Youth Music & Worship Ministry Formation

In our twenty-first century Evangelical church culture, choirs seem to be a thing of the past — especially youth choirs. Contemporary Christian music continues to influence not only what is being sung in churches, but how things are being sung in churches. Many of the Christian radio hits that are utilized in corporate worship emphasize stylized solos necessitating strong lead vocalists, and are often not ideal for a choral or congregational setting. Because of this trend, there are two pitfalls I have observed. First, only the elite vocalists in a given church may have a platform from which to sing, and secondly this results in a growing lack of congregational participation which then leads to a void of musical experience and training for future generations.

Need for Youth Music Ministry

My desire is not only to express the need for a music ministry geared toward students, but also to describe the process of creating, planning, and executing such a ministry at my own church in hopes to benefit others who seek to do the same. In his thesis on the influences of postmodernity on today’s youth, David Toledo asks, “Has the church fulfilled her responsibility to adequately instruct and train teenagers [on] the biblical foundations and practices of worship?” My heart is to see a music ministry for youth that will not only serve as a musical outlet provided by our church, but an opportunity to teach biblical principles about worship early in our students’ spiritual lives. Our church has well-attended adult and children’s choirs, but what has been lacking in recent years is a musical opportunity for youth once they age out of the children’s choir. After much prayer, discussion with the pastoral staff, and logistical planning, our Youth Music and Worship ensemble began meeting in February 2019.

Purpose for Youth Music Ministry

While researching for sources on beginning a music ministry for students, I found the most practical and helpful book to be Revealing Riches & Building Lives: Youth Choir Ministry in the New Millennium by Randy Edwards. In this book he states:

“Where there is no youth choir vision, the kids are going to run wild. It is impossible to build a fine youth choir without vision. It can’t be done, because the only thing which can continually motivate a group through the good times as well as the bad is a clear picture of the big goal.”

To establish a clear goal and vision, we communicated the following purposes for the ministry:

1. To train worshipers and worship leaders through biblical instruction
2. To develop musicianship of varying levels
3. To provide opportunities to worship God and serve the church body through music

At our initial interest meeting with students and parents I shared how our objectives matched each purpose. Firstly, each week incorporated teaching on various biblical topics of worship and music to reiterate the importance of God’s Word in regard to how we view and participate in worship. Secondly, an emphasis was placed on rehearsing vocal music to encourage reading of music and singing skills. The group consisted of students with varying musical backgrounds, so several methods were utilized to help students who had never been involved in music before. Part rehearsal tracks were a helpful tool for our auditory learners and much of our rehearsals consisted of repeating sections to dedicate parts to memory. Following along with the choral music allowed for opportunities to teach about dynamics, rhythms, and part movements. Finally, we provided an outlet for the students to serve in worship by singing at our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. These opportunities gave them a definite goal to work and strive toward.

Rehearsals

A total of eight students ranging from eighth to eleventh grade participated in the ensemble. In addition to myself as the director, two adult helpers (male and female) helped our students in part learning and sectional rehearsals. Each meeting included prayer, biblical instruction on worship, warm-ups, and the musical rehearsal. Our biblical lessons on worship covered aspects such as:

• Worship as our response to God’s initiation
• New Testament worship practices outside of music
• Acceptable worship is through faith in Christ
• Principles for worship from the Ten Commandments

Our rehearsals covered three songs. The two pieces for Good Friday consisted of choral arrangements of Mighty Cross by Elevation Worship and Death Was Arrested by North Point InsideOut. The students also had the opportunity to rehearse and perform Mercy Tree by Michael Neale and Kristen L. Nordhoff with our adults in a combined choir on Easter Sunday.

Performances

It was a pleasure to debut our Youth Music and Worship ensemble for the first time at our special Good Friday service. While the majority of the evening was a somber reflection on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the service concluded with two pieces presented by the students which joyfully celebrated what the cross has accomplished. Where there had been no prior clapping, the congregation immediately broke into applause following both songs. After later conversations with many of the adult choir members and others, I found out this was one of the most impactful parts of the service.

While involving the youth ensemble in our church-wide Good Friday service was exciting for them to be a part of, I am glad for the opportunity they had to both rehearse and perform on Easter Sunday with the adult choir. One pitfall I would like to avoid in this ministry is isolating the group from involvement with other generations. I want to see the students both learning from those who are older, and having leadership opportunities with those who are younger. In his book on spiritual disciplines, James Smith says that one of the dangers in youth ministry is how potentially disastrous it can be to stratify the body of Christ in generational segments.

(An audio recording of the combined choirs performing Mercy Tree can be found HERE.)

Observations

In addition to my own personal observations, I asked three groups of people for feedback in order to provide assessment and future improvements to this ministry. First, the participating students were asked questions regarding biblical worship, personal musical growth, and opportunities they would like to have through this ministry in the future. It was fascinating to see which biblical truths from our lessons resonated with different students. Common themes included how they now had a broader view of worship that just music, and how some of the Ten Commandments speak so specifically to areas of worship. Many of the students shared of personal musical growth in areas included reading music, good posture, practicing on their own time, and changing dynamics. Most expressed an interest in continuing a focus on choral singing, as well as the possibility of incorporating instrumentation in the future.

The second group which helped in the assessment process were the adult helpers who were asked to evaluate the biblical lessons on worship, students’ musical growth, and any specific suggestions for this ministry. The information proved to be beneficial in confirming some of my own observations, as well as areas I had not yet considered.

Finally, the pastoral and office staff were asked to make observations on the students’ performances and the ministry as a whole. These assessments were also very helpful in that each person addressed a different aspect. One spoke of how beneficial it was to include the student ensemble in the Good Friday and Easter services, another was thrilled to see two students who were once again involved in church activities because of the youth music ministry, and another on how we might utilize the youth ensemble in other areas of ministry in the future. Perhaps the most meaningful feedback came from the youth pastor who was able to assess the ministry from a spiritual standpoint because of the relationships he has with the students involved. He had specifically spoken with two students who he had been spiritually impacted by the youth music ministry.

Conclusion

Although its formation was far from perfect and there is still much to learn, I was absolutely grateful for the opportunity to begin the ministry and work with our students. It gave me the chance to build relationships with students I would not have otherwise known, and my hope is that my leadership positively affected their lives as well. While church choirs and particularly youth choirs have become less and less prevalent in Evangelical circles, I would encourage any church with the student interest and resources to begin such a ministry. The age of “youth choirs” may be over, but giving priority to an opportunity for students to learn about biblical worship and how to exalt God with their voices should remain timeless.