 weeks out
34:58 Incentives for early registration and culture change
35:02 Connect VBS to the weekend: celebration, next steps, retention
36:34 VBS as a volunteer recruitment tool teaser
37:16 Wrap-up and what is coming next (articles and future bundle)