YOUTH WORSHIP TEAM
MENTORING AND TRAINING | Vance & Michelle Shepherd
MENTORING
The time that you spend with your team outside
of Sundays and worship team rehearsals is so
important in having a healthy youth worship
team. In our last article, we mentioned that at
least twice a month, we get the entire band
together for Bible studies, movie nights, or
game nights. These events bond the band
together and creates lifelong friendships.
We were playing a Pictionary type music game
with some of our students, and I would draw
various musical symbols for them to identify. As
I drew the sharp symbol (#), one of my seven-
year-old students yelled out with complete lead worship around the valley—even aside conviction, just knowing she had the answer from our student worship bands that lead right… “it’s a hashtag!” We all about fell over worship once or twice per month at various In one of our group class training sessions,
laughing. churches. we asked the vocalists to each sing on their
Always understand that you’re not just their TRAINING didn’t want to sing in front of everyone. They
youth pastor or their teacher, but first off, you’re On group class nights, we also train our worship would just say “check, check, check” in a
their mentor, their friend, someone outside of teams in the technical aspects of sound and quiet voice. We said “stop!” and instructed the
their immediate family that they can trust and production, as well as working through the entire group to go and sit in the audience. I told
look up to. We’ve seen time and time again musical details. They have been trained so well Michelle to go and sing on the mic, and I swept
that God brought us a student not only to share that the last event we did by the time I was out all of the low and mid frequencies, and
music with, but to be able to speak into their done setting up the video cameras all of the cranked the high end on the EQ. The students
lives on a deeper level. We have had students in students had patched their instruments into started plugging their ears, making pained
crisis of faith, grieving over the death of a loved their designated channels on the snake. How faces as she sang. Then I started slowly adding
one, seeing their parents go through divorce cool that was! Knowing that they understand back in the frequencies that her vocal needed.
and their family being torn apart, being bullied how to set up their entire rig, as well as play We explained that when we ask them to sing
at school, etc. You can be the person that God their parts is a sound tech’s dream. They know on their mics, it is so that we can make them
uses to help them through these times, and what an XLR cable is, a line cable, a DI box, etc. sound amazing with the right EQ, gain, reverb,
there is nothing more rewarding than seeing We’ve taught them how to trouble shoot - like delay, etc. Then they got the picture, and they
them have victory over these issues, and come if their instrument isn’t working: is it going out have sung on que at every sound check since.
to a deeper faith in Christ. of their instrument into a DI box, out of the DI There are always opportunities to take what
into the amp, and out of the DI XLR output into seems like something mundane and turn it into
We also love to celebrate each student, the snake? Is it buzzing? Did they check the a teachable moment for them.
especially with birthdays. On game nights ground lift on the DI? Is it sending too much or group classes, we celebrate that month’s signal? Does the instrument sound thin in May you be blessed as you continue to pour
birthdays with gifts, cake and by all of the the PA system? Is the high pass filter on that into the next generation of worship leaders and
band members signing a card. It makes them channel? We get a chuckle, because some of musicians!
feel very special. Many of the students in our our students now know more than the average youth worship bands have met in our school sound techs in some churches today, and they of music, become best friends, jam at each can help to trouble shoot problems without the other’s houses, then form duos and trios and sound tech having to run back and forth from
the soundboard to the stage.
microphone. They were being quite shy, and
58
April 2020
Vance & Michelle Shepherd
Founders of The Shepherd School of Music in Las
Vegas, NV, where they work with youth to raise up the
next generation of worship leaders and musicians.
facebook.com/shepherdschoolofmusiclasvegas
www.ShepherdStudiosLV.com
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