Choosing Relevance Over Righteousness: Worship Volume

Loud church services have become an epidemic. If an attendee raises concerns, the church responds in these ways:

• Shrugging shoulders
• Offering earplugs
• Telling them to buy noise-canceling headphones
• Or— raising the volume to make a point. Yes, uncaring churches exist.

Even now, some churches are suggesting weeks of decibel testing.

Is the hands-over-the-ears signal not enough?

I stayed with a church for years, but the music grew louder and louder. I sent notes to the pastors. I spoke to the sound guys. Nobody listened. In fact, they turned it up. So then, I sat in my car for months until the music stopped before each service. We eventually left for additional reasons.

At the next church we attended, I volunteered and learned the sound tech job so I could lower the volume. That didn’t stick either. The young pastor even told me that the music needed to sound right— meaning louder— to “usher in the Spirit.” Did he really believe that?

When are they going to realize? The sheep are scattered and God hates that. Turn down the volume. Go back to traditional voices. How disgusting is it to offer earplugs, tell someone to buy noise-canceling headphones, or say you’ll do a sound test? How awful is it to ignore people who cover their ears or who stand outside of the church until the music stops.

Pastors, this is a church! This is your family! This is a “House of Prayer.”

Are these churches also oblivious to data?

Your concert-volume did NOT bring in the twenty-somethings.

The high volume also drives out the elderly and is causing unseen damage to ears, which affects balance. This is affecting God’s holy temple. My family is also experiencing ill-effects from exposure. Barna published in 2017 that Christians are attending church less (not leaving Christianity) and it seems likely that this is one of the reasons.

Why can’t they see how far they’ve slipped into madness?

When attendees tell the church that the volume is too loud. it’s called a complaint.

I call it wisdom. What do you think?

[6] We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. [7] Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. [8] He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. ~1 John 4:6-8 KJV