Vacation Bible School Statistics (2026): Church Participation, Volunteer Shortages & Screening Gaps

Vacation Bible School (VBS) remains one of the most visible summer outreach efforts in American congregations, but the numbers behind it are mixed. Enrollment in reporting Southern Baptist states rose in 2025, while fewer churches run VBS than did a generation ago and many cite a lack of teachers and helpers. This report compiles the figures we could verify from primary research organizations, federal data, and established benchmark reports, and it translates them into screening and staffing implications for church leaders. It is part of our church statistics hub.

Key takeaways

How many churches still host VBS?

The share of churches offering VBS has slid over the long run. Christianity Today, summarizing Barna research, reports that 68 percent of U.S. Protestant churches offered VBS in 2012, down from 81 percent in 1997. A 2022 Hartford International study of more than 600 churches in 31 denominations found that only 36 percent held VBS in the year before the pandemic. Barna's own analysis also notes that one in five churches that skipped VBS said they already ran other children's activities.

Year-to-year figures are volatile too. The EPIC research reported that 36% of churches offered VBS or church day camps in 2019, 17% in 2020, and 36% again in 2021, and the same reporting questioned whether that 2021 rebound could last.

Reach and enrollment

Lifeway's own materials say that more than 25,000 churches host VBS each year and more than 2.5 million children experience it. Enrollment in the Southern Baptist reporting pool is the most current public count. Lifeway Research reported that churches in participating state conventions saw VBS participation grow by more than 9% compared to 2024. Lifeway also notes that VBS enrollment has rebounded each year since COVID, although not every state convention reports the figure, so year-over-year totals are not directly comparable.

Parents are a major audience for invitations. In a Lifeway Research study, 69 percent of American parents said they would encourage their child to attend VBS at a church they don't attend if a friend personally invited the child. The same research program found that 9 in 10 American adults have overall positive memories of VBS.

Who can afford to run VBS? Budget and region

VBS is not evenly distributed. Barna found that churches with annual budgets of $500,000 or more were far more likely to offer VBS than churches with budgets of $150,000 or less. Regionally, the same report says that the South hosts more VBS programs than any other area, and that only about half of Western churches offered it in the year studied.

The volunteer bottleneck

Staffing is the constraint most often named. Lifeway Research, citing its book It's Worth It, reported that even before the pandemic, 61% of churches did not host a VBS due to a lack of teachers and volunteers. In the 2022 church survey reported by EPIC, 57% of churches reported volunteer challenges in their education programs during the previous two years, and that report says volunteers are primarily responsible for children's education in nearly 60% of churches.

Church-wide participation has also declined in the EPIC data. The report said that 20% of church members overall were volunteering, down from 40% in early 2020. Lifeway's 2026 pastor survey points the other way for attendance: 54% of Protestant pastors reported that average worship attendance had risen by at least 4% since 2023, while 16% reported a decline of at least 4%.

Screening: how many churches run background checks?

Screening is where