It’s Too Loud!

Catch up with The Worship Wars series here.

A well-meaning member of the congregation approaches the booth to inform the Audio engineer that the SPL’s (Sound Pressure Levels) in the room are just too high. After offering meaningful feedback concerning the appropriate adjustments, both parties leave the conversation completely satisfied that the issue was handled appropriately. If only this could be the case.

Throughout ministry, I have been in this situation many times when I have run audio for services. I’ve also had to tiptoe through murkiness when someone else approaches my volunteers. I wish I could say that I have always handled it with poise and humility. I can’t say that. I’ve learned a few lessons along the way that now guides how I navigate these tricky waters.

Take a breath.

In many instances, this conversation (confrontation?) happens at a very inopportune time. Also, experience has shown that the person beginning the engagement is usually already fired up. That does not help the situation, but also does not give us freedom to respond however we feel like responding.

Take a breath; think about puppies frolicking in a field, something… anything. Just don’t respond with the first thing that comes to mind. Being a sinful, fallen man, the first thing that comes to mind for me does not always come from the Holy Spirit inside of me. I have learned that making myself actually count to 3 (1…2…3) in my head has worked wonders. In any situation where we are questioned, especially when it deals with our art, it is nearly impossible to not take it as a personal attack. But in that pause, the moment in between confrontation and response allow a few things to happen.

One, I get to practice the spiritual disciplines of self-control and taming the tongue. (Galatians 5 and James 3, respectively).  I need more of this.

Two, I begin to deconstruct what is happening in the moment. I’m getting into the other persons shoes. I look for hearing aids. I’m trying to notice body language. From memory I’m trying to recall if I know of anything in this persons life that could be influencing this present moment. That matters.  I’m also trying to listen to see if I might be able to hear what they might be hearing.

Ask questions first.

The complaint within the Worship Wars is almost always the same. “It’s just too darn loud!” Yet, within that statement most people are trying to communicate something other than volume.

To older ears, sometimes certain frequencies can cause severe discomfort. It has almost nothing to do with volume; it may be the crash cymbal from the kit needs mellowing in the mix. Sometimes, pulling the subwoofer levels up a bit can balance the sound within the persons ears to somewhat compensate for those harsher sounds. There have been a few instances when “younger” ears mention volume issues.

I’ll always ask leading questions. Can you help me get to the bottom of this? Is it sounding “harsh” in your ears? Is it a low rumble that seems uncomfortable? Asking questions help us come down to a better understanding of how to fix the issue and it also tells the upset church member that you care, you just need more information to correctly fix the problem.

It’s not always a volume issue.

As mentioned earlier, sometimes there are things going on in this person’s life that are affecting their worship experience. This is a chance for us to minister to them, to pastor and to shepherd.

I can recall a very nasty complaint at a ministry some time ago. A great and Godly woman came to me complaining about the service and how it sounded. She was yelling and very angry, I really did kind of rock back on my heels. I wanted to defend what was going on in our service. And then, it happened. I started to recall what she had been going through. Her husband had been very ill for some time. She was his primary caregiver, for everything. She was exhausted. For her, our worship services were a time of respite and relaxation as she was letting Jesus refill her spirit. For this particular weekend, our service was a little more “frantic.” Not in a bad way, just had a lot more energy and high impact elements. Which was a slight departure from our usually introspective and more mellow-toned services.

Our conversation was born out of exhaustion. In that moment, it was my responsibility to care for my sister in Christ by trying to help give her a proper Sabbath rest.

Check yourself before your wreck yourself.

Let’s be honest, sometimes it is us. We can’t always be the victims in these cases. Jesus talked about checking the plank in our own eyes before trying to remove the speck from a brother’s eye. Humility that comes from Jesus’ heart will help us here.

It is our duty as holders of authority within the church to do everything possible to promote unity. Sometimes that means we need to just turn it down a little.

Communicate with leadership.

There is no substitute for being in lock step with leadership. Communicate why you do what you do.

For us, our volume levels are trying to walk a tight line between two things. We have decided that our levels need to be just above easy conversational level. Yet, we want it to be low enough to hear each other singing.  That can be a hard place to reach. It seems to work for us. With a balanced mix, we rarely peak above 85db. And it sounds great.

It wasn’t always this way though. It took intentional conversation and decision making to get to our happy place. And we still have some complaints, but when an entire leadership articulates the same vision and verbiage, the congregation begins to unify in real way.