Church Production Magazine: A few years ago I was attending a church that was in the process of transitioning their musical style. In less than a year they went from a single worship leader/singer, a drummer (that wasn't mic'd), a bass player that just played out of an amp on stage, and a piano player, to a full band with a guy who brought in three different guitars every week, three keyboard players (piano, keys, and organ), a drummer with a fully mic'd kit, a percussion player, and 12 background singers on wireless mics. Needless to say, the volume more than doubled.
2 comments:
This is definitely a topic of concern among many churches. I have been to both churches with medium/large worship services with advanced technical production, and other church services that occur in a school, and they barely have a pianist and a projector for lyrics. I've also seen videos of mega churches that take it totally to another level that doesn't seem to fit into the context of a real church service. In all of the church services I've attended, I haven't been to one that seemed to be on an inappropriately large scale of technical production. But I get that it can sometimes go too far. Lighting and sound can add a lot to a service and enrichen the worship experience for a lot of people. As long as the scale does not take away from the worship that is being given and it's not distracting to the congregation, I think it is okay. However, there is something to be said for a simple worship session with just piano and a guitar. When it comes down to it, the worship is meant to be a time between people and the Lord and it can really be powerful when it's just simple and there are no distractions.
Sometimes I forget that all churches are not just rows of pews with sermons and activities for the community. I always forget the omega churches and the ones with high theatrical value until I do the comments for the week and see these articles pop up. I think that theatrical lighting haze and music might pull new young church-goers in, but I think it probably drives older or regular attendees to find other locations of worship. The comment on this article where a man noted his wife was having problems breathing due to the amount of haze coming off the stage was crazy. I didn’t know churches had haze nevertheless enough to choke out wives trying to get close to Jesus.
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