KIDS WORSHIP
CHANGING THE MOTIVATION FROM SONGS TO DISCIPLESHIP | Yancy
Reflecting, evaluating, and new vision. As wonderful as the New Year can be it can also feel overwhelming of where to begin as you process what has been and what the year ahead can be. I want to give you some tools today to help you seek clarity and have some tools to help you be prepared and dream for the months ahead. Never forget you are helping shape the lives of these children. Form their arrow to be a passionate worshiper and lover of Jesus. I truly believe it’ s one of the greatest gifts you can give them as you develop their palate for God and His Kingdom ways.
WRITE THE VISION DOWN. What do you want kids to learn and experience during worship each week? Think about this. Dream about it with your leadership. Talk it through with your other worship leaders. It’ s so much easier to accomplish your goals when you’ ve identified what it is God has called you to do. So, sit back, dream and pray about what your vision for kids’ worship is.
DEFINE THE WIN. What are some next steps that you can give to your worship leaders to see your vision for kid’ s worship come to pass?( Edit and add to these throughout the year.) Think of this as a more short-term goal. Maybe it’ s weekly, monthly or seasonally. It’ s something you perceive can be achieved in a few simple steps. Work towards that by what you say and teach them. Keep chipping away at it until you can know the win has been accomplished.
EVALUATE YOUR SONGS. This is a great time to review the songs you’ ve been using this past year. Identify what your“ Home run” songs are.( The songs that work great every time.) Determine what songs need to take a break?( Maybe they are worn out or over played.) What songs need to be cut completely?( We all know worship leaders can break songs by overusing it.) Identify what kind of songs you are missing from your repertoire.( activity, praise, worship) Think about where your gaps are.( What types of songs are missing? What do you need more of?) Research, pick and plan new songs to add to your ministry.
MAKE A PLAN FOR INVITING THEM TO PARTICIPATE. What’ s the invitation? Historically this has been called a“ Call to worship.” Take a look at these invitations and commands we are in given in the Psalms: Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Psalm 66:5 Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind! Psalm 100:1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.( All NIV)
SING, SEE, SHOUT, LIFT, GIVE. Those are the verbs that are in these invitations. Dive into scripture and spend some time looking up verses you can use to help you facilitate these invitational moments. The Word of God is alive, and it can help you lead kids in worship.
RAISE UP CHAMPIONS FOR JESUS. The people we hear about in the Bible were humans just like any of us. They weren’ t perfect but they had bold faith and were willing to do even what felt impossible when they heard
God’ s voice. No doubt Noah, Abraham, Moses and Mary heard the voice of the Lord. Whether it was through a burning bush, an angel or quiet confidence in knowing inside. You could have a Samuel kind of leader in your class. Teach him to hear God’ s voice and obey. You may have a sacrificial giver like Hannah in your group. Teach her to listen and walk in faith.
Consider these things as we think of the year ahead and the disciples we are forming. Instead of just checking boxes that we sang our songs and taught our lessons, surviving another Sunday … What if we changed our motivation from,“ How do we make the room appear to be all in and engaged?” to,“ How do we raise them up to be more like David?” If we help them fall more in love with Jesus, their worship of Him will be the result. Worship bubbles out of the overflow not the deficit. Stop chasing the perfect song. Start showing them Jesus! It’ s a simple adjustment in your motivation that I believe will have long-lasting results in the lives of these boys and girls that will grow up to be men and women of God.
Written by Yancy © 2026 Yancy Ministries, Inc.
Yancy Yancy is a worship leader and songwriter with a passion for kids worship. Every week her music is used in thousands of churches around the world. Her Dove Awards winning music helps kids fall in love with Jesus one song at a time. This spring she’ s on tour with True Girl, leading worship for Moms and daughters. Yancy loves the Church and has authored the book Sweet Sound: The Power of Discipling Kids in Worship to help your church raise every generation to be worshipers. Through her program CHORUS, she coaches worship leaders for Next Gen Ministry. Stained Glass Kids is a podcast she hosts for PK’ s, ministry kids and anyone on staff at a Church. Yancy lives with her husband and sons in Nashville, TN.
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