Creating intentional worship experiences
OK, so I am standing in our youth service, and all of a sudden, I find myself singing words about the “blood of the lamb who was slain.” Being a guy who grew up in church, normally I wouldn’t have thought twice about that, but I got to thinking, “Do the students in this service have any idea what that even means?” Or are they freaked out a little bit right now because they think God is into killing baby sheep? After service I approached members of our student worship team and asked them what those lyrics were referring to. To my surprise only one student (homeschoolers represent) was even close to being right. If we are going to create intentional worship experiences, shouldn’t we make sure that we aren’t using songs full of churchy lingo that students don’t even understand? Worship is one of those things that spans the whole spectrum of students. Music is a universal language, and I believe worship is a great way for seekingstudents to connect. At the same time any student who is growingin their walk with God should be growing in their personal worship experience. And all of our students who are matureshould be the ones leading the charge in our worship environments. Here is what I have discovered over the years: I have never seen a student who is mature in their walk with God be unable to worship because the words of a song were too simple. However, I have seen new or unchurched students who struggled with worship because the words were too deep or churchy. Even if you believe you are tone-deaf and have no musical ability at all, youneed to be the one leading the chargeand casting the vision for what worship will look like in your ministry area!
I love worship! For me personally it is the best way to connect with God. If I were planning a worship service according to what I enjoy, I would probably do thirty to forty minutes of worship every service. However, it’s not about what’s best for me. It’s about what’s best for the students I’ve been called to reach. When we are planning the worship portion of our services, are we planning with our target audience in mind? If I am doing a middle school worship service, I am probably going to do about three songs and make sure that most of them are up-tempo. If I am on a retreat with high school leaders, I might do extended slow worship. The key is being intentional with our worship experiences and taking our audience into consideration when we are planning worship services for them.
Worship isn’t about us. It is all about God! I do however believe that we have a responsibility as leaders to create opportunities for students to connect with God through worship and not to hinder their experience by forgetting who’s in the room.
Matt Moore
Pastor & Author of Intentional Youth Ministry