Top 10 Things Heard at a Youth Worship Team Practice

Youth worship teams are the light of my life. I love working with them, watching them learn to lead worship and develop their own style and sound, and grow into the leadership role that they've been placed in.

Nothing with youth or youth worship teams is ever simple, though. My guys and gals on the worship team know that I can sometimes get to the point that I start to pull out my remaining hair after hour upon hour of practice, preparation, and performance.

Even frustration becomes humor when it is looked back upon, however. For those of us who work with youth worship teams, the story always looks the same. These are the statements made day after day, week after week, and with every youth worship team I have ever worked with. They are timeless and true, and I hope you will find your team represented here, too!

So, without further ado, here are the top 10 things heard at a youth worship team practice:

1. "Which mic should I use?"

2. One of the techs asks one of the worship team singers to "please sing into your mic." The singer then responds with "Hello? Check, check, check, check..." ad nauseum.

3. "You are TOO LOUD!"

4. The worship team plays through an entire song, and everyone looks around at the end. One person boldly speaks up with, "that sounded like trash."

5. "Is there any way we can drop it down a half-step?" to which the bassist responds with a loud "MAN, not again!"

6. "Let's just play _____ (insert the most overplayed song in your youth group)."

7. "Did anyone make a setlist for tonight?" "No, I though you were going to make a setlist." "Well, go make one real fast." "You go make it. I don't know what to play." "I think ______ was going to make a setlist." "Ok, we'll let her do it."

8. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU UNTIL EVERYONE STOPS PLAYING," yelled as the rest of the worship team fiddles around on their instruments between songs while the singers try to discuss the direction of the song.

9. "Am I on? I'm not on. Can you hear me? I don't think I'm on," said very quietly to each other, which the tech guy sits in the back waiting for the team member to tell him what's wrong.

10. "I need more of ME in the monitors," followed by a blank stare at the techs, a long pause, and finally someone confirms that the person requesting to be turned up actually NEEDS to be turned up.

I love my youth worship teams, and look forward to many more years of hearing these statements again, and again, and again, and again....