Securing Special Events at Churches and Schools: VBS, Summer Camps, and Beyond

Introduction: When the Crowd Grows, So Does the Responsibility

Every summer, churches and Christian schools across Ohio transform into something extraordinary. Vacation Bible School fills hallways with laughter. Summer camps pack fields and gymnasiums with children who may have never set foot on your property before. Trunk-or-treat nights draw hundreds. Easter services swell congregations fivefold.

These are the moments we live for as ministry — the chance to reach families, disciple children, and build community in ways that regular Sunday services can't. But they're also the moments that stretch security thin in ways that regular programming doesn't.

During a typical Sunday service, you know your crowd. Your ushers recognize families. Your check-in system handles the handful of children in your children's ministry. Your volunteers are trained and familiar with your building.

Special events break all of that.

Large numbers of first-time visitors. Children who don't know the procedures. Volunteers who are helping for the first time — or first time this year. Extended hours. Multiple buildings or outdoor spaces. Parents who aren't paying attention the way they do on a Sunday morning.

The Sutherland Springs and Uvalde tragedies remind us that attackers often look for moments of vulnerability. Special events, with their controlled chaos and expanded attack surface, are exactly the kind of moments bad actors look for.

That said — the goal isn't to be afraid. It's to be prepared. And preparation for special events doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. It just has to be intentional.

This guide covers the key security considerations for churches and Christian schools planning VBS, summer camps, and similar events.

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The Unique Security Challenges of Special Events

Before getting into specific solutions, it helps to understand what's actually different about special events from a security standpoint.

The volume problem. When VBS draws 200 children instead of your usual 30, every process breaks down. Check-in systems get overwhelmed. Volunteer-to-child ratios slip. Unfamiliar faces blend in with the crowd.

The familiarity problem. Your regular volunteers know your building, your procedures, your culture of safety. Special event volunteers often don't. They've signed up out of goodwill, not because they've been through your training program.

The outdoor problem. VBS carpool. Summer camp drop-off. Outdoor movie nights. Once you move outside your building's walls, you lose the controlled environment that makes normal Sunday security work.

The timeline problem. Special events compress everything. What normally takes weeks of planning gets planned in days. Security is often an afterthought — if it's thought about at all.

The family problem. Parents dropping off children at VBS are in a hurry, trusting, and not paying close attention. That's exactly the posture that security-conscious environments need to counteract.

Each of these challenges has practical solutions. Let's go through them.

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Pre-Event Planning: 60 Days Out

Security for special events starts long before the event itself.

Conduct a Site Assessment

Walk your property as if you were a parent looking for problems — because that's exactly what a would-be attacker is doing.

• Walk the entire perimeter. Where can someone enter without being seen?
• Map every door, gate, and access point. Which ones will be open during the event?
• Identify blind spots — areas without cameras, without volunteer visibility, without natural foot traffic
• Note where children will be: classrooms, gym, playground, outdoor areas, parking lot
• Identify your "hard zones" — children's areas, medical stations, storage — that should have restricted access

Document your findings. Draw a simple map. This becomes the foundation for your volunteer assignments and emergency procedures.

Review Your Volunteer Roster

Every volunteer — every single one — should be screened before working with children at a special event. This isn't about distrust. It's about stewardship.

Ohio law requires background checks for certain volunteers working with children, but many churches treat VBS and summer camp volunteers as exempt. This is a mistake.

At minimum:

• Criminal background check (Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation records check)
• Sex offender registry check (free at icrimewatch.net)
• Reference checks for new volunteers
• A clear policy that anyone with a disqualifying history won't serve in children's programming

If you're working with a Christian school, your state licensing requirements may already dictate background check procedures. If you're a church, treat VBS with the same seriousness.

Establish Emergency Communication

Before the event, make sure every leader and key volunteer has:

• A two-way radio (charged, tested, assigned to a channel)
• Your emergency contact list
• Clear understanding of your emergency response plan
• Knowledge of where the nearest hospital and police station are

Designate one person as the "safety lead" for the event — someone whose sole responsibility is monitoring the security posture and coordinating with law enforcement if needed.

Coordinate with Local Law Enforcement

This is one of the highest-value, zero-cost things you can do for special event security.

• Contact your local police or sheriff's department and let them know about your event
• Ask if they can do a drive-through or presence check during peak hours (especially drop-off and pickup)
• Share your emergency plan and facility map with local 911 dispatch
• If your event is large (100+ children), consider requesting an off-duty officer for the day

Most law enforcement agencies in Central Ohio are glad to support faith community events. Many departments have community outreach coordinators specifically for this purpose. The key is reaching out 4-6 weeks in advance — don't call the week before.

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Check-In and Check-Out: Your First Line of Defense

Every child who attends your VBS or summer camp should be checked in and checked out through a documented system. This is non-negotiable.

The Check-In System

A good check-in system accomplishes three things:

1. Identifies authorized pick-up only — Only people you've authorized can leave with a child
2. Maintains accurate counts — You always know exactly how many children are on property
3. Creates a record — If something goes wrong, you have documentation

Low-tech option: Printed attendance sheets with parent signatures, photo IDs checked at pickup, and a handwritten or stamped "pickup authorization" system. This works, but it's slow and error-prone at scale.

Mid-tech option: Check-in station software like Planning Center Check-In, Servant Keeper, or KidCheck. These allow you to print name tags with security codes, maintain attendance records, and flag unauthorized pickups. Costs range from free to ~$100/month depending on your church management software.

No matter what system you use, every child should leave with the authorized adult who checked them in — or with someone you've verified against your authorization list.

Pick-Up Authorization: The Detail Most Churches Miss

Before the event, collect the names of every person authorized to pick up each child. A simple form at registration handles this:

• Parent/guardian name and contact
• Authorized pickup persons (name, relationship, phone)
• Any custody restrictions (important — this information must be shared with your safety lead)
• Emergency contact information

Do not let children leave with someone not on your list without direct verbal confirmation from a parent or guardian. This is where abductions happen — not through forced entry, but through social engineering at pickup time.

The Dismissal Process

For large events, dismiss children by group or classroom — not all at once. Announce "Blue Group is being picked up in the gym" over the radio and let parents filter in. This prevents the chaos of 200 parents converging on a single checkout point simultaneously.

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VBS-Specific Considerations

Vacation Bible School has some unique characteristics that deserve specific attention.

Carpool Security

VBS carpool is often the most chaotic, least-secured part of the event — and the most exposed. Families pull in quickly, drop children, and drive away. Volunteers are often alone in the parking lot.

Best practices:

• Never have a single volunteer in the parking lot alone. Always pair volunteers — one to direct traffic, one to check children in.
• Use a tag system. Children wear a nametag with a number matching a card held by the volunteer. When the child is released, the card is handed to the driver. No card, no child.
• Keep children back from vehicles. Don't let children run to cars. Have them wait at the curb until a volunteer confirms the pickup.
• Know your carpool route. Which direction do cars enter? Exit? Make sure volunteers know and are positioned at the right points.
• Don't mix pedestrians and vehicles. Separate the drop-off/pick-up lane from any area where children might be walking.
• After-hours pickup. Have a plan for the last remaining children. Who stays with them? When do you call parents?

Classroom Security

Inside the building:

• Maintain ratios. Ohio's recommended ratio for children's programming is roughly 1 adult per 6-8 children for VBS-age kids. Don't let one volunteer alone in a room with 15 children — that's an impossible supervision burden.
• Lock classroom doors from inside during class. A quick flip of the lock takes two seconds and creates a barrier if someone threatens to enter.
• Know where children are at all times. If a child goes to the restroom, they should go with a buddy or a volunteer escorts them. No child wandering alone through hallways.
• Count heads. Every time your group moves between locations, count heads. This simple habit has prevented more lost-child incidents than any technology.

Volunteer Briefing (15 Minutes Before Start)

Don't wait until the first child arrives. Gather all VBS volunteers 15 minutes early on the first day for a quick briefing:

• Review the emergency plan
• Walk through the radio channels and code words
• Identify who the safety lead is
• Confirm who has access to restricted areas
• Answer any questions

This takes 15 minutes and prevents enormous confusion later.

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Summer Camp Security: Going Further

Summer camps — whether day camps hosted at your church or overnight camps at a retreat center — involve all the VBS challenges plus a few more.

Extended Hours Mean Extended Exposure

When children are on your property for 6, 8, or more hours, the security demands multiply:

• Meal times — Where do children eat? Who's monitoring the cafeteria or picnic area? Is food service area separate from play areas?
• Nap and quiet time — Younger children resting creates a supervision challenge. How many volunteers are present during rest periods?
• Outdoor activities — Summer heat, sun exposure, and outdoor terrain create safety hazards beyond security concerns. Your safety lead needs to account for both.

Field Trips and Off-Site Events

If your camp includes field trips:

• Pre-site security assessment. Call ahead. What's the security posture at the destination? Who's the point of contact?
• Head counts. Count children going onto buses, off buses, into buildings, out of buildings. Every. Single. Time.
• Two-deep leadership. Never have a single adult alone with a group of children off-site.
• Emergency information on each child. Medical forms, allergy information, parent contacts — these should travel with the group, not back at the church.
• Know the local 911. When you're off-site, calling 911 connects you to a different jurisdiction than usual. Know that jurisdiction's emergency response time.

Overnight Camps

Overnight stays require the most rigorous security planning:

• Background checks are mandatory. Not optional. Every adult sleeping on-site should have a completed background check on file.
• Separate sleeping areas by gender with adult supervision nearby but not inside.
• Bathroom and shower protocols. When do children use facilities? Are adults present? What are the rules around changing?
• Night watch. Who monitors the sleeping area overnight? What are the procedures if someone tries to enter the building?
• Fire safety. Does the facility have working smoke detectors, sprinklers, and clearly marked exits? Are evacuation routes posted?

If your church is hosting an overnight event, work with the retreat center or camp facility's staff to understand their security protocols — and supplement where needed.

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Special Event Security Checklist

Here's a ready-to-use checklist for planning your next special event:

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Conclusion: Preparation is an Act of Love

The Bible calls us to watch over one another — not out of fear, but out of love. A well-prepared VBS. A thoughtfully secured summer camp. An event where parents can drop their children with confidence and pick them up in peace.

That's not the security of fear. That's the security of stewardship.

When Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, he didn't just pray and hope for the best. He organized his people, posted guards at strategic points, and built with one hand while holding a sword in the other (Nehemiah 4:17). That kind of faithful preparation — prayerful and practical — is exactly what we're called to for the children and families who trust us.

The steps in this guide don't require a massive budget. Most of them cost nothing. What they require is intention — the willingness to think through the worst-case scenarios before they happen, so that when they're prevented or resolved, everyone goes home safe.

That's worth every hour of planning.