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music alternatives

Hello all!
Yesterday i became the youth pastor at my church. I will be making quite a few changes to our service, and the first thing is that i am going to get away from doing a worship set with music. the music to date is terrible. I need to replace the time with a worship experience, but i don't have many alternatives up my sleeve. any suggestions for non- musical worship activities?

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- justinvmak
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2 years ago

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0 Votes I know Matt Redman has written a couple books on worship called The Unquenchable Worshipper and the book Facedown. He had a similar experience at a church when he wrote "heart of worship" and they regeared and took an interesting approach to their worship time. Worth looking into by pastor e 2 years ago by pastor e 2 years ago
0 Votes There's been some great stuff posted and I agree with just about all of it. The statement you made in the question that I would be concerned with is "Yesterday I became the youth pastor at my church. I will be making quite a few changes to the service..." I've "taken over" a new ministry program more than once and the first thing I want to do is make changes to improve. I would strongly caution you to ease into some of those changes. While the music (or other aspects) may be terrible, some of them are really dear to these kids. John Maxwell says if you look back and no one's following, you're not leading. Make sure you have the kids' support before making drastic changes and ease them in the right direction. by jasonbh... 2 years ago by jasonbhuffman 2 years ago
0 Votes Like Luke said, check out Rethinking Youth Ministry. "Prayer stations" are always a hit. Building an altar. Postcards to God. Candle prayers. Newspaper prayers. Murals. Play-doh. You get the idea. by ominous... 2 years ago by ominouspeacock 2 years ago
0 Votes The Book of Uncommon Prayer and another book called "Uncommon Worship Experiences" would both have some good ideas for you (links below). I would also check out "Contemplative Youth Ministry" by Mark Yaconelli. Lastly, there are a TON of fantastic worship ideas over at ReThinking Youth Ministry (link below). Good luck! Link Details: ReThinking Youth Ministry - creative worship category 2 years ago Uncommon Worship Experiences 2 years ago Book of Uncommon Prayer 2 years ago by Luke 2 years ago by Luke 2 years ago
0 Votes Awesome! Last year we were in a similar position, our youth worship team were not great and our drummer was really unreliable and then quit part way through the year so we took a different approach to band sung worship. What we did was move our worship into a smaller room, kept the lighting low, and just had acoustic guitars, had a couple of songs and then encouraged the youth to do different things. One night we put loads of flipchart paper over the walls and the youth wrote what they were most thankful for in their lives, another time I just told them to say a one sentence prayer each out loud. Both of these the youth connected with massively. Best thing is to get a book with alternative worship ideas and adapt them. Hope that helps. by Sean@Life 2 years ago by Sean@Life 2 years ago
0 Votes Interesting. I do love and support the idea that worship does not equal music. Though worshipping through music is something I connect with we put it in that box often. The possibilities are endless. Any artform is worshipful. Painting, drawing, poetry, drama, dance. I'm not sure where your church is located but walking around the property and worshipping God in natural elements is a way. Just curious though, are you in need of good music? Is your implication that your current church's exposure to music is terrible or all music is terrible? Because there is some incredible music of worship out there right now that should definitely be introduced to your students :) by Worship... 2 years ago by WorshipCity 2 years ago

Votes

I know Matt Redman has written a couple books on worship called The Unquenchable Worshipper and the book Facedown. He had a similar experience at a church when he wrote "heart of worship" and they regeared and took an interesting approach to their worship time. Worth looking into

pastor e

2 years ago

Votes

There's been some great stuff posted and I agree with just about all of it. The statement you made in the question that I would be concerned with is "Yesterday I became the youth pastor at my church. I will be making quite a few changes to the service..." I've "taken over" a new ministry program more than once and the first thing I want to do is make changes to improve. I would strongly caution you to ease into some of those changes. While the music (or other aspects) may be terrible, some of them are really dear to these kids. John Maxwell says if you look back and no one's following, you're not leading. Make sure you have the kids' support before making drastic changes and ease them in the right direction.

jasonbh...

2 years ago

Votes

Like Luke said, check out Rethinking Youth Ministry.

"Prayer stations" are always a hit. Building an altar. Postcards to God. Candle prayers. Newspaper prayers. Murals. Play-doh. You get the idea.

ominous...

2 years ago

Votes

The Book of Uncommon Prayer and another book called "Uncommon Worship Experiences" would both have some good ideas for you (links below).

I would also check out "Contemplative Youth Ministry" by Mark Yaconelli.

Lastly, there are a TON of fantastic worship ideas over at ReThinking Youth Ministry (link below).

Good luck!

Link Details:

ReThinking Youth Ministry - creative worship category

2 years ago

Uncommon Worship Experiences

2 years ago

Book of Uncommon Prayer

2 years ago

Luke

2 years ago

Votes

Awesome! Last year we were in a similar position, our youth worship team were not great and our drummer was really unreliable and then quit part way through the year so we took a different approach to band sung worship.

What we did was move our worship into a smaller room, kept the lighting low, and just had acoustic guitars, had a couple of songs and then encouraged the youth to do different things. One night we put loads of flipchart paper over the walls and the youth wrote what they were most thankful for in their lives, another time I just told them to say a one sentence prayer each out loud. Both of these the youth connected with massively.

Best thing is to get a book with alternative worship ideas and adapt them.
Hope that helps.

Sean@Life

2 years ago

Votes

Interesting. I do love and support the idea that worship does not equal music. Though worshipping through music is something I connect with we put it in that box often.
The possibilities are endless. Any artform is worshipful. Painting, drawing, poetry, drama, dance. I'm not sure where your church is located but walking around the property and worshipping God in natural elements is a way.
Just curious though, are you in need of good music? Is your implication that your current church's exposure to music is terrible or all music is terrible? Because there is some incredible music of worship out there right now that should definitely be introduced to your students :)

Worship...

2 years ago

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