No, not that kind of politics. The other kind.
Wait, is there any other kind?
More than a few years ago I had the distinct pleasure of being part of a new graphics package rollout at the studio I used to work at. Yes, it was run like a committee. The in-house graphics department pitched a couple looks, story-boarded the accepted style, animated it and began delivering the final concept. Part of the new look was to drive giant set plasmas with looping backgrounds which were supposed to be kind of eye candy but not really; doing something but nothing in particular. They were there for movement behind the talking heads but slow enough to not be distracting.
It made the loops incredibly long.
It made the file sizes incredibly huge.
It made the renders (the time it takes for the actual file creation) around 24 hours a piece.
The amount of work put in on these loops was incredible so you might get a little bit of understanding as to why the graphic artist got a bit uppity when a producer who should have had nothing to do with the decision to not put it on air said for the third time, "I don't like it".
"Why?" the artist inquired.
"I don't know. I just don't".
The inability to point to a specific thing, to not be able to classify whatever it is that rubs you wrong to a creative type is extremely frustrating to a creative type. What's more frustrating is when the creative takes the time to try and explain what they are attempting to achieve and learns, or knows, the explanation will, for whatever reason, fall on deaf ears. Such is life I suppose, even though it really shouldn't be. Especially in a collaborative situation.
Last year YB and I started attending a church in our new area. Aside from the general genuine pleasantness and friendliness of the congregation and how much Gman liked their children's program, the thing that caught me and held my attention was the volume level of the worship time and the mix. It was spot on. I could not believe it. The last time I heard a good mix was at a Hillsong branch in '07. It is one of the reasons I think we should stay at this church, it may not be the best every week, but it is amazing to me the effort put in by the church leadership and the worship/sound teams to make the best and most pleasant it can be.
Not everyone thinks so.
Tonight I attended a meeting hosted by the senior pastor and a handful of members of the sound and worship team. The meeting was called because there were some questions floating around from the congregation of "why is it so loud". Loud? Really? I was intrigued, have a history of running sound and being on the worship team, am impressed with how things are run at this church, and frankly quite surprised a question like this arose to the point of needing to address it. I went.
I'm not bragging on the church, but I have to talk it up a bit. I don't think I've every been a part of a church that is more organized, intentional, and grounded in their beliefs and purposes, is as well documented, and yet is as genuine, personable while being open to the move of the Spirit as this church. We sat down tonight and talked. The "it's too loud" folks raised their concerns, the sound and worship team had their say, and then a dialogue ensued about the challenges concerning both parties, why the sound is the way it is, how it got there, where it's going, where both parties would like it to go and how to meet in the middle somewhere. In the end it seems like, if all things are equal, everyone is going to be happy with how things turn out. Even I was given a chance to have my say which was basically, "it's pretty much perfect the way it is from a technical/production standpoint". I mean really, it could go lower, maybe a bit, before the musicians would start to lose the feel or bond needed to play music together, but not much. And it definitely could go higher, I gave examples from what I've been through. And everybody had their say as well.
I've never seen this before. Generally once this issue escalates to needing a meeting the only resolution is one party looks for another church. I honestly don't see that happening this time. It is just so incredibly amazing to see the body of Christ functioning the way it is meant to. I just hope I never have the experience of attending a meeting about the color of ... well, whatever.
4 comments:
Having been at my church for ten years now every other place I go is too loud. I certainly don't miss the conversations about noise level. Much ado about nothing methinks. Then again, it's kinda noisy in my room right now...Kelly Clarkson or somethin...
:-)
This is a topic that our family has worn out to ad nauseum. I'm delighted that you have found a group of brothers/sisters that are looking to edify each other.
For the most part, I don't like the format of the worship portion of services anymore. They are too choreographed and scripted. I loved loved loved the days where a simple piano or guitar would be used to lead, and the worship leader was adept enough to take the congregation through based on how the songs were being received. It was best done during our days at Maranatha. Bethel was good at it. Now, the 8:15 service of just hymns is best for me. I am *simple folk* living in a convoluted world.
I don't understand the desire "for loudness" with many churches these days other than the desire to duplicate Hillsong and U2. It is utterly ridiculous to do such a thing unless you have the financial means but then you must deal with the concert issue. Sadly, I don't think people would do well with just a guitar or piano these days. Dick Grout said part of being a worship leader is about taking what happens in your personal quiet time to the general congregation. I wonder how many of today's worship leaders have that kind of depth of skill and sensitivity to do that.
When I think about it our church reminds me of Elim in so many ways. It's refreshing to be able to sincerely tell their desire is to seek God and not try to evoke an emotion.
You mean someone is actually listening to folk who warn about the volume level of the songs? Not for nothing but what decibel are they at? We know "loud" doesn't equate the presence of the Spirit. Just lifting up the Lord and exalting the Father is the most coveted thing that washes and prepares hearts to receive instruction from His throne through the Spirit who anoints the Word.
D-
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