Music, Media, and the Youth Room

Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of 30 Stories that appeared in the 100th edition of Youth Leaders Only. Make sure you check out the other great stories  from this special edition celebrating 30 years of YLO. 

The “Joyful Noise Room” was a very effective student-parent bridge builder strategy in my youth ministry in 1985. It was an innovative approach pioneered by Word Regional Promotion Staff Jim Brady and Doris Scott to connect students to quality music with a faith message and to allow parents to see the heart behind the music. We set it up like a library check out system right in our youth room area. We purchased 6 Walkmans and allowed students to listen to the music provided by YLO. Every time our doors were open there were students in that room. We had at least a hundred different titles. It was an instant hit! The students (especially those who were new in their faith journey) used it constantly. Soul work was done…countless lives were changed.

Monty Hipp and Jim Brady Joyful Noise Room Yakima WA 1985

The “Joyful Noise Room” was a bridge builder in my youth ministry in 1985-86. It was an innovative approach pioneered by Word Regional Promotion Staff Jim Brady and Doris Scott to connect students to quality music with a faith message, and to allow parents to see the heart behind the music. We set it up like a library check out system right in our youth room area. We purchased six Walkmans (remember them?), and allowed students to listen to the music provided by YLO. Every time our doors were open there were students in that room. We had at least a hundred different titles to start in our “Joyful Noise Room.” It was an instant hit! The students (especially those who were new in their faith journey) used it constantly. Also, in that era, Christian music was introducing a new style of music that many parents were hesitant about. The combination of the material provided through YLO and the Bible studies that corresponded with the band was profoundly impactful.

As a result of that innovative approach, we never had little difficulty with parents be use they could listen to the music with their kids, and work through the Bible studies with them as well. We often would have parents come check out new bands their kids were talking about to be able to say they knew their music and much about the band. This also set the course for us having bands like Petra, Mylon LeFevre, WhiteHeart, DeGarmo & Key, come do concerts in our town and opened the door for many youth to connect to a message of Christ that would have never done so.

The “Joyful Noise Room” model grew and we saw scores of youth ministries pick up on this idea. As a result, in our region of the country Christian music festivals exploded and our group was always the largest attending group. I am positive that because of the “Joyful Noise Room” model, our parents felt confident that they knew what their kids were going to experience. It truly is one of the highlights of youth ministry programming strategies that really worked for building relationships with the youth and their parents. Soul work was done through a music lending library that changed countless lives. I will always be grateful to Jim, Doris, and Allen for their part in helping me build an effective ministry by utilizing music. Monty L. Hipp, Founder CompleMentor, Youth Pastor The Stone Church, Yakima, WA (1985)