Planning Worship with Teens Showcase

Teens who are encouraged to plan and lead worship, whether in a church, a Christian school, or in a youth group, find the experience to be transformative.  When given the opportunity to be involved in worship, teens deepen their faith commitment and spiritual lives and develop leadership abilities.  Reflecting on and discussing the deeper meaning and purpose of why we worship is essential when planning worship with young people. There are many resources that can assist adult leaders in this task, but those who work with young people also recognize the challenge of finding resources that are easily adaptable to their leadership style or the specific needs of their youth. And often leaders need ideas and learning exercises that fit the limited time frames they have with teens.

This showcase gathers up several resources to help you teach young people about worship. Many of these resources have been adapted from the Worship Apprentice program developed at Calvin College and used in the chapel program at Unity Christian High School, Hudsonville, Michigan.

Key Insights

1. Worship plays a formative role in the faith development of teens.
2. Mentors play an important role in the involvement of teens in worship.
3. Learning about worship— how and why we worship — provides good insights for teens involved in worship.
4. Working with young people to plan and execute quality worship takes time, resources, and energy.
5. Worship for teens needs to be a safe environment that draws them into the presence of God.

Resources

• From the Inside Out: Guiding Adolescents in Worship Leadership 
• Faith Formation from Birth to Age 20: A Psychologist's Perspective  
• Teens, Worship, and Faith Formation
• Developing an Effective Youth Leadership Team
• The Leadership Team is Assembled - Now What?
• Learning About Worship
• Planning Worship With Teens
• Increasing Participation in High School Chapel Services
• Preparing Students for a Lifetime of Worship
• How to Start a Worship Shaped Youth Ministry
• Presentation: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults
• Video blog: Ontario Christian High School Chapel program
• or browse articles in our Resource Library related to high school students

Publications

 Shaped by God (Faith Alive Publishing, 2010) by Robert Keeley

 Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers  (Oxford University Press, 2005)  Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton

 Will Our Children Have Faith?  (HarperSanFrancisco, 1976)  John H. Westerhoff III

 Sensible Shoes (WestBow Press, 2010)  Sharon Garlough Brown

 The Praying Church Idea Book  (CRC Publications, 2001)  Douglas A. Kamstra

 The Worship Sourcebook, Second Edition  (Faith Alive, 2013)

 Discerning The Spirits: A Guide To Thinking About Christian Worship Today (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003) Cornelius Plantinga Jr. and Sue A. Rozeboom

 Disciples Year 2 - Worship  (Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2008) Ron Rienstra

 Sunday Morning Live: How and Why We Worship (Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2003) Jane Vogel and Mary Sytsma

 The Air I Breathe: Worship As A Way Of Life (Multnomah Books, 2003) Louie Giglio

Websites

National Study of Youth and Religion