Image courtesy of Rock Harbor Church Meridian, ID.
After audio preferences, lighting for worship is probably the next most subjective thing in production for churches. The line between enhancing and distracting is rather nebulous, and where it falls varies, sometimes significantly, from church to church. I have very strong opinions on what makes for distracting worship, and I’d like to share some of them here. However, just because I say it doesn’t mean you have to agree with it. The more important thing is that perhaps you’ll evaluate your lighting with a new eye and specifically think about whether what you do for lighting design might make for a distracting environment.
Many people may not even realize that what they find fun and exciting is actually reducing their ability to worship.
First, it’s worth noting that there’s a difference between creating an exciting environment and an environment that supports worship. Just because attendees might find something you do exciting or fun doesn’t mean it should be done in worship. Many people may not even realize that what they find fun and exciting is actually reducing their ability to worship.
#1: Flashing lights in the eyes of the attendees.
From my perspective, the purpose of congregational worship is for joining together to focus on and praise God’s glory. There isn’t any time where I’m trying to focus on something where flashing bright lights in my eyes enhances my ability to focus. Quite the contrary—flashing bright lights in my eyes is painful and completely takes me out of the focus on worship. In my opinion, blinders focused on the attendees and moving lights shining out into the house seating area does not have a place in corporate worship. Yes, make your environment beautiful. Moving lights adding texture through patterns augments this ability. Just keep them out of the eyes of those attending your worship services. Yes, there are people who like that style. But is it actually helping them focus on God? Just because they like it doesn’t mean it’s good for the purpose of their engagement in corporate worship.
#2: Fast lighting transitions.
A person’s attention is drawn to movement, and changing lighting levels is a form of movement. Doing it quickly draws attention away from the time of worship a little bit. Design your lighting cues so that lighting changes are on the slower side. Instead of a three-second change, try a 15 second change and see how it feels. The lighting change will still support the energy level of your worship, but the change itself won’t draw attention. House lighting level changes can also draw attention, and these are even easier to slow down. See how a one-minute fade on the house lighting feels during the start of the service. See how slowly you can make the changes and still achieve the goal of changing the house lighting levels to suit the mood and energy level.
Instead of a three-second change, try a 15 second change and see how it feels.
#3: Never changing your lighting levels.
Leaving your entire sanctuary or auditorium lit brightly throughout the service, while not distracting in itself, fails to draw attention to the stage by keeping the rest of the room bright. Fidgeting people around you are more likely to distract you if they are well lit. Light your room and stage so that the area to which people should be paying attention is lit well, the rest of the stage subdued (unless live video is important to your ministry); and the house area lit as dimly as is appropriate.
Like I said, you may not agree with some (or all!) of my points. But before dismissing them, really think about how you implement lighting in your service supports, or distracts, the ability of keeping your congregation focused on God during corporate worship.
