You might be tempted simply to find the people with the most talent and put them up front. I'd rather be led in worship by five average musicians with a heart to worship God than five excellent musicians who are more interested in magnifying themselves. Don't forget the process of developing worship teams must include an element of teaching what it means to lead with an attitude of worship, not as the cool, elite musicians. If it's possible, go through a book like Redman's The Unquenchable Worshiper with the whole team.

Embrace Your Place

Some ministries have 10 students and some have more than 1,000. Let your audio/visual equipment reflect the size of your group. Don't feel compelled to go out and spend a huge chunk of change on a hardcore sound system when going acoustic is more appropriate for your group. In fact, if you're small, don't have a complex about it—embrace it and enjoy what being small allows you. Enjoy the intimacy that smallness brings.

Finding New Songs

This used to be a lot harder, back in the old days when I had to walk uphill both ways and contemporary worship consisted of what Maranatha, Hosanna and Vineyard were putting out each year. A great place to start is a compilation CD such as WOW, which has a broad spectrum of popular worship songs, though some of them are a little dated. Michael W. Smith and other contemporary Christian artists recently put out worship CDs with great congregational songs. Utilize your local Christian bookstores. Spend a couple of hours; or, better yet, take a couple of students and stay a couple of hours in a Christian bookstore listening to the worship offerings. Don't be afraid to use songs that you see or hear others using. This is the part of ministry where stealing is encouraged! Another great Web site is Worshiptogether.com, which has tried to bring folks from various labels together as a resource.

The Really Old and the Really New

In my experience, the most effective songs are the ones that are extremely cutting edge and also the hymns and some choruses that have stood the test of time. Don't miss out on teaching a little history to your students—that the old hymns were once the contemporary praise songs of generations gone by, and that the organ was looked on with the same dubiousness as a drum set in some churches today.

Foster Creativity

Encourage students to think outside the box; the youth group is the perfect place for this to happen. Just because you've always done something one way, help your students see that it doesn't have to happen like that every time. Offer some suggestions to get them thinking: What would happen if we sang a cappella one night? What if we did a song in another language? What if we put the band at the back of the room instead of in the front? Then let them brainstorm with you. Let them own it. Worship is a treasure of the church. Care for it.