Raising up the next generation...

In all the worship teachings, ponderings, and musings that I read, I don't hear much about worship mentoring. I have never been a part of a church that does this intentionally. The reason for this may be that in the Nashville area there is such an abundance of good musicians that there is not a need to recruit young people to help. While it's great to have good players, I believe we are missing the blessing and a mandate of raising up the next generation of lead worshipers.

I think there are several reasons why worship leaders avoid working with young people:

1. There's not an immediate payoff. Most worship leaders I know are more concerned with this Sunday than 5 years from now. It's easy to fall into this way of thinking. We want instant results and Lord knows, working with teenagers is 2 steps forward and 1 step back! Many times in ministry leadership we have the mindset of "What can this person do to help me and my ministry?" We must change this to "What I can do to develop this person?"

2. We fall for flash instead of fulfillment. When selecting players, everyone wants the guitar player who can mimic all the tasty licks from the recording, versus the teen who plays everything with hi-gain distortion :). At the end of the day, nobody's going to remember the great guitar riff in "Let God Arise", but a you may direct a young person's destiny by giving them the opportunity to serve along side you.

3. Nobody wants extra baggage. Beware! Integrating young people into your band will cost you. There is a certain amount of hand-holding that must happen, especially at first. My son Christian, who plays guitar and is 12, has started helping me when I lead. The first few times he helped out I had to double check that he packed all his gear, set up his guitar rig, and help calm his nerves. Now that he's been doing it awhile, he knows what gear to bring, sets up his own rig, and is getting more confident with the band.

4. We believe the lie that teens don't want to be involved with adults. This is so bogus. I hear this argument against older youth pastors or adults who work with students. I turned 40 this year and my wife and I both have incredible relationships with a bunch of teens. Nobody cares that we are old enough to be their parents or that we are not cool. All they care about is that we care about them enough to invest into their lives.

5. We feel pressure from the pastor and/or congregation to have a professional sounding band. Okay, I'm going to try and stay off my soap box, but... I sometimes think that the church has forgotten why it exists. In visiting some churches, I get the feeling that the most important thing is how good their music is. We relegate our young people's service to the youth service or the once a year "youth Sunday". That sends the message "this is big church and there's no place for you to help here". If we want more young people in our church services, how about giving them a place to serve?

The seed we sow now will yield an abundant harvest in time if we are faithful to plant and water. So get that spiky haired kid with the Flying V involved in your ministry. You will change his life and he will change yours.

Comments

[Rich Kirkpatrick]

I could not agree more. I have had so much success with every investment and am trying to develop a "farm system" to develop worship leaders in my new church.

In the past, I have seen teens turn to pros, and interns take over worship leadership at churches bigger than mine. It works.

I think more than any of the issues above, the single most simple barrier is a desire to hold on rather than give away. We are called in 2 Timothy 2:22 to entrust to others what we have been entrusted with.

So, ministry is about giving away and I can personally attest that it always pays off to give away ministry to the next generation rather than keeping it for yourself.

[Tyler]

I am thankful that my "boss" was willing to take a "risk" on me. My age (23) isn't the first thought for a big church as far as leading a band goes, but I am grateful that he listened to God's prompting and that it led him to invest in the "next generation."

Great post.

[Shannon Byrd]

I certainly feel the tension between the desire to invest in the next generation and time constraints. We don't talk much about our responsibility. I hear many of us (including myself) bemoan the fact that there are not enough competent musicians. But how many of us actually take the time to work with young musicians? We can all do something, even if it means giving one or two private lessons a week. It would probably be an hour well invested.

[Dan Cogan]

We just started a 5th Sunday band that is all youth (expect for me). So every time there's a 5th Sunday in a month, the youth lead worship. We just tried it out for the first time, and the church loved it. It's great for me too, because then when they graduate, they're not just left hanging out to dry... we've led worship together before, and they can just fit right into the regular rotation.

Not to mention building strong relationships with them, and mentoring them!

Dan

[MattO]

I totally agree that we need to do more worship mentoring! I know that I had a worship leader who took me under his wing when I was young (and not very good :) and he taught me not only the musical side of leading worship, but the more important "heart" side of why worship is important to the church. And I still recall, repeat, and relate what he told me once -

"My job is to work myself out of a job."

So here I go...

[Lyn Williams]

How encouraging to read this call for raising up the next generation. This is a critical component of worship ministry in any church. The reality is we can't afford not to invest in the next generation...if we do...we are signalling the eventual demise of our worship teams! Bringing the next generation through is a strong value in the church were I am Worship Pastor. We regularly have young musicians take part in our morning services and youth musicians who play their instruments alongisde our adult musicians. The benefits are enormous. Yes, it is costly in terms of time and work but the moments when the fruit is obvious, when you see these young people start to really develop and grow in their skills makes the hard yards worthwhile.

[Josh Jeffries]

I am so thankful for this topic. I am coming at this from the other direction. I was one of the "young, inexperienced, somewhat musically skilled, and needing mentoring" prospective worship leaders. I will clarify that I was not a 13 year-old electric guitarist or drummer wanting to rock the house down. However, in leading worship and being led of the Spirit, I was in need of training. The worship leader I was under at that stage had a real heart for God and was a pretty decent musician as well. He and I(and my wife) had many good conversations about the what-ifs of him letting go and letting us go for it (I realize that it is not quite that simple). It never quite worked out the way any of us imagined. I realize that he wasn't equipped himself to mentor me and my wife up into the calling we had on our life. He did put me in contact with someone who could disciple me in worship and other areas and my growth has been blessed. This concept of "mentoring" is not new, it is what Jesus called "making disciples" (learners). I will also say that now that I am a little older, I am learning that I need to be mentoring (discipling) people (equipping them to take my job and teach others). The main hang up is that it is inconvenient and potentially messy. Well, I can say that I am glad this older gentlemen has been willing to be inconvenienced and get a little messy with me. I hope this encourages those of you who are worship leaders to understand that the blessing in this situation is not "an awesome worship service" for an hour or two on Sunday, but helping younger people have "an awesome service of worship living!"

[Jimi]

Great story, Josh. Thanks for sharing it.

[daren]

Can't agree with you more, that the inclusion of the next and younger generation is vital.

We recently introduced the youth band to our main worship service ... and it was an amazing blessing to both the band and the church.

They were totally dedicated and committed to the task, how many of u remember not being able to sleep, cos u are playing the guitar for service tomorrow? Remember the first few times?

Its amazing how GOD can use us, when we come before HIM with fear & trembling.

Tks for sharing your points! Really important to raise the next generation!

[Leah]

This is what I do! My heart is for training myself out of a job. In my church of 370 I have 12 teens and adults taking guitar and 'praise' piano lessons. It's taken a year, but now many of them are taking positions up front, even leading the band. I never could have imagined the enormous pay off this last year of training people would produce. It's great. And the lessons double up as times of mentoring, praying for them, and just investing in their lives.

I will say it's a huge commitment, and you'll send up rearranging your schedule to accommodate lessons. Most days I don't come in until 11, 11:30 because I'll know I"ll be here into the night with rehearsals and lessons. But it's worth it!