I think we can all agree as preteen leaders that the word worship can create some challenges in preteen ministry.

Boys don’t sing, girls do sing but not in front of each other, and having an area that works for your ministry to worship can be an issue.

This was no different for me; at least not until a few years ago.

I started to pray about what worship was and what it really meant. It always came back to same thing: it’s not only about music, but also about a response to God.

You see, worship is more than just singing.

We can worship God in any way we want to as long as it centers on giving Him praise and glory.

That’s why three years ago I decided to try something different with our preteens.

We taught on what worship was and why we do it.

We never focused on specific ways to worship, but rather using the unique gifts God given each of them to worship Him.

If you are artistic you can worship Him through art; if you are gifted in writing you can worship Him through literary compositions.

Discover what God has gifted you with and use it to worship Him.

Now preteens may not know what gifts they have, so at the end of the series we gave them the opportunity to worship God in different ways.

We put together 5-6 different worship stations using a variety of things they could do to worship God other than singing.

The response from out preteens was amazing! They were so excited and on fire to worship God that it humbled me.

I had forgotten what it meant to truly worship The Lord and it took our preteens to remind me.

Here are a few examples of worship stations we have had our preteens go through.

Worship Station #1 – God’s Facebook

Supplies:

  1. Sheets of white paper
  2. Markers or pens
  3. Tape
  4. Cover a wall with blue paper and add a Facebook Logo.
  5. Get as creative as you want with God’s Facebook page.

We used four giant wall game boards. They were designed to put sheets of paper in for questions. We used the pouches to put post on God’s Facebook.

You will need worship music playing for them to listen to. Take some time and pick out songs they know.

Bottom Line: God always wants us to talk to Him, anyway we can.

Preteens live in a social media age and spend most of their time communicating with friends through posts and tweets. They don’t think twice about telling their friends about a cool thing they just did or when something bad happens.

Directions:

Sit down and begin to think about what God’s Facebook page would look like. Start to think what it would be like to post something to Him.

You’re willing to post anything on a friend’s wall, are you willing to post it on God’s wall? When you are ready, use a piece of paper and markers to create your post and use tape to attach it to the wall.

Take some time and read through the other posts on the wall.

Worship Station #2 – Give It All to Him

Supplies:

  1. Lots of different sunglasses
  2. Clipboards
  3. A large fan
  4. Different colored pens or pencils
  5. Large strips of paper

Bottom Line: We can worship Him anytime and anywhere

We can worship God by building an attitude of thankfulness into our lives.

We do this by LOOKING at life through a different set of eyes or lens.

Directions:

Take a clipboard with a strip of paper and a pen or pencil and sit down somewhere in the room.

Put on one of the pairs of sunglasses to help you look at life differently.

Begin thinking about your life and the things you are thankful for.

  1. Think about the good things God has done for you that you are thankful for.
  2. Think about the struggles in your life. God puts struggles in our lives to help us rely on him.
  3. Write down the struggles you are dealing with in your life.

Take some time thanking God for all of these things and when you are ready, tear up your paper and throw the pieces toward the fan and watch them blow away.

Give them to God and show Him you are relying on Him and giving Him your cares and worries.

Worship Station #3 – Gods Family Tree

Supplies:

  • A large tree in a pot, fake or real.
  • Colored note cards with hole punched in one end.
  • Pieces of yarn or string.
  • Various art supplies (markers, stickers, colored pens, etc.).
  • A sign with words of identity on it, listed below.
  • Music playing.

Bottom Line: We can worship Him in many different ways

Being a child of God makes you part of his family tree.

We can worship God by building relationships with other Christians.

One of the awesome things about God is he makes us all different yet He loves us all the same.

  • Take some time and ask God about your identity.
  • Look at the “Words of Identity” list and see which word or words jump out to you and identify who you are.
  • Write them on a note card.
  • Decorate your card in any way you want, let it identify you.
  • Hang it on God’s family tree. Step back and reflect on how awesome God’s family is and how He has created each of us differently.

Words of Identity: Kindhearted, Child of God, Alive with Hope, Full of Faith   Victorious, Forgiving, Chosen, Dearly Loved, Happy, Honest, Anointed, Follower of Jesus, Friendly, Hard Working, Compassionate, Accepted, Trustworthy, God’s Artwork, Confident, Loving, Called by God, Gifted, Redeemed, A Gift, Worshipper, Loving, Strong, Born of God, A New Creation, Blessing, Generous, Tenderhearted, Dear to God, Friend of God, Spiritually Blessed, Joyful, Beloved, Brave, A Treasure, A Shining Light, Mighty Warrior, Peaceful, Healed, Full of Life, Treasured, Complete, Not Alone, Near to God, Hopeful, Talented, Rich in God’s Love

Worship Station #4 – Fill In the Gaps

Supplies:

  • Build a wall or panel with gaps/slices cut into it.

We built ours out of 2x4s and 1x12s and it was about 4ft x 4ft

There were gaps between the 1x12s and we cut slices into them also

  • Note cards
  • Pens

Bottom Line: Let’s Respond to God’s Awesomeness

God wants to be in every part of our life and this is one of the things that make God so awesome! Sometimes we have a hard time allowing him there and we let other stuff fill in those gaps.

Allow God to fill in those gaps starting right now.

  • Take some time praying and looking at the areas of your life where you need God.
  • Write them on a note card.
  • Fold your card and put it in one of the gaps in the wall, showing God you want him to fill in the gaps.
  • Stand back and look at the wall and the gaps you filled in with God and ask Him into every part of your life.

rob quinnRob Quinn serves as the Preteen Ministry Coordinator at Community Bible Church in Brighton, MI. He has been involved with preteen ministry for almost 8 years now. Rob is married to an amazing woman Jodi, who just so happens to be the Children’s Ministry Director at his church. They have one beautiful daughter Sydni, and an 8-pound attack dog named Lilly.