What if old people complain about worship being "too loud"?

[WOMSteve]

Glad to see a thread stay on course.

I think in response to the volume issue we must first think is all of this going to glorify God. We surely cannot satisfy everyone, however, church is a sanctuary/safe harbor, if you will, for believers. We must do what is necessary to always keep focused on worship as WORSHIP!! It's not about praise bands, praise teams, handbell choirs or anything else it is about giving thanks and praise to God. So many churches get caught up in this music thing.

I am a musician and worship leader at my church of about 350 active members. I see choirs practice, praise bands practice. Practice, practice, practice!! We spend so much time and money on music that we forget what we as believers are suppose to be doing...evangelizing. And no, singing is not evangelizing to me. Evangelizing is getting equipped to go out and share the Gospel properly.

We all need to get our minds and focus off of things unpertinent to serving God. After thinking I was being "called" into the music ministry via a professional full-time group I realized it wasnt' evangelism at all when you get down to the brass tacks. Serving is doing the things Jesus did. Come on folks. Lets get to it

 

[SilverFire]

For historical reference about what may be pleasing to God, consider Psalm 149 and Psalm 150.

Worship is defined as "worthiness, repute, respect, reverence paid to a divine being. To regard with great, even extravagant respect, honor or devotion." There's no definition of worship that mentions meditation.

That's not my point, so let me explain it again.

*ahem*

For historical reference, refer to the approaches (because we are talking styles of worship and the effects they yield) used by Christians up until the middle 1990's. What reasons did they have to do the things that they did? One early reformer (Zwingli) wanted all instruments out of the church, because he felt they interfered with worship. An extreme case, perhaps, but he was definitely desiring to give all the honor to God.

Note that I did not say "meditation", but rather "meditative".

 

[ReformedCofE]

I am 26, I would complain if the music did anything more than give the melody. It's not just oldies that self centred youth isolate but other youths. Christ is more important than music. Respect your elders. We do not need music which apes the world. We are to be different, a holy priesthood set apart to good works.

 

[bithiah2]

i wonder what types of music you have been exposed to in the church, that you are so negative towards it. you never have anything good to say. anointed music is inpsired of God, and is nothing like what you describe, or are so against. it can have any style, as long as it is inspired of God. no one believes that music, or anything else for that matter is as important, or more important than Christ. if not for Him,then there would be nothing to sing or make music about in the context of giving thanks and praise to God. music is not worship, singing and dancing is not worship, even what we speak is not worship. worship comes from the heart, and it can even be done in silence.

 

[BrokenWanderer]

I am 26, I would complain if the music did anything more than give the melody. It's not just oldies that self centred youth isolate but other youths. Christ is more important than music. Respect your elders. We do not need music which apes the world. We are to be different, a holy priesthood set apart to good works.

Ok, first off, I'm not very sure what you mean by "It's not just oldies that self centered youth isolate but other youths." A little clarification would be nice. And also, what is wrong with music? In Psalm 101:1, David says, "I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music." In all honesty, it appears as if David is saying that the motive for the music, is what determines its worth. If the music is done for self-gain, then it is worthless. If it is done for the glory of Christ, then praise be to the Almighty!

I myself am part of a worship group at my church, and play guitar. We don't try to make it fancy. The music flows from our very souls, to glorify God, and not us. And in all honesty, I'm not the best guitar player. I can't play the B chord, unless its cut capo, and I just flat out can't play the F chord. The song, "Heart of Worship", very clearly states what we should do, and in truth, worship is not just when we're singing. But our entire life, is to be meant as worship, as an offering to Christ.

 

[Timothew]

To me a house of God is a place for quite contemplation and prayer. I don't understand the need for so much jumping around and yelling that seems to be popular with "charismatic" churches. I can't think in a place like that. What's wrong with a nice piano or organ with choir?

Hi Al,
There's nothing wrong with a nice piano or organ with choir. But I am also old enough to remember a time when that's all there was. No choice at all. If you like that style of music, you should be able to find it. And if others find lively music more meaningful, shouldn't they also be given an opportunity to find it?

 

[Aibrean]

I never hear complaints about the organ being too loud

I would seriously consider the woman's request because older folks are the lifeblood of the church. Most don't like the new style of "worship". Most of the songs I have heard are "feel-good" without any real substance or doctrine. This is about glorifying God, not us. It's one of the reasons why I left my other church. I was tired of the contemporary nonsense.

 

[jewelofGod]

This is really complex...well can't satisfy everybody i will say...

 

[zivzeki]

Maybe it depends upon the church you are attending, some churches like loud praise and worship some like solemn its all depends. The most importand thing is that you sing a praise and worship to God with all your heart, soul and spirit. God does't require us to be loud or anything else you can do to worship.

I just found a site that could be useful specially if your are searching a praise and worship christian song. here is the links freechristiansonglc.blogspot.com

 

[wotupjoe]

I may be wrong, but I believe that there's a valid physiological reason for the old lady to be hearing more bass:

As we grow older we start losing the ability to hear higher frequencies. At the same time though, our ears carry on growing. This is an amazing concept because it means that God designed your ears to compensate for old age.
If you have bigger ears then you are more perceptable to bass.
So it's not just the music that she may not like

Some people will just complain for the sake of attention but, if that is not the case here, then I suggest that you kindly ask her to sit closer to the back.
Suggest to her to try it one service and then ask her how it was at the end.

The perceived volume will halve for every doubling of distance from the source (the speaker).

I know plenty of older folk who don't really enjoy the louder music but they have a heart and a passion for the generational church. They WANT to see the church moving forward and so they are willing to sacrifice a little comfort.
We need to respect these ones that have gone before us.

One last thing, for your bassist - remember that low frequencies take longer to develop. It often happens that my bassist will be turning his amp up because he can't hear himself, while I'm getting killed with bass... all because he is right next to his amp and I am 4 meters away from the amp and right in the fully developed bass frequencies
Try explaining this nicely to your bassist if he has this same problem
Also, make sure that the nice old lady isn't sitting right within that region.

Hope this helps.

 

[cbartgu]

Cannot satisfy everyone, but sometimes everyone has to work at worshiping together. It is the togethereness in the corporate worship that is important.

 

[iplay4JC]

Hi newb here. Didn't read all the responses in this thread but believe this is a topic all P&W Teams deal with. At my church we've gone with electronic drums and adding baffles onto the walls.

Recently the P&W Team has been asked to go all acoustic (guitars anyway) to try to work out the sound pressure levels. We added subs so the FOHs won't have to be cranked so high. Seems to be working, for now.....lol.

Personally I think the volume issue lies with our P&W leader. As he gets moved in the Spirit, he starts strumming so loud it's "meet-you-at-the-end".

 

[cbartgu]

haha

 

[JSLGJasper]

Although no doubt we are playing the music for God, but the original purpose is to assist the people to get into the presence with God. Therefore we cannot neglect the main purpose of helping them to flow with the music and connecting with God. So we should listen to some of their opinions and evaluate whether going with the opinions will help improve the quality of the worship team and helping people to connect with God. However it is true that we cannot please everyone, but as long as it appeals to the majority and helps the majority to connect with God through the music, we have honoured our Lord.

 

[Timothew]

"Turn your amp down, I can still hear it."

 

[Shane_C]

I'm the original poster for this thread, (I have a new profile now cause I couldn't remember my log in lol) It's been 4 years since I posted this almost, It's crazy that the thread is still going! It's crazy to see all the responses. I appreciate all of the feedback.

 

[airintriana]

haha.. lol...
I often meet with this situation on Sunday service.. It could be the problem of your sound system on your church.. loud at the front.. and minor at the back.. your church may have to fix this kind of accustic problem.

at least for a while, you should turn down your bass volume.. for her/their own good..
cause our services won't bless people if it's disturbing (although actually for others, it is not)..

 

[WandererOfTheWastes]

we only have two old ladies at our church, and they never complain, despite the occaisonal really loud volume (proper drums played rather loudly, two electrics turned up so they're louder then the drums, bass through a rather big amp, a PA that's way too big for the size of our church). So we're pretty lucky in that regard. What the OP describes is a really annoying problem I've had to deal with at other places, though. Personally I struggle with being charitable in those sort of cases. "You want quieter worship? Go to another church. Or stand in the foyer during worship." The amount of times I've wanted to say that!

You've got to meet the needs of the majority of the congregation. If one old lady can't handle it, but the rest of the congregation likes it/wants it louder, then bad luck for her. Perhaps you could buy her earmuffs?

At the end of the day: "Make a joyful noise unto the lord". Not, "Make a quiet, restrained bit of music that does nothing for anyone but the senior cits". I should note that we do play a lot of quiet, very mellow songs (the happy clappy stuff is in the minority), just with massive amplification, and each song has some sort of percussion element. Personally I think a really loud bass presence is a great tool for getting people into the spirit of it. Nothing like a really bassy low B on a five string bass.