Preteen Worship

There are a lot of different approaches to worship with preteens.  I’m giving you a disclosure that some of you might not agree with my opinions of worship.  Good thing is that you don’t have to agree.  I simply encourage you to read with an open mind.

Many of you are in different worship environments, so I will try to hit all possibilities.

All ages together?
If you have only a handful of preteens, then you most likely have all elementary ages together on Sundays.  If you have less than 10-15 preteens showing up, worship is going to be tough if you separate them.  So, if you already have all ages together, then keep it that way for worship.  If you want to separate preteens afterwards, go for it.  Just make sure the hand motions aren’t cheesy.  Target a 5^th/6^th grade boy when thinking through all aspects of worship.  Get a disco ball, flashing lights, black lights, laser light, etc. and light up the room during worship.  Pick songs and artists that preteens will like.

Preteens separated but small in number?
What do you do if you have a designated preteen ministry that meets separately, but have only a small group?  Maybe the preteen ministry is small or you have a Saturday night service that is much smaller than Sundays. My advice is to keep them separate and keep it the same basic format as if you had 100 preteens.  Just don’t expect a high participation of preteens to engage in worship.  Once you have at least 15-20 preteens, the participation level will increase.

Large group of preteens?
I think a band is the best way to go.  An edgy, cool worship band.  Forget DVD worship and cheesy hand motions that disengage preteen boys.  Tap into Junior High/High School Ministry for potential band members.  Find somebody that has a heart and talent for worship to lead the group.  I don’t think preteens like hand motions, unless they are ones that create them.  And boys have to be involved in the creating process.  If you go this route, think “motion worship” rather than “hand motions.”  Get preteens to move around doing cool motions for each song.  I’m not a fan of doing this, but have seen some make it work.  Also, follow the same advice with lighting as mentioned above.  Think funky.  Disco ball, flashing lights, laser lights, black lights, etc. are great things to have going on in the room during worship.  I would stay away from a strobe light because it messes with your depth perception and can be dangerous.  Use these tips to make a cool worship environment for preteens.

Two great artists preteens love can be found at www.yancynotnancy.com and www.theladsband.com.  Check them out today!

PreteenMinistry.net – Creative and relevant resources for preteen ministry.