WORSHIP: Open Mic

Do you ever include an "open mic" time in your youth ministry?  I've been doing them for a while in student gatherings, but recently we've settled on making it a regular part of our IMPACT services.  We don't have musical worship every week, just once or twice a month, and so as a break between songs, we'll have open mic time.  During that time we give students (and adult leaders) an opportunity to share their "God sightings" or things they're learning/reading/whatever.  There are some great benefits to doing this sort of unplanned sharing:

- New voices.  Chances are that your youth only get to hear one or two voices on a regular basis - yours and maybe one other leader.  Doing open mic sharing gives students a chance to hear from their peers and other adults who don't necessarily feel called to teach/preach/speak on a bigger scale.

- Fresh insight.  Your students will share perspectives and thoughts that may surprise you (in a good way!).  I've actually learned a lot about where our students are at spiritually and what the "temperature" of our group is as I listen to them share during open mics.  Often "themes" or similar thoughts/experiences will be echoed by several kids.

- Encouragement.  I can't think of  a single time we've done open mic where several, if not all, of those sharing were encouraging towards our overall ministry and what we were doing.  Win!  I can stand up front talking about how great IMPACT is all day, but when youth hear their peers echo that, it does something different!

Here's a few pointers for you before you do an open mic sharing time in your group:

1. Remind them to respect each other.  No laughing at, teasing, or tearing down others in any way.

2. Remind them to be brief.  You might even want to have a cue to help them know when they've gone over whatever time limit you want to set (I usually think around 3-4 minutes is plenty).  I'm good at interjecting and moving them along, but you might want a sign to hold up in the back or a wrist tap from you or something.

3. Tell students this is a chance to point the spotlight on God and what He's doing in their lives or around them.  Keep that spotlight aimed on Him and you'll hear great things come out of these times.

I hope this is helpful to you - I know doing sharing times like these can seem rough around the edges and not as polished or planned as your usual message or study, but they can be such encouraging and uplifting times for your group and for you!

Do you do open mic times?  How do yours go?