Photo by Annie V on Unsplash the suit. This option is not as harsh as it sounds since there is a positive attribute to the suit. A strong argument can be made that singing the same songs the same way across the Church as a whole is admirable. Like old hymns that evoke community and shared experience, today’ s most sung genre around the world is worship. The most widely sung writer on Earth is Chris Tomlin. Shared expression of worship brings strength. An underground church in China can sing the same song as First Baptist Atlanta and share equally in the glory of its content. Accepting this fact can take the sting out of Johnny Bravo’ s existence.
On the other hand, just as Greg Brady gave up the suit and returned to his family group, there is a draw to local authenticity and expression not present in a global movement. John Mellencamp enjoyed some success as John Cougar, the erstwhile rock star in leather and a white limo, but he gained a deeper connection to his audience as just plain John Mellencamp from Seymour, Indiana.
On a more a pragmatic level, there are numerous solutions to the reader’ s narrative at hand. First, find a way to correctly treat the room’ s acoustics. Effective options are inexpensive and involve common materials and simple construction techniques. If the value is presented as a win for the older congregants, the chances of implementation improve dramatically. Second, train the drummers how to play to the room and introduce them to Parish Drums. Joey Parish has executed a miracle with his acoustic kits made for small worship spaces. Third, teach the techs how to dial in a monitor mix with only two primary needs in focus: keep the person on time and on pitch. Eliminate everything else from their mix. Help vocalists obtain decent ear monitors, such as Bellos Audio or 64 Audio and don’ t let them use Skull Candy junk from Walmart. Have the guitarists create presets collectively. Use group knowledge to build sounds and effects everyone loves or at least tolerates. And encourage leadership to experience worship from the tech booth to see what it takes to pull off each service. Let them field the volume and haze complaints. Things will likely change pronto.
Finally, do not let discouragement gain the upper hand. What we as artists and techs hear plainly as a disaster goes completely unnoticed by the congregation. We are attuned to musical nuance; they just turn on Spotify. As long as God gets the glory, the path doesn’ t matter. At the end of the day, God is going to accomplish what He wants to accomplish. Sometimes He lets us participate in His efforts and that honor is worth any cost. We have not yet resisted unto death, or even a broken arm. As Captain Peter Quincy Taggart so famously said in Galaxy Quest,“ Never give up, never surrender!”
Kent Morris Kent Morris is a 47-year veteran of the AVL arena driven by passion for excellence tempered by the knowledge all technology is in a temporal state.
86 July 2026 Subscribe for Free...