How is Loud Christian Worship Justified?

A sermon given during a "crusade" that took place on one island in Fiji, could be heard very clearly at the neighbouring island, a distance of about 12 miles. The guy who lived next to the hall where the actual service took place said that the sounds were so loud, the plates and saucers in his cupboard "danced" whenever the music/speaker was on, and some even fell off the shelves and shattered!

That's loud, and unnecessarily so....

ChrisLeishy said:

I wear skin coloured ear plugs during the service now. If people want to be deaf soon its ok by me, but I can hear our service quite clearly with industrial hearing protection inserted.

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Yikes!

Or I suppose you could sit in your car in the car park to get the same effect!

I was at a church with loud music and the only way I could hear myself was to yell the words. Jesus comes and asks me, "why are you yelling, I'm right here?" I answered Him..."cuz I want to? I'm not sure." It dawned on me that I didn't have to yell to be heard.

Wonder if He is pleased with all the raucous we make. It's not about worshiping Him.

How Loud is your Church? - Experiencing Worship

I recommend operating your church sound system at no more than 80dB peak during worship and averaging 65-70dB during the service. Sound Pressure Levels, which exceed these parameters, will cause ear fatigue, loss of concentration and potential hearing damage. Similarly, operating your system at too low of level will also cause people to strain to hear the spoken word, resulting in ear and brain fatigue. Purchase a simple sound level meter from Radio Shack and monitor your stage and house levels so that you maintain a balance. Most environmental noises include a wide band of frequencies and, by convention, are measured through the "A" filter in the sound-level meter and thus are designated in dB(A) units. Proper adjustments of your system and room acoustics also play an important part in maintaining moderate SPL while maximizing intelligibility.

As a rule of thumb, the average listening level in a church should be 25dB above the noise of the room. Make a measurement of the ambient room noise prior to the service. These measurements should include the noise generated by the air conditioner, local traffic, etc. Typically, if the church noise levels are under control, good listening levels are generally in the low 60dB range. In some churches, the room noise is so low, that a PA system is not needed for speech or a good listening level of 55 to 60dB is OK, (but this is so rare.) If you have to always drive your sound system higher than 68dB, chances are you have a noise problem that needed to be address.

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You should be able to seek God in the environment He wants you in. If stuff for Him distracts you from that, I would think that would be suspect.

You can sense the spiritual environment in a place. You can always judge with an ear and your "eye" and your "smell". If the anointing is weak or strong. If it's weak, it's because there is a mixture and He can't fully bless it. If people are following His plan, there will be an anointing on it that will draw people to Him.

Hey!!

Music moves me - throw in sound Biblical truth and it moves me to worship and focus on God. Doesn't matter if it's Jesus Culture "Your Love Never Fails" or the Hymnal's "Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus"... I like loud, but not head pounding heart thumping loud non-stop. What we call "worship" is really simply "Prayer set to Music"... well at least it should be. I pray loudly at times, with ecstatic emotion, and I pray quietly at times... almost a whisper. God is wonderous and He made us all uniquley, so we must each worship Him in our own unique way. It is not for me to judge how or when someone worships Him, only my own heart as i worship Him.

Good topic Franky!!

JimB said:

I honestly don’t think church worship leaders have any idea that they are manipulating emotions by cranking up the music. It was the way it was done when they grew up and it does produce the desired effect (tears, shouting, dancing, etc.) so that it can easily be confused with a so-called "move of the Spirit". The same effect in a different context can be experienced at a rock concert or pep rally. It is just the sad state of affairs in this day of amplification.

~Jim

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This one does, and I learned early on that I cannot measure the "quality" of a worship service by the response of the people. Someone sitting with their arms crossed may be enjoying God's presence just as much as someone singing out loudly with arms raised and tears streaming. Actually I've had services where most people are sitting - it doesn't hinder the way I worship.


I'm not there to cheerlead and get people moving. I don't say things like, "Come on!! Get up!! Clap your hands!!". When I start, 99% of everything I say that's not lyrics (which isn't much) is prayer and directed towards God from me. I rarely say, "Oh Lord, we love You and praise You!! Move in our hearts.." etc. It's all personal... "I". Move me. I love You. I've learned that when "I" worship Him, others follow. To me, that's what leading worship is... that when people look up and see me, they see me looking at Him.

Of course, I'm still young and still learning, but to me it's not about the lights, amps, effects, etc. It's about pleasing God. I read an article in Worship Leader magazine the other day about how the "stage" can affect the worshp service. It talked about how industrial carpet, white walls, floruescent lights, plane stages can hinder people sometimes. I'm sorry, if the stupid stage hinders you, then your object of worship needs to be re-centered. Close your eyes and get lost in prayer and adoration of the King of Glory!!

Wearing earplugs can actually make it easier to understand the lyrics as it blocks out the deep bass tones.

LeadWorship said:

This one does, and I learned early on that I cannot measure the "quality" of a worship service by the response of the people. Someone sitting with their arms crossed may be enjoying God's presence just as much as someone singing out loudly with arms raised and tears streaming. Actually I've had services where most people are sitting - it doesn't hinder the way I worship.


I'm not there to cheerlead and get people moving. I don't say things like, "Come on!! Get up!! Clap your hands!!". When I start, 99% of everything I say that's not lyrics (which isn't much) is prayer and directed towards God from me. I rarely say, "Oh Lord, we love You and praise You!! Move in our hearts.." etc. It's all personal... "I". Move me. I love You. I've learned that when "I" worship Him, others follow. To me, that's what leading worship is... that when people look up and see me, they see me looking at Him.

Of course, I'm still young and still learning, but to me it's not about the lights, amps, effects, etc. It's about pleasing God. I read an article in Worship Leader magazine the other day about how the "stage" can affect the worshp service. It talked about how industrial carpet, white walls, floruescent lights, plane stages can hinder people sometimes. I'm sorry, if the stupid stage hinders you, then your object of worship needs to be re-centered. Close your eyes and get lost in prayer and adoration of the King of Glory!!

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Absolutely

NaLuvena said:

A sermon given during a "crusade" that took place on one island in Fiji, could be heard very clearly at the neighbouring island, a distance of about 12 miles. The guy who lived next to the hall where the actual service took place said that the sounds were so loud, the plates and saucers in his cupboard "danced" whenever the music/speaker was on, and some even fell off the shelves and shattered!

That's loud, and unnecessarily so....

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Well at least the word was getting out. However it was probably 'heard' and perhaps received better on the far island. LOL