Andy Flannagan - 'Distinctive Worship'

Distinctive Worship by Andy Flannagan should be considered a must read manual for youth leaders as well as anyone else in ministry because it gives many excellent tips on how to span the generational gap. This book is about building bridges between generations - and introducing young people to a God that they can believe cares about them.

Andy Flannagan is a British Youth for Christ worship leader who is able to speak the language of today's youth, bridging gaps that are found all too often in the churches of today. In his book Distinctive Worship, he shares his connection to the youth and successfully tackles many of the issues that youth workers face today.

Take cell phones for instance - how many times have you heard complaints about how young people interrupt church services because they won't turn them off? Andy talks about this issue and then offers a suggestion on how to mix cell phones with worship in an exercise called Txt worship.

Using different styles of music, beats and loops is something else that Andy covers. Frequently the youth of today don't feel like they can relate to the words found in "modern" worship material because our "modern" hasn't quite caught up to their "modern." While writing a "rap" to God may seem sacrilegious to some, Andy speaks of how effective it can be to get the youth to really open up and pour their hearts out to God. Putting those raps to the beats from modern "secular" songs is another way to cross the generational barrier and it shows the youth that Jesus really does meet them "where they're at."

All in all, this book offers a whole section on "new ideas" for worship that have been tried and found to be effective. Distinctive Worship is about building bridges between generations - and introducing young people to a God that they can believe cares about them.