I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role of AVL in our worship services. Yes, there’s the obvious points to them, but there’s a more subtle aspect of how we handle audio, video and lighting in our churches that I think is often overlooked. And because of this, there is sometimes a good deal of grumbling and complaining within the church.
Getting to the heart of ministry goals
Our worship services aren’t created through lighting cues, fader positions or IMAG shot selections. They are designed around ministry moments. Everything we do in a church service has a point to it (or certainly ought to have a point to it) and has a ministry goal associated with that point. Our roles as technical production staff and volunteers should be to support those ministry moments in the best way possible for our style of service and congregational demographic.
Everything we do in a church service has a point to it ... and has a ministry goal associated with that point.
This probably seems logical, but I believe that these ministry moments and how technical ministries need to support them is often left open to interpretation by the audio, lighting, and video operators. And let’s face it—most of us technical production folks are nerds, not pastors. We often look for how we can make use of an awesome feature in a light, or what effects we might add to the vocal mix—not what the church leadership’s goal is for each moment of the service. And even if we did think that way, there’s a good chance we’d not be in sync with our leadership, because we approach it from a different angle.
Part of the onboarding process of technical ministries staff and volunteer leadership ought to be a deep sit-down session with pastoral leadership discussing the various moments the church is trying to achieve as the service flows from one moment to the next....
This isn’t the tech teams fault, per se. Part of the onboarding process of technical ministries staff and volunteer leadership ought to be a deep sit-down session with pastoral leadership discussing the various moments the church is trying to achieve as the service flows from one moment to the next--what’s important to church leadership in these moments, and how technical production can make or break each of these moments. Instead, I suspect most churches don’t give this a thought, and even if they did, the pastoral leadership probably doesn’t know enough about what the tech team can, can’t, or might do to be able to define the connection between ministry moments and technology use.
So, by default, instead of these ministry moments being defined by church leadership, the important aspects of these ministry moments are left to the tech team operators to define. And we are the wrong people to define them. In many cases, we tech team members focus on what we like to see or hear, and those things are not necessarily the things that actually facilitate the ministry moment the pastors intended when they planned the service. We like powerful music, bright lights, cool video shots. But these can easily work against the ministry moments intended by church leadership.
We like powerful music, bright lights, cool video shots. But these can easily work against the ministry moments intended by church leadership.
Ministry moments and why they matter so much
Let’s walk through various parts of a typical church service and consider what ministry moments are intended and how church tech teams might approach them. And yes, my point of view for these moments is going to come through in the rest of this article. My point isn’t to get you to see my way of how these ministry moments should be handled. You can certainly disagree with my take on things. My point is to get you to think about WHY you are doing what you are doing--to evaluate whether what you are doing actually makes sense, and to encourage a discussion between the tech team and pastoral team to learn what’s important in the ministry moments of your service and how they should be supported through the use of audio, video and lighting systems. There’s a quote from the movie Jurassic Park that I think is very apropos to tech teams: we’re often so busy seeing if we CAN do something, that we don’t stop to think whether we SHOULD do that thing.
There’s a quote from the movie Jurassic Park that I think is very apropos to tech teams: we’re often so busy seeing if we CAN do something, that we don’t stop to think whether we SHOULD do that thing.
So, ministry moment. What are they likely going to be for the church leadership for that moment, and how can the tech team support (or hinder) those moments?
Most contemporary services start with worship time, with the band kicking off into usually a higher-energy song, and the worship leader welcoming those attending the service. Sometimes they might have additional thoughts to share, or a scripture verse to read to exhort the congregation to worship. The ministry moment at the start of the song is the exhortation by the worship leader—i.e., the spoken word. A tech team might put the priority on the music, desiring to start the service with a higher energy level that comes through higher volume. But, if the spoken word isn’t intelligible, that ministry moment is lost. The audio tech could push the microphone louder (if the feedback threshold allows for it); however, then you have a worship leader that seems like they are shouting at the congregation. Or, you can start with the band level lower, so that the worship leader’s spoken message is understandable to the vast majority of the congregation, and fade the band back up to your normal level after the speaking moment is over.
The question is, what is the church leadership’s priority for that moment? High energy, or the spoken word? I suspect most would say the spoken word, and at a volume that is appropriate for how that person is speaking. Therefore, what’s most appropriate is to keep the band low enough so that the spoken word is intelligible and bring the band up to full volume as you head into singing. Audio effects on the worship leader’s mic should be minimal or off to make his or her words clearer while speaking. Lighting should also emphasize the person speaking. If you use IMAG, the camera should be tight on the person speaking. All of these help people to focus on what’s being said by engaging your eyes as well as your ears and drawing focus to the person speaking.
... we are connecting people with God, not with the worship team.
During worship, the ministry moment is to connect people with God in an intimate fashion, enabling them to focus on God’s love for them, what he’s done for them, and his grace and mercy. So, we are connecting people with God, not with the worship team. The music of the songs support the singing of the words—it is the words that matter. Facilitating the singing of those songs with little distraction from the meaning of the songs would be a likely goal of the church leadership.
From an audio perspective, there are a few options, and which is correct will depend on your church’s style. The words are what matters most, therefore the vocals should be easily heard and intelligible over the band. For contemporary music, a strong volume is usually desired. Some people prefer it loud enough so that those around them can’t hear them sing, otherwise they stop singing because they feel self-conscious. Others are encouraged to worship by hearing those around them worship. Church leadership should decide which style they want their church to reflect and communicate that to the tech team. My church tends to go on the louder side, running about 92dB SPL A-weighted on average for stronger songs. The risk at louder levels is it’s easy for it to become piercing and physically painful. If the ministry moment is to get people to focus on God, how does painful audio affect that? It disrupts it. Great care needs to be taken to not cross the boundary between strong and painful. With audio, you’re not going to please everyone; the church needs to decide on their standard and not flex to every comment.
Our campus pastor has commented that every week we get both “it’s too loud” comments as well as “it wasn’t loud enough” comments, from the same service time. At some point, the church needs to (politely) say, “This is what we are striving for and if it’s not for you, this might not be the church for you.” But it’s also worth noting that simply going by a sound pressure meter to monitor dB levels is not sufficient to determine if the sound level is appropriate. From the same worship team inputs I could give you 92dBA SPL that’s painful, and 92dB that seems a little wimpy. The mix matters, and specifically the EQ'ing of each instrument and vocal (especially female vocals) makes a HUGE difference in the perception of loudness. And it takes a lot of experience and practice to get that right.
From a lighting perspective, I believe that creating beauty through light enhances my ability to connect with God. However, your eyes and your mental attention is drawn to movement. If you are creating a lot of movement, either through intelligent fixtures or by rapid and frequent color/brightness changes, you are creating something that demands the viewer’s attention. And if you’re flashing bright lights into people’s eyes, you are definitely demanding that their attention be on the lighting. So, go back to what the ministry moment is all about—getting people to focus completely on God and worship Him. Is creating distraction through lighting helping or hindering people’s focus on God? It hinders it. Yes, it may create a fun environment and build energy, but that’s not the ministry goal—focusing on God is the goal.
I bet that some of you are saying that this is just wrong—you want to create an environment that will attract the unchurched people in your community, and you believe that a more secular style concert environment will do so. Okay, I get that. But then, your ministry moment during worship isn’t actually worship—it’s attracting the unchurched. If worship happens, that’s great, but it’s not your top priority. If that’s what your church leadership is saying, then go for those bright flashy lights. Just be clear on what your ministry moments actually are for that part of the service.
Ditto with IMAG. Showing the band on the screens during worship is fun to direct, and exciting for the camera people. Many in the congregation may love seeing the band. But, does that help or hinder the ministry moment of getting the congregation to focus entirely on God? Like with flashy lighting, I’d say that it hinders it, regardless of how much the congregation likes it. The argument could be made that IMAG of the worship leader can support that ministry moment by seeing the person leading the song. But, what does putting the drummer up on the screens do for getting people to focus on the words and on God? I don’t think it helps that at all. Personally, I’d suggest using IMAG for worship only when the worship leader is speaking to the congregation, and stick with just lyrics over a non-distracting background for singing. Because, if we want people to focus on the words and on God—anything else on the screens encourages them to think about something else and does not support the ministry moment of worship.
For preaching, the ministry moment is being educated on our relationship with God through the spoken word. Clearly, for audio, the spoken word needs to be intelligible to 100% of the congregation with typical hearing abilities. If the band starts playing during the “wrap-up” part of the sermon, it should be at a low enough level to not encumber or distract from hearing the words. Lighting should be at a comfortable level so that the pastor is seen clearly and easily, but not so bright that it becomes painful to look at. Both too-bright and too-dark is fatiguing to look at for any length of time. House lighting should be bright enough so that people can read their Bibles and take notes, but not so bright it competes with the lighting on the pastor—keeping the lighting on the pastor brighter than on the congregation helps keep people’s focus on the pastor and less on the cute kid two rows in front of them. IMAG support in a large room helps people connect with the pastor’s passion for their topic by allowing facial expressions to be clearly seen by all.
In closing ...
There are other examples we could go through, but hopefully this gives you enough of an idea to work through your own services and discern what makes sense. I leave you with these final thoughts:
What a congregation LIKES, and what a congregation NEEDS, are often two different things. The bulk of your congregation probably isn’t thinking about the ministry moment that is being presented. They are just going with what you offer them. Give them a concert, they’ll be attending a concert and not worshipping. Present them with an opportunity to connect with God, and they will be encouraged to connect with God.
Present them with an opportunity to connect with God, and they will be encouraged to connect with God.
In conjunction with our church leadership’s definition of our services’ ministry moments, we should be LEADING our congregation where our church desires to take them, not following the congregation to wherever they are in the mood to go. Moses didn’t ask the Israelites where they wanted to go or how they wanted to get there during the exodus—he led them to meet with God. Sometimes he dragged them kicking and screaming to God. But, he led them—he didn’t follow them. Deliver technical production of your services that leads, not follows.
And sit down with your church leadership and talk through your service’s ministry moments. Get on the same page, and make sure everyone understands not merely how parts of a service should be handled, but why you are doing it that way. Think through with your church leadership what makes the best ministry sense for your church, and work from that position rather than from a position of personal preferences.
