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I’ve always been hesitant to label cultural changes or technical advancements in the church as trends. After working in worship and technical ministry for decades, I’ve seen a lot of change. I’m also aware that as much work as I’ve done, it represents only a small percentage of churches, viewed through a relatively brief window of time, compared to the overall movement of the church in the U.S.
What I do see are tendencies. I see patterns repeated and imitated, often based on what influential churches are doing, especially now that virtually every church is streaming their services.
Modern art is only modern for a very short time.
I’ve told this story before. I was hired to help a church with their audio presentation. There was a stage full of singers, all on handheld microphones. When the service started, all I could really hear was the lead vocal and the band. Maybe a hint of BGVs, but nothing close to what I would expect from that many singers.
I asked the FOH engineer about it. He said, “That’s the trend these days.” I’m not sure, but he may have followed that up under his breath with, “...old man.”
Then, and even now, things like that make me raise an eyebrow.
Who decided that was a trend? Why? Who had been influencing this guy to think it made sense to put that many singers on stage and then bury most of them in the mix? And who in leadership heard that and thought, “Yeah, sounds about right?”
The most meaningful worship moments rarely depend on technology.
The songs we do weekly change over time. There is good material out there, and we should always make room for it. Worship styles evolve. Church leaders watch their contemporaries closely. That doesn’t mean everything that appears on a church platform you admire needs to be repeated everywhere else.
Technical teams need to remember the systems they run are tools, not the worship itself.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, many large denominational churches whose buildings had been designed for traditional worship began updating their systems to support more modern or contemporary styles. Auditoriums and AV systems originally designed for choirs, orchestras, piano, and congregational singing were redesigned and upfitted for the louder, edgier approach to worship that was sweeping through the culture.
That period also produced countless church plants and new facilities built around the black box model. The rock and roll church. As long as the lobby had an inviting Starbucks coffee shop vibe, the worship auditorium was often little more than a warehouse or metal building with a stage and high-tech production, with almost no thought given to aesthetics beyond, “Make it all black, the house lights will always be off during worship anyway.”
Looking back, as much as I hate to say it, it was indeed a trend. A well-meaning trend, no doubt, an attempt to keep up with the world and to provide “seeker-safe” environments that could easily blend in among mid-sized secular performance venues.
I know this because I helped many churches make that cultural pivot at the time. Having recently come off the road with a 1990s touring CCM act, it was a perfect storm for bringing a live concert mentality into the church production world. In retrospect, there were times when that influence was a bit heavy-handed, and sometimes spectacle outshined the real message. I was there when a pastor rode a Harley onto the stage. More than once. I was also there when a pastor rapped part of his message. I lived through countless reworkings of Little Drummer Boy, and yes, the keytar.
I don’t say this with contempt. I’m grateful for the opportunities, and I’m still proud of the work I’ve done. I’m also grateful for the lifelong friendships developed during those early days. But as I see how many of those churches have grown and matured since then, I believe I have grown and matured as well.
Black-box worship isn’t the enemy—it just isn’t timeless.
None of us has a crystal ball to see into the future, and if I’ve learned anything in my career, it’s never say never. Nothing, no trend, lasts forever.
One of the churches I worked with back in the day, before pre-programming and discovery meetings were standard practice, had conflict between the AV integrator and the staff worship pastor…Some things never change.
The integrator had designed the infrastructure to accommodate many more mic channels from stage pockets than the worship leader thought were necessary. When we met to discuss the misaligned goals, the integrator explained that this was meant to “future-proof” the system and give them options for growth beyond their current status. “Like if you ever wanted to add a choir,” said the integrator.
The young worship pastor’s response was confident. “We will never have a choir in this church.”
I’m sure you can see where this is going.
Within a few years, that worship pastor was no longer on staff, and the church did, in fact, have a choir.
As I mentioned earlier, during this same period, churches that had been traditional were rebuilding their auditoriums and upfitting AVL systems to the rock and roll church model. This was expensive and often a culture shock to older members of the congregation.
I worked on more than a few churches that were building new campuses with a modern worship auditorium and a traditional chapel to accommodate older members of the church. To be fair, and I was told this more than once by senior church leadership, the chapel was an addition that had to be honored because those folks were, in reality, the ones funding the entire project.
In the last five to seven years, I hesitate to use the word trend, but anecdotally, my experience is that churches are going back to a more traditional approach to their worship environments. I’m seeing more churches lean into blending choir and traditional instrumentation. I’m seeing a resurgence of hymns and older CCM songs blended into worship. A move away from the black-box environment toward brighter, more ornate finishes and flooring. Less haze, less reliance on the dynamics of moving lighting fixtures, and simpler stage designs.
What feels cutting-edge today often feels dated sooner than we expect.
For churches that are beginning to dial things back and already have high-quality equipment, this doesn’t require a complete reworking of their systems, just a new approach to how the technology is used. This is not as hard a pill to swallow as it was for churches that spent a lot of money to re-invent themselves in the other direction many years ago.
As I look back on my career and some of the trends I’ve observed, and endured, over the years, I’m reminded of what a church staff member once said during a building project while debating aesthetics: “Modern art is only modern for a very short time.”
Trends are just that. Trends.
Over time, I’ve come to appreciate what I think of as adult church. Singers singing in praise. Musicians playing together. Technical teams understanding that the systems they run are tools, not the worship itself.
Styles will change, and technology will continue to evolve. Something else will come along that you may feel pressure to get on board with. It’s worth stopping long enough to consider those influences before buying in.
What we think of as timeless usually isn’t any of that. It’s people worshipping together, and the rest of us getting out of the way. And while we’re at it, as always, don’t forget to listen.
