YOUTH WORSHIP TEAM
GETTING A TEAM WITH ONE SONG | Vance & Michelle Shepherd
If you ’ re a leader in your next gen ministry , and you ’ re lacking musicians and singers , how can you encourage others to join your worship team and be inspired to practice and show up ? If you ’ re frustrated as a youth worship leader due to lack of musicians ( which most next gen worship leaders are ), keep in mind that there usually is no shortage of interest from students wanting to be on the worship team . You just need to be creative , tap into their excitement and make a way for them to be on your team , even if it ’ s for just one song in the worship set . If you look ahead and plan out your worship sets three or four weeks in advance , it gives you plenty of time to take two or three students under your wing and give them a little musical coaching ( or ask someone from your main weekend team to mentor them ) with the goal of them playing in an up-and-coming worship service . The excitement and buzz it creates for the rest of the students in your ministry to see someone new leading worship with the band creates even more interest , and soon you ’ ll have a bunch of new recruits on your worship team !
There have been so many instances where a student comes to us for training that has had prior music lessons , but they wanted to change teachers because they felt stifled with their current lesson strategy . We ’ ve had countless parents tell us that their kids had been taking music lessons for one or two years , but they couldn ’ t even play an actual song yet . What ? They felt bogged down with all the technicalities and music theory , when all they wanted to do was just play songs they love , and maybe get to play in a band . And while music theory and technique play an essential part in a student ’ s musical training to help them become wellrounded great musicians , we ’ ve found that in order to inspire them and to ignite their passion for music , we need to set reasonable and shortterm goals for them . Getting them to learn just one song as quickly as possible totally inspires them and providing outlets for them to play that song in a live situation with other students …… priceless !
You can play a huge role in your church ’ s growth and in your next gen worship services ! I ’ d like to recommend thinking outside of the box the next few Sundays or mid-week services . Maybe you currently have a handful of students that serve in your youth ministry with you . They might be greeters , production assistants and team leaders . Try approaching them and ask if they want to play on the worship team next month . They might look at you like you ’ re crazy and say , “ What are you talking about ?” Let them know you want to add more people to your team , and you would like to assign them a simple musical part they could play or sing , even if it ’ s just the chorus of one song .
Some examples of easy parts you could give them would be : whole note piano chords on just the choruses of one song . You could have someone play 8th or 16th notes on an egg shaker or tambourine or use a synth
keyboard with a tambourine or shaker percussion sound . It will add so much to your front of house mix !
You could also ask if they would be willing to sing in unison on just the choruses . In the beginning , you might have to keep their mic low in the mix until they can acquire good pitch , but it ’ s a starting point to start building your team . We ’ ve seen firsthand that once these students get in a live worship situation , even if it ’ s just for one song , or just a bridge or chorus of a song , it will definitely light a fire in them .
By keeping it simple , you can start to build your own youth worship army in your church right now !
May you be blessed as you pour into or become the next generation of worship leaders !
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
40 September 2023 Subscribe for Free ...