KIDS WORSHIP
WHAT ’ S YOUR INVITATION ? | Yancy
Over the last few months , I ’ ve had some opportunities to watch others lead kids in worship . One of the biggest things I notice is the lack of introduction to the time of worship . It ’ s not enough to just plan three songs and even do those songs well . Before you push play on the song or before the instrumentalist plays the first chord consider what your group needs to hear from you to encourage their understanding of what ’ s happening . Yes , you can start the first song and there will be kids that naturally participate and engage . I ’ m not satisfied with just those kids participating . I want to help the whole group , as many as possible , to engage . There are some that need that segue to happen . They need you to tell them what ’ s coming and why their participation matters or how they can get involved . Realize that your invitation to worship is needed . So often it ’ s a missing ingredient in our sets . I ’ m not satisfied with others just watching me worship , I want to lead them into a place of worship . To do that I ’ m going to have to use words . Think of it as a verbal invitation to invite your group into the moment , posture and action of worship .
My challenge to you is to give them more than just , “ Hey everybody . It ’ s time to sing .” Or , “ Happy Sunday to you . Let ’ s worship .” There ’ s nothing bad about what was said on a surface level , but I think in the hearts of our group it ’ s easy for them to respond , “ So …”, “ No thanks ” and , “ Have fun with that ”. Yeah , I get we ’ ve never heard them say that verbally but their body language and lack of participation tells us those same responses . One of my favorite things to do is to ask questions that demand a response . Whether it be a verbal response or a physical one . Getting them to respond with sound or movement is like a quick start guide to engaging them . By engaging them and calling them to action before I ’ ve started singing the song it ’ s like priming the pump . I ’ m just helping them warm up . Try this . Have them engage with those around them with a high five . Get
them to respond to your question with an “ oh yeah ” or a hand wave . These simple actions will lead to greater things .
The other thing is : Tell them how to participate . Tell them , “ We ’ re gonna clap our hands .” Or , “ Everybody let ’ s jump ” or whatever the thing you want them to do for that song . It could be , “ Let ’ s still our hearts . Let ’ s focus our thoughts on Jesus and no one else as we sing this .” I love this example David gave to us in Psalm 47:1 “ Come , everyone ! Clap your hands ! Shout to God with joyful praise !” NLT . It ’ s not the biggest verse in the Bible . It ’ s actually pretty short and sweet , yet we see four pieces of instruction and invitation within it . 1 . Come everybody . 2 . Clap your hands . 3 . Shout to God . 4 . With joyful praise . This should be our model for how we should be leading others to worship .
Stop assuming your group knows exactly what to do . Unless you just completed a series on worship they probably don ’ t . As weekly attendance is becoming the rarity , it ’ s been two , three and four weeks since the last time they were there . Those are big gaps of time in the life of a child . They need you to guide them in the same way that you might take them by the hand or put your hand on their shoulder to lead them across the room . Begin leading worship , not just with great songs but , with a focused invitation of what you ’ re calling them to do and making it plain for how they can join in to participate in the offering of worship to our great and mighty God !
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Yancy Yancy is a worship leader and songwriter for kids that travels the globe doing family concerts and training worship leaders . Every week her songs are used in thousands of churches around the world . Her Dove Award winning music is all the things kids love and everything adults value . Her newest “ Little Praise Party ” album is “ Out of This World ”. Yancy has a passion to serve the Church which is why she created “ Heartbeat ”, a curriculum to teach kids the heart of worship . She recently authored the book “ Sweet Sound : The Power of Discipling Kids in Worship ”. She lives with her husband and sons in Nashville , TN .
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