This article originally appeared on NPR.
by Jason DeRose

Welcome to “Messy Camp”
At First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, youth minister Jamie Jones expected about 30 kids for what she’s calling Messy Camp. It sounds more fun than “vacation Bible school,” and “faith is messy in general,” she explained.

“But also God’s done some pretty cool things.”

Cool things like create the universe. The recent University of California, Berkeley biochemistry grad plans to offer hands-on science-and-religion lessons. It’s not your parents’ vacation Bible school.

“The first day they’ll be learning about light. So obviously the sun,” she said.

Another day, kids will make volcanoes to explore God’s creation of land. For their lesson about the creation of human beings, Jones will teach about the respiratory system and how God breathed life into humanity.

Tricia Guerrero, First United Methodist Church’s pastoral associate, said all these activities fit with Messy Camp’s ethos: “exploring the world around us and how we can make a difference.”

It’s a difference, she said, that helps the congregation see beyond itself and serve people in all the ways it can.

“We don’t hold so tightly onto the idea that the goal is membership,” Guerrero said. “The end goal is community and reaching out beyond our church doors to connect with our neighbors.”