Middle School Worship...the controversy?

I've been noticing a new topic of conversation among several youth pastors on the topic middle school worship. Some have talked about how they do it, some have talked about the fact it shouldn't be different, and some think its a stupid talk. As middle school pastor and worship leader at ORBC, I have some of my own thoughts.

First off, should there be a difference in worship for middle school? Yes..and no. No in that worship is simply surrendering to God in prayer, singing and time in the word. The students must be encouraged to do this and grow in their faith just like adults. Yes, in the fact that middle school students are at a certain maturity level. They are at a certain development level. They are at a certain intellectual level. They learn differently than adults since they are still in development.

Here's what we know about middle schoolers. They are still structured, concrete thinkers and are just beginning to discover abstract thinking. As a result, they still need a level of repetition and simplicity...nothing artsy or excessively deep. We also know that middle school students have a high level of energy. If we can tap into that energy, it can be used as a learning tool. Third, media has a huge target on our middle school students. Commercials and music are targeted at them. If you notice, they are highly entertaining, the music is pop/punk and there is an emphasis on finding identity in a product.

When it comes to singing worship, I have taken an approach with my students to intentionally take these factors into consideration. They are the following:

-Worship should be energetic: I use a good bit of high energy, pop/rock worship with my students. Seeing as they are getting a diet of this (with a LOT of results) by marketing, why not use it for good? I emphasize celebrating God for who he is and what he's done on Sunday's. The students LOVE it. When I was in middle school, singing worship was boring, old school and it wasn't what I was hearing on the radio that made me feel so good! They have energy...encourage it!
-Worship should be simple and repetitive: Many of the songs I use are simple in structure and truth. They are also somewhat repetitive. That was intentional. The reason? I want the songs and the truth of the songs to be stuck in my student's heads throughout the week. I want them to catch themselves singing them over and over during the week. If concrete simple truth is in the song, it allows them time to begin to critically think about what they are singing. Examples of this are Hillsong's Take It All, Mercy Is Falling, and Undignified.
-Worship should use middle school students as much as possible: I have been blessed to walk into a band that consisted of all but one middle schooler. Almost two years have passed. I am now looking at a changing of the guard. I believe middle schoolers relate better when they see middle schoolers worshiping up front. The band experience can prove to be an amazing time of discipleship of young musicians.
-Worship can contain motions: I say this one cautiously. Normally, your girl students will do this without blinking an eye. Guys are stuck into being cool. However, it makes the worship more interactive and intimate. If at the least, we encourage them to clap and jump if they want. When you see students putting energy into it, you see the "cool" front fall down and they actually enjoy being middle school students!

This is still something I am in the process of learning about. As culture changes, so might my approach. As for now, I know the students love worship and are really beginning to connect with the heart of God. If they are taught to be free before God, and they are singing concrete truths, these can transfer to their high school experience.