Church Program Order of Service: Ideas for Planning Youth Worship

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No perfect, one-size-fits-all church program order of service exists. But I do believe the perfect order exists for a youth worship experience. It just so happens to be a case-by-case basis. Sure, our youth ministry has similarities in the order in which we do things. But we like to view every program as its own living being.

First, we write out every element we want to include in the service. Then we put everything together. Our average service contains these elements: a message, a funny video, an announcement video, an opening song, one-minute meet and greet, worship songs, a game and a welcome with announcements.

Church Program Order of Service: Consider This Outline

This is the order we most likely use for a youth-based worship service:

• Opening Song (cover of a popular song or a song that relates to the message)

• Funny Video (either one we made or one we found on YouTube)

• Welcome/Announcements (two to three announcements max, sometimes done via video)

• Announcement Video

• Game

• One-Minute Meet and Greet

• Two Worship Songs (usually these are fast and fun)

• Message

• Two Worship Songs (slower and more reflective)

  • Closing Prayer and Dismissal

That is our basic church program order of service. When putting our order together, we always keep 3 keys considerations in mind.

Consider These 3 Factors

1. Transitions

You always want to try to avoid any awkwardness during your youth services. Some of the most uncomfortable moments are when you’re transitioning to the next element. For example, this might be when you’re switching from the band to announcements or from announcements to a game.

In our youth ministry, we use program elements to serve as natural transitions. For example, we use the videos as a time to switch people and sets on and off stage. The same is true for the Meet and Greet.

Bad transitions also happen when you make a sudden change in energy. So try to avoid going immediately from a high-energy moment into a serious one. Instead, ease in.

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Josh Griffinhttp://www.downloadyouthministry.com
Josh Griffin is high school pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. He’s the co-counder of DownloadYouthMinistry.com and host of the Youth Ministry Garage Podcast. He's authored more than 20 youth ministry resources and is the author of "99 Thoughts for Small Group Leaders" with Doug Fields. Josh is a father of 4 who speaks a little, podcasts a little, Twitters a bit, and blogs a lot. You can find him at DownloadYouthMinistry.com!

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