The Search For A Voice

Fun in Louisville…

The New Attitude conference is going well. Josh Harris and Don Piper are two of the more notable speakers. The band is a church worship team and they have a pretty decent sound. 
Most of them aren't "pros," but they work well with each other and put on a solid performance. They're some of the most humble musicians I've ever worked with.

Sometimes we audio people can become a little too discriminating towards worship bands that don't live up to our "professional" standards. But really, I think that's usually a load of crap. I mean, that doesn't mean that having a solid band isn't important, but we often will be overly critical (among ourselves) of bands that really are doing a fine job, but just lack that cohesiveness that distinguishes a "professional" act. This of course brings up the whole discussion on how important a good production is to a church service. 

There are two valid but opposing arguments. Some will point to Scripture and say that we are to do everything we do with "excellence," and therefore we should make our services as polished and professional as possible. On the opposite side there is the argument that since a Church service is not there for entertainment and the focus should not be the production, if the production quality lags, it is not a big deal as long as everyone is doing there best and "doing all for the glory of God." 

About a year and a half ago when I was visiting churches in search of a new home I thought about this a lot as I visited a variety of different churches. The conclusion I came to is that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I reject the idea that churches who lack the resources to put on a large scale production are some how sub-standard. I also reject the idea that growing the churches production capabilities should be the highest priority. Music is important, and it is certainly true that a terrible band and a service that is disorganized can turn off a lot of new comers, but we must do all in God's timing and with his leading. I appreciate a well thought out service and a well rehearsed band, but it should not make or break my worship experience.

When I started writing this I didn't intend to talk about that, I guess it's just been in my head some today.