Volunteer Centered Thoughts: The Next Generation
My home church, , hosted as a worship leader last weekend. Not only is he an amazing talent, his combination of lyrics and leadership style provided an amazing time of worship.
The one thing I noticed the most, though, was how some nearby youth groups came by to visit and enjoy his music and worship. They were following his MySpace page, saw that he was in town, and asked if they could join (we replied ‘yes’ immediately, as we always want to provide an environment for anyone in the Church to worship). Their style of worship wasn’t over the top, but was deep and heartfelt – they, like all youth, listen and respond to music as it is easy for them to relate.
It struck me that those worshipping will be our next generation of leaders. They will soon, if not already, start to be the ushers, greeters, musicians, and pastors. While the Lord has been softening my heart to help youth interested in web application development () get a head start, I’m starting to realize that they are also the leaders I should be focused on raising along with those I’m focused on today.
How are you going to engage the next generation, adapt to their styles, and grow them as leaders with their unique styles and personality? It is time to figure that out now, or someone else may show them how to lead without a Christ-centered focus. Already have some ideas? Post a comment and let me know what you are doing!
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Hey there,
Good thoughts here…I’ve particularly enjoyed this whole series very much.
There are a couple of youth in our congregation that have expressed interest in leading worship. I would like to start working with them but haven’t done so yet for a couple of reasons.
One is that my pastor said to wait until they talk to me abou it. I wasn’t sure what I thought about this one at first, but my pastor is a very much into equipping and lay leadership and usually knows what he’s talking about, so I’m trusting him on this one.
The other one is that I don’t know the guys very well. That’s a pretty lame excuse, isn’t it? I won’t know them well until I get to know them, and the only way to engage them is to get to know them!
Again, thanks for your great thoughts.
Ryan,
That is really encouraging to see things starting to move in this direction! It sounds like you have the right heart and the right attitude – get to know them, build a relationship, and then start to focus on building next generation worship leaders. Exciting!