We've heard it a ton from Youth Leaders, "How can I get my students involved in a student worship band?"
With some amazing thought and insight from two youth ministry veterans (Rick Bundschuh and Ken McCoy), interlinc has created the Rock'N U Event . ROCK’N U is an event designed to encourage students to use their talents, interests and skill in music, particularly rock music, in a way that glorifies God. ROCK’N U is a way for a church to energize their talented young people and enfold them into the life of the church. It is also a way to seed the future of the church with upcoming musicians, songwriters, sound system personnel, etc. And, ROCK’N U is also a lot of fun! So check it out, you can retool these ideas to fit your realities and personal style and make a ROCK’N U monster of your own.
Catch the Vision...
Rock'N U includes a written sections for each instrument in your praise band and a DVD with instrument sections and encouragement & lessons from some of the best musicians in Christian music. (check out a sample from the DVD below:)
How To Set Up A ROCK’N U Event
She’s not a musician. She’s not a twenty-something (or thirty-ish!) fan of contemporary music. She’s not a fulltime youth leader, but works part-time at a church in Arizona – and her church is a “traditional” congregation, not one of those “emer- gent” or “seeker” churches. But when she heard about ROCK’N U at the National Youthworker’s Convention, she knew she wanted to make a ROCK’N U event happen at her church. So, Cheryl Farney got on the phone to Rick Bundschuh (the presenter of the ROCK’N U seminar) and Ken McCoy (the co-creator of the ROCK’N U project) and got the ball rolling.
She sent promotional materials to all the churches in her denomination and district. She arranged for a Christian band (named Kardia) from Las Vegas to fly in for the weekend – and housed them at her home. She flew Ken in from San Diego. She pulled together a team of chaperones, cooks, and helpers. She sent out flyers to local churches and signed up kids to participate. Ken and Kardia handled all the programming while Cheryl and her team covered the logistics.
Forty kids participated – some drove from hours away. As a result of Cheryl’s efforts and hosting the ROCK’N U there are now three youth bands that have been formed at three different churches.
Objective
ROCK’N U is designed to bring young musicians together to grow in their skill level in specific areas of Rock music with instruction by advanced players, worship leaders and technicians. In addition, ROCK’N U provides the means to encourage young musicians to use their music to advance God’s Kingdom, along with expanding their understanding of the dynamics of being in a band.
Who Should Participate
ROCK’N U works best with high school students or highly motivated or talented middle school kids. ROCK’N U is not designed to be something for everyone in the youth group but rather for those kids who have a serious interest in some area of Rock music—except for being groupies. If this is a very small segment of your church you may want to get in cahoots with other youthworkers and create
ROCK’N U as a multi-church event.
One of the great things about ROCK’N U is its ability to attract kids who might never darken the door of a church. Most kids who are half way serious about playing music know the network of other like-minded students who would probably jump at a chance to increase their skills and jam with other musicians. The evangelistic possibilities are huge if you can tap into this vein of kids.
Options
You will find three options mapped out for you on how to do a ROCK’N U event with your students. You do not have to stick with this template religiously – use your own ideas and creativity to customize any of the options that you select. Naturally, we think that option #1 is the most ideal and has the power to be most effective, but with a little tinkering you may be able to provide a great resource for your students with any option you select. So read over the suggested ideas and schedules and grab the one that works best for you and your group. Rock N Roll is the language kids speak – the medium by which ideas and emotions are transmitted. Initially the Christian church was generally hostile to this medium, and then eventually and delicately tried to create Christian alternatives to the secular offerings. Today, the medium of rock music is used to bring worship to God in a growing number of churches. Rock musicians find that their greatest friend and encourager can actually be the church.
