current mood: cranky current music: Hillsong United - Found

For all the numerous articles about the subject, it seems that technical excellence in weekend services is often overlooked in many churches.

And I don't necessarily mean bling-blingin' visuals, insane lighting shows, elaborate sets, and a rockin' worship team. I mean excellence in the simplest sense - doing whatever it is your church does with a commitment to excellence in mind. Let me give you an example.

You walk into a church Sunday morning for the first time. You're the average Joe Blow off the street - you might attend church on Easter and Christmas, but otherwise you don't have much experience with a church other than the excruciatingly boring sermons your parents used to make you sit through when you were a child. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the technical team and musicians running around on stage, not practicing. Instead, it seems as though they're trying to solve some technical problem, namely, there's no sound coming out of the speakers. You shrug and grab a doughnut and coffee and chit-chat with the greeters and other people milling around in the foyer. When it comes time for the service, you take your seat and look up as a short video starts. You notice a black mouse pointer on the screen for several seconds before it vanishes. The video starts way too loud, blasting you and your fellow congrgants out of their seats for a few seconds until the volume slides down to a manageable level. When the worship team starts, it's obvious that they have no idea where they're going. They're all looking at each other as though they're not sure what they're playing. Finally, they haltingly start the song and stumble through. The mix is off, the background singers are way too loud and the speakers are relentlessly stabbing harsh high end into the audience. Additionally, the lead singer has no idea where he's going. He doesn't know the lyrics to the songs they're trying to sing, and frequently substitutes words, which makes the whole congregation suddenly stop singing while they try to figure out where the song is going. When the pastor comes up to talk, the microphone is off for the first few words before the sound guy turns it on. When the pastor references scripture displayed on the screen, there are spelling, capitalization and formatting errors - odd line breaks and the font is...Comic Sans. It's as if nobody bothered to pre-plan anything at this church...the service is a hodgepodge of disconnected elements that somehow found their way into service form.

The above is a caricature, but I've seen / heard every one of these things in the churches I've been in over the years. (And, I'm sorry to say, have been responsible for more times than I care to admit.) What kind of picture does this present to people who are coming to the church for the first time? I will admit, as a sound / light guy I'm far more inclined to notice technical shortcomings than most, but everybody notices when the pastor's mic isn't on. Everybody notices when the lead singer starts singing random words, or when some element (video, microphone) is 10db louder than everything else.

A great majority of these issues could be solved by having a rehearsal, but I'm amazed at the number of churches that cut corners on their rehearsals, or worse, don't have them at all. Most churches have at least a musical rehearsal, but many times those are hindered by musicians or technical people that show up late1. When you stumble through what was supposed to be an 8:30 practice time that turned into a 9:30 practice time because musicians were late, the sound gear wasn't set up, and random songs were added last minute, that is not doing your job with excellence.

Worship leaders, please learn the words to the songs you're singing. For the love of all that is holy, learn the words to the songs you're singing. Don't add or change things last minute. Make an order of service before Saturday night, and stick to it. Changes are not allowed unless directed by the Holy Spirit, and only then if He appears as a dove holding a huge sign in His beak that says "Play 'Amazing Grace' right now!". Also, please learn the words to the songs you're singing. Make everybody run through a full rehearsal.

This will be your sign.

Musicians - you are talented and creative, and we appreciate that. Show up on time anyways. Sleeping in is unprofessional, annoying, and makes you look like a high-schooler that has to be drug out of bed. Do not bring extra instruments unless you ask the sound guy first. Do not insist on special treatment, such as "I know we start the service in 10 seconds, but can I play percussion this week?", or distract the sound guy with the specifications of your Super-Ultra-Special Reverb for 10 minutes2. Nobody cares. Get with the program.

Technical people - you are talented and creative, and we appreciate that. Chances are you volunteer significant amounts of your time. That's great. Show up on time anyways. Do not yell out technical reasons why you can't do something that the musicians ask for. Run videos, check mics, and have the stage set up before people arrive. Write notes if you have to. Ask for a breakdown of the service, and then read it. Follow it. Pay attention to what's happening on stage. Unmute mics that need to be unmuted, and mute mics that are not being used. Have at least some idea of how to mix and tune a system before you get behind the sound board. Check the spelling and formatting of your slides before they get to the big screen.

This is a rant at myself as much as it is a rant at the times I see the above things happening. Good production should never become a goal in and of itself, it should be a by-product of your commitment to do all things as though doing them for Christ. When the service lacks organization, cohesion and order, it will distract (and detract) from the words you are saying. "Slick" and "produced" and "polished" and "mistake-free" are not necessary, and might even detract, but "excellent" and "done with care" are necessary. "Haphazard" is never an adjective that should be applied to anything designed to bring people closer to Christ.

Exit, stage left. Sparks

1: Or are still sleeping when they're supposed to be at practice. I'm looking at you, Jeremy Richards. :) 2: Yes, both of these things have happened to me.