A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME …
At this point in my Graeber-induced inquiry into the true meaning of volunteering , I decided to see where the word ‘ volunteer ’ originated . Based on the etymological research , it seems that the word first appeared in about 1600 as a noun . Interestingly , it showed up in the Middle French voluntaire meaning “ one who offers himself for military service .” Ok , so basically a soldier who works without pay . That led me to ponder where the word ‘ soldier ’ comes from . ‘ Soldier ’ predates volunteer and first pops up around 1300 in the Medieval Latin soldarius , meaning “ one who serves in the army for pay .” Checks out !
At least in the history of the terms , being a
voluntaire or a soldarius seems to only differ in whether there is pay involved or not . This is an important insight . No mention of the service quality or level or effectiveness of the individual or the importance of the work at hand , etc . It would seem that the marketing ad copy laden with conscious ( or subconscious ) hints at volunteer staff not being as tech-savvy or committed or as important somehow as the ‘ real ’ paid staff is an idea that came into play well after the fact . While we ’ re on the etymology , I must say that I really like the “ one who offers himself for military service ” definition of ‘ volunteer ’ — particularly on those Sundays when things just don ’ t seem to be going our way . Let ’ s imagine a volunteer working to mix a pastor who insists on holding the handheld mic three feet away and whispering . She is facing the same level of challenge with gain levels and feedback as the seasoned paid engineer would face sitting in the same seat . Both engineers are going into audio battle . And ofcourse , there are many instances where top touring mix engineers serve as volunteers in their home church as their schedules permit . It would seem that at the end of the day ( usually a Sunday ), there is little or no functional difference between a volunteer and a non-volunteer . Volunteering to run sound is work . It requires dedication and skill and study . So how might we look at the distinction between mixing and worship then ?
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE TO THE LORD
There are quite a number of verses we could look to in order to guide and support the stance of approaching mixing church audio as being
An Allen & Heath dLive sits ready for audio battle at the Christ Church Gilbert , Arizona campus .