What can God do with 45 minutes in a middle school service? More than you can imagine. This year I have learned so much about effective middle school programing since our team got serious about making sure middle school students were engaging every minute of our weekly gathering. If you want to keep the attention of middle school students then you better embrace the idea that less is more. This year we forced our service time to 45 minutes and the time constraint has been an amazing catalyst. With limited time we have had to evaluate every phase of the service and make sure it works. Why…because we have 45 minutes. We have to choose the right songs. We have to promo events with limited time. We have to plan for the right game. We have to make sure the talk sets up our small groups and happens in 20 minutes. I can imagine many youth leaders right now asking for more time. I promise your middle school students do not need more they need better. If you want to engage middle school students begin with evaluating how you use the time you have in your program.