Worship For Youth

Today's post comes from M-Fuge camp at Philadelphia. I wanted to talk a little bit about designing worship experiences for youth based on my observations of coming to camp over the years. The key idea is that the elements of worship are the same but the packaging is different. We still worship our Lord, we pray, we sing, we use Scripture, we are invited to respond; just in a way that is approachable to youth. M-Fuge is a national camp so the way they plan worship for youth is a good model for us to consider in our planning.

At M-Fuge we have two different worship experiences. The main worship service each day is in the evening and we have a celebration service in the morning prior to going out to our ministry sites. Here is a general list of the contents of each:

Evening Worship

• Worship songs with band
• A video clip on missions opportunites in Canada and with the Roma people in eastern Europe
• A drama sketch with two actors
• A message from the camp pastor
• Prayer
• A time of invitation and commitment.

Celebration Send-Off

• A game involving two or more youth ministers (nominated by students)
• Worship songs with band
• The latest installment of a thought-provoking (and funny) video clip series that demonstrates the theme "Adventure Now"
• A hilarious video clip series on Carter - the Church Assistant
• A video clip on missions opportunites in Canada and with the Roma people in eastern Europe followed by prayer for the folks from the video
• A drama sketch with two actors
• A brief message from the camp pastor
• Prayer
• Send off to ministry sites

Most of our worship services include these basic elements. Now I want to talk in a little more detail about the look and feel of the service

Theme Interpretation

• The room is decorated to reflect the camp theme, particularly in the stage area.
• The stage area is flexible, it can hold a band, a skit, a game, and a message. Furniture is easily moved as needed.
• The theme of the week is interpreted using a series of video clips about a young man and his two friends going on adventure. You can see a trailer for the M-Fuge camp that includes portions of the clip here
• The theme of the week is also interpreted using a series of skits performed by two of the camp staff.
• The print materials for the week support the theme.

Music

• Worship is led by a band (Two guitars, bass, drums, worship leader, and background vocals, keys). Various portions of the band are used during worship.
• The music is primarily guitar-driven.
• We sing five to six songs in a given worship service. Sometimes we will sing a portion of a song instead of the entire song. Typically it is 3-4 songs to start, a song or two in the middle and a song or two for the invitation.
• Song lyrics are projected on screens with moving background graphics.

Visuals

• Worship service is conducted in a gym, but it has been transformed to reflect the camp theme.
• There is a large stage, sound system and two screens in the front of the room with two columns of chairs.
• The room is dimmed most of the time. There is a mix of theartical lighting on portable stands and some creative solutions to provide dimmable house lighting.
• The room is set up to limit outside light to enable near-blackout conditions
• The props for the skits are very minimal

Message

• The camp pastor preaches for about a half hour. We have seen different preaching styles over the years. Some preach in an exegetical style, others are more story-oriented. Some use media clips. The key idea is that the camp pastor needs to communicate with youth well.

Resp0nse

• Students are invited to respond by coming forward to pray, prayer with their youth leaders or camp staff and or pray at their seats.
• The invitation allows for both salvation and commitment to mission service/ministry

We'll talk more about this in coming weeks.