Fork In The Road Music » Youth Worship

We’re a Traveling Youth Band, 5 Ways We are Better For It

Russell Martin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:12:04 +0000

I have been working with our youth worship team for a little over 4 years now. In that time we have mostly played for our own youth evening programs and a few Sunday Mornings. This past summer that began to change. In June we had a District Youth Week. Several churches volunteered to sponsor a night of youth week by planning an activity, meal etc, but we also wanted to make sure worship was a part of each night. Since most of the participating churches did not have a youth worship team, they asked if our team could play.

Our team did play, did a great job, and I noticed that the act of playing outside our walls forced us to get better in different ways.

1. Efficient Setup- During the youth week we basically had about 30 minutes after arrival to get set up, sound check and be ready. Now I will not pretend that the set up was perfect, sound system dialed in, but we were able to play, hear ou selves and be heard. The team worked together to make sure that all the cords went into the right slots, the instruments got set up in the right place, and that we were ready to go.

2. Song Selection- When we were not playing often we would rehearse any number of songs. When we started playing for other groups we quickly took our list of 30 songs we could do and narrowed it down to about 15 songs we do well. This gave us enough to lead a few days of services without repeating too many, but without introducing too many new ones either.

3. More Involvement- When we began to travel we found that more people became involved in the youth band. We had the same number of singers and instrumentalist, but suddenly extra ways for youth to become involved began to surface. One of our girls took the responsibility to make slides for the screens. A few youth helped with set up and tear down.

4. Growing Together-Finally I think that playing outside our walls has helped our group to grow closer together. Long drives in close quarters, the stress of setting up and tearing down, having to make choices as a group of songs etc, all have allowed opportunities for our kids to learn how to work as a team, and grow closer as a team.

5. Sense of Accomplishment and Confidence-When I come to the band and tell them that we’ve been asked to play somewhere special you can see their eyes light up. Playing for others gives them a chance to receive words of encouragement from someone else besides me. I know they do a great job, and I try to tell them often, but it’s different when it comes from someone they don’t know, or just met.

Does your youth worship team play outside your church walls? What benefits have you seen?

Youth Band: Three Things to Check Before Beginning After Summer Break

Russell Martin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:49:11 +0000

Our youth program, like many others, takes on a different schedule for the summer. With all the trips and unusual schedule we found it hard to keep up with our Youth Band over that same period of time. Now summer has come to an end and it’s time to get going again.

You also may be done with the hectic travel of the summer and are beginning to gear up for the school year. So what do get ready for your youth band to start playing again? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Equipment Check- Where did the kick pedal for the drum set go after your last service… 3 months ago? Are the bass strings still good after sitting out the same time? Did the adult praise team return the extra monitor they borrowed? One of the first things to do is to check and make sure that you have everything located and in working order. This is the time to replace strings on church owned instruments, purchase batteries needed for microphones, and to check all cables.

One way is to do this yourself. The other way is to get several of your youth band members together on a day when you will not be rehearsing. Have them sort, check, find and prepare their instruments. The more responsibility they take, the better.

2. Music Check- Where are your folders of music from last year? Are you planning on doing the same songs from last year? What new songs are you wanting to start off with when rehearsals begin? Last year I wrote about the process we use to evaluate our overall song list. It helps us to determine which songs we know we can play immediately, which ones we want to work on, and those that need a well deserved rest.

3. People Check- Two of our vocalists graduated and are heading off to college. Another member has moved away to another town. Now is the time to be thinking about how to replace those members. Whether you have a try out process, or you personally ask students, now is the time to fill those holes. At one church I had two youth bands. One was a learning band, and the other led on a regular basis. When we lost a member in the band, we had a member ready to step up and take their spot.

Does your youth band even take off during the summer? Why or why not?

Read more posts relating to Youth Worship Teams.

Check out my friend Jason Huffman’s thoughts on Youth Worship Bands, including last year’s post about Taking the Summer Off

Wearing Hats in Worship! Big Deal?

Russell Martin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:56:07 +0000

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyturner/

Last week I started writing about my 5 things that we do at camp, that looking back we could probably do differently. I started off with the need to Shhhhhhhsh at the beginning of worship, and how we could do that differently.

Here is the second in my list of “Things we could do differently at church camp” because this is where it is most often encountered. On Sunday morning at worship people aren’t usually coming in to the sanctuary straight off the ball field, or from a walk around the lake, but at camp this happens all the time. The first thing that you hear… after SHHHH it’s Time for Worship, is often, “Ok it’s time for worship. Gentlemen remove your hats.”

Ok, I get it. Removing your hat is a sign of respect. For many, removing your hat when you enter a building was always expected. Also removing your hat in the presence of someone important can be seen as a sign of respect, or acnowledgement of their authority or a place of importance higher than your own. My problem resides with those who walk up and down the aisles motioning for kids to remove their hats, yelling across the room for them to remove their hats, or walking over and taking it off for them.

Personally, I have my own thoughts on the subject but to gain some different perspectives I posted this question on my facebook page.

This week I posed this question to my facebook friends-

Hot topic.. Wearing hats during worship..especially youth or during camp… Disrespectful? Cultural Norm Today, Ancient expectation? Big Deal? Not something to worry about? What do you think?

Here are a few of the almost 30 responses.

At camp and VBS…not something to worry about as long as they are removed during prayers. Disrespectful during Sunday worship in a church sanctuary.

In truth, I take mine off for worship because I don’t want to distract others from a worship experience. I don’t think it matters. Even for prayer. That is like saying if your head is not bowed and eyes closed, it is not prayer. I LOVE waking, walking and a variety of other prayers. Also, does this just mean guys, or are ladies held to the same expectation? When leading camps, I usually let it slide until someone says something, but then I make the ladies ‘uncover’ as well. Just to not be sexist. Equal rites, and all.

I agree with the no hats, but very specifically because it could be distracting to someone else. I don’t pretend to place myself high enough or bring God down to the level where God really gives a whack if we have hats, shoes, pants or anything else on when we go to church. These are social norms and by observing them, we are showing respect for our fellow observers, not God. And that’s not a problem. Just realize it for what it is.

I am 41 and dress for Church in “Sunday best”… I think that being raised in the south in my family it was just a given… My Mom still comments when women don’t wear pantyhose with dresses at Church (including her new minister’s wife)! As for hats in worship… in traditional worship, take them off. At camp in the Sanctuary, take them off, outside – it is a toss up. Perhaps we should teach the youth the history “there was a time when it was considered inappropriate to wear a hat during worship…” then let them decide if they want to go “old school”. Also – interesting to note that while it used to be required for men to REMOVE their hats it was also required for women to COVER their heads for Worship… how times have changed in Christianity because Jewish men still cover as do Muslim women!

i personally don’t care what everyone thinks.. i go to church in board shorts sleeveless shirts and no shoes. they all walked around in rags back then. and they would be lucky to have a good pair of sandals. so what i have would be consider a luxury to them… instead i don’t figure god cares what we look like as long as we praise him in all his glory…….

As you can see there are many different thoughts and ideas on this. Here’s my thoughts.

1. You should not force respect- By making a big deal out of removing your hat is forcing the matter. God gave us free will so that we can make choices. The biggest change in my life happened when I stopped doing the good things I was doing because that was what I was “supposed to do” as a Christian, and started doing some of the same things because I wanted to please God. My actions went from things I had to do, to things I want to do.

2. The bible doesn’t clear up the matter-

1 Cor 11:4-7 tells that if a man prays or prophesies with his head covered, then he dishonors his head and that if a woman prays or prophesies with her head uncovered then she dishonors her head. From that we could conclude that all women should wear hats, and all men should not.

I Samuel 12:7-But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”- God doesn’t look at the outside, but what’s inside.

If you want to remove something to show respect that is mentioned specifically in the Bible in regard to worship, it should be our shoes. Read Joshua 5:15-”The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.” and from Exodus 3:5-”Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

3. What or who are we really showing respect for- I think we need to sit back and determine why it is that we emphasize removing hats?

Is it because we are supposed to remove our hats when we entered a building? So it is because we are indoors? Then would it matter what we are doing indoors like worship, games, small groups, sports event?
Is it out of respect because we are entering worship? In that case would it matter if worship were in a sanctuary, or gym or outdoors?
Is it out of respect for God?
Is it because that’s the way you were brought up, so that’s the way it should be now?

4. It says “You’re welcome here” as long as you….

I think as a church in general we can send a mixed message. On one hand we say “Jesus loves you and you’re welcome here.” On the other hand we add..”as long as you dress a certain way, act a certain way, don’t make too much noise, don’t raise your hands during worship, raise your hands during worship, wear a hat, don’t wear a hat, don’t wear blue jeans, wear a suit, listen to christian music, bring your bible, etc…”

5. Kids start of worship getting reprimanded and yelled at. Just as in the Shusshing I mentioned last week, I really do not want a child’s experience of worship to start of in a negative manner like that.

So what can you do?

1. Talk about respect, and ways of showing respect before you enter worship. Let the kids know that removing your hat is one way to do so and then let them decide. You might be suprised.

2. Give them the opportunity to show respect in other ways. Maybe talk about taking off your shoes because you are on holy ground, and model that in some way.

3. Be consistent. If you remove your hats because you are inside, then do it no matter what is happening inside. If you are removing your hats because of a worship service, then do it no matter where the worship service is taking place.

What are other ways you can help students show respect?

What do you do about the hat issue?

Update: My friend Jason Huffman just wrote his thoughts on this subject on his own blog. I encourage you to check it out.

5 Things We Do Wrong at Camp- #1 SHHHHHHHHH TIME FOR WORSHIP!!!

Russell Martin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:37:36 +0000

Over the past several years I have been leading worship for many camps and retreats. This has given me the opportunity to observe some awesome things happen at camp, and some things that didn’t work so well. Over that time I have been able to come up with this list of my top 5 things not to do at camp. These are not from a particular event, but gleaned from many different events over the years. Here is the first…

1. SHHHHHHHHH- The kids are gathered in the sanctuary for worship, but are talking to each other about lunch, or the cute boy in cabin 2-a, or the life changing bible study they just got out of. The music leader gets up on stage and is about to start when one well meaning adult comes down the aisle yelling, “SHHHHHH, QUIET! IT’S TIME FOR WORSHIP! EVERYONE BE QUIET AND FACE FRONT”

A good worship leader should be able to move the kids from chaos into a time of corporate worship by the songs they choose, and the leadership projected from the stage. The kids are noisy but so are most churches on Sunday morning before the first song, or call to worship, or prelude.

What would happen if at 2 minutes until time for your Sunday Morning service started you were sitting and talking about where you are going to eat lunch after service, or about the visitor that just sat down in your seat, or the awesome Sunday School lesson you just got out of, and all of the sudden an usher walked down the center aisle yelling, “SHHHHHH, QUIET! IT’S TIME FOR WORSHIP! EVERYONE BE QUIET AND FACE FRONT?”

I know that it’s not intentional. Whoever does it just wants to help and I understand. I have done it before myself on many occasions. When I took a step back and looked at what was happening though, I realized that we’re beginning worship by yelling at kids. As a participant, I am coming to worship and being yelled at. When we do that, we are unintentionally trying to force a response, force silence, force reverence. Not a great worship setting.

As I said earlier, the worship leader should be able to move them from this time of talking to friends, into a time where they have the opportunity to respond, to be reverent.This can be done in two opposite but equally effective ways.

First, start with a familiar, loud, participatory, active song like Sing Like the Saved, Every Move I Make or Today is the Day. One where they have a part to sing, and actions to do. They will still be loud, but they will be loud praising God together. Then use other songs to move them more into that corporate worship time.

The other way is to establish a song that is used at the beginning of each worship service that is more quiet and reflective. Songs like Sanctuary, Here I Am to Worship, are good for this. Just get up to the microphone play and sing. The first time through maybe only a few will start singing, but that will grow. Through out the week, it will happen faster.

Besides using songs there are some other things you can do:

Use candles and lighting to help set the mood. Have counselors or leaders come to the front and light a candle when there group is all there. Have a candle lit by the leader when worship begins. Talk about it representing the Holy Spirit among us, and that it signifies the beginning of our worship time.

Change the room for worship Often times we had to use the same room for games, food and assemblies as we did for worship. If this is the case then find ways to change the appearance of the room for that worship time. As mentioned above use creative lighting for starters. Create an altar table decorated with items reflecting the service’s theme, or have a special cross or banner that is used only during corporate worship times.

Pray. Begin with “Let us Pray” or “Would you please bow your heads” and then go. They might talk over you talking, but most of the time they won’t talk over you praying.

Start with a Video. At one camp I went to last summer, each worship service started off with 2-3 different videos. Most were worship songs with words and pictures that played as we entered. It was a great way to set the tone for the nights service.

Set the Example Yourself If you, as a leader, walk in and are talking to your friends about stuff before the service, then you cannot expect the kids to do differently. You are the leader, so you need to set the example.

What are some other things you have done to help set the tone for worship in a camp or retreat setting?

What are number 2-5 on the list? Follow me on Facebook Twitter or Subscribe to this blog by Email or RSS and keep watching to find out.

What do you thing should be number 6?

So You’re Leading Worship for Church Camp- Part 1- Questions to Ask

Russell Martin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:13:02 +0000

So you are sitting in the bookstore, drinking coffee and your phone rings.

“Hey, I was wondering if you would be interested in leading music for camp this year?”, the cheery voice on the other end says. “Um, sure?”, you say “When is it?”.

After a promise to check your calendar you hear, “I’ll call you later with more details, Thanks!”

That’s only one of the ways I have ended up spending weeks at a time at what I would call one of the greatest opportunities in the world. A chance to share in the lives of youth; to hang out with them, and listen to them; and to lead them in worship.

That time is coming up and the phone calls will soon arrive. So I’d like to take several weeks to post a series of some tips, thoughts, questions and practical advice for you before you head out into the wild camp frontier.

And the first tip is.. Ask Questions!

The first thing you should do before you go, and even sometimes before you agree to go, is to ask lots of questions. This will help you to know what’s expected of you, what you can expect, what you need to bring etc…

I took a few minutes to write down just a few questions you should ask:

What age group am I leading for?

Will I get paid?

Will I be responsible for campers?

What other responsibilities will I have?

Can I bring merchandise to sell?

When do I need to be there?

Where do I need to be?

What equipment is provided?

What equipment do I need to bring?

Over the next few weeks we’ll talk about why some of these questions are important, and what to do. However I know that I haven’t touched on all of them so I ask you. What questions do you ask, or would you ask, when you are leading worship for a camp or a group?

Youth Worship Teams: Be Creative by Not Leading?

Russell Martin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:35:55 +0000

This past year our schedule for youth has changed, and our youth band is not leading worship for the youth as often as we once had. This has given me a great opportunity to try something new. Being Creative!

Since we do not have the schedule of having to work up songs for the next week, we now use our weekly rehearsals to work on a variety of things.

1. Work on Solo Songs- It’s been great to work on some songs that we would not necessarily use to lead worship, but could use in services sometime. These also would be great when our group goes outside of the church to play. Maybe it’s something by Switchfoot, Jars, or Fee the kids have heard and brought in.

2. Try Out New Songs- The youth have had a blast just bringing in music to try. We’ll listen to it and play through it a few times. Sometimes we like it and put it in a folder to work on later. Sometimes we say Nahh!! and move on.

3. Test New Styles of Songs- With this freedom we have also been able to try different styles, instrumentations, arrangements etc… Maybe its a style we don’t normally play, or even switching up instruments to try something different.

What do you do to get the creative juices flowing?

Worship Leading Conversations #1- Working With Youth Worship Teams

Russell Martin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:31:26 +0000

The first of my Worship Leading Conversastions podcast series started this week. I sat down with my friend Jason Huffman, a youth director in Palestine, Texas. As part of his youth director duties, he leads the youth praise band. I asked him to share some of his thoughts about working with youth and how to go about teaching them, and encouraging them to become worship leaders.

Download “Starting a Youth Worship Band From The Ground Up” by Jason Huffman

The Importance of Teaching

Russell Martin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:23:22 +0000

When working with my youth worship team I often find myself emphasizing rehearsing the songs. After all, we generally have one event or another to prepare for so that means creating a songlist, and working up that music to perform or lead with.
I have realized, however, that there is a huge benefit to teaching, and not just rehearsing. When I first started to teach guitar lessons I told myself that I wanted my students to learn why a chord was what it was, what the names of the notes they were paying etc… Instead of just “play this chord”
I believed by teaching them how to learn to play guitar, then they could continue to learn whether I was teaching them or not.
The same thing should be true for worship teams. We should work with them to teach the basics of chord structures, rhythms, balance, tone, song structure, etc… So that they begin to recognize these things.
What’s cool is that when your group starts to learn these things, they begin to play musically together. You don’t have to explain every part of every song, but they begin to feel it.
For us this has resulted in more productive rehearsals, and more enjoyable ones too.
So what basic lessons would you teach a beginning praise band?

The Right Key is One Key to Stong Vocals

Russell Martin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:54:40 +0000

There are many ways you can help your worship team vocalists sing strong with confidence. One thing I discovered this past year is that the right key is the key!
Last year I would introduce a song usually by listening to the cd then having the band try it and vocals sing. Many times they would like the song, however the vocalist would be struggling trying to sing out of their range, or flipping octaves between verse and chorus. Since the music was printed and we had already worked on learning in the original key, it was hard to change keys and we usually just struggled through.

This year we tried something different. This year every new song we introduced to the vocals first. After they learned the basic tune we found the key that best suited their voices. I made a note of the key and then during the next week would print music accordingly.

I have really noticed a difference in a few key areas:
1. They enjoy it more- When they are comfortable with the key they don’t have to worry about how they will hit the notes, and less worry means more fun.
2. They are stronger- Since we chose a key that fits their range they are more confident and sing out.
3. They get more done- Since we no longer take time out in rehearsal searching for keys with the whole band, and transposing music 2-3 times we get more done, learn more music and get better as a band.

What tips do you have for developing vocalists?

What Should I Sing?

Russell Martin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:37:09 +0000

When I am a guest worship leader at a camp, or retreat, one of the hardest things I deal with is figuring out what songs I should sing. This seems like a small thing, but I can’t help but think, “Are they going to know these songs?” or “What songs mean the most to them?”
Here are three ideas about how to choose songs in that situation:

1. Talk to leaders and participants ahead of time if possible. When you first are contacted about leading worship, ask about what songs they use. Find out if they use hymns or worship songs, gospel, cutting edge, emerging? Ask what the worship service is like at their church or churches? Do they have a band, or is it more acoustic? This doesn’t mean you have to change your style, but this information can help you to choose songs that are more representative for the group.

2. Have a suggestion box- The first time I tried this I was skeptical about it. I was leading worship for a college work camp and the program director put out a suggestion box in the back. She told the group that if they had any suggestions for worship to put them in and we would try to accommodate them. It turned out working great. The song suggestions they had let me know what they were familiar with, and by their choices told me what they were needing to hear. We were able to use most of the songs, many of which I was already planning on anyway. Some of them were ones I did not know, but learned, and not only used there, but have used many times since and have become a regular part of my repertoire.

3. Well I don’t have a third one.. what would you suggest?