Acoustics in Church

Four years ago, the Higher Things youth conference was held in Arlington TX. The speaker was great; the sessions were great; the entertainment was great. Some people had mixed feelings about the worship.

The conference organizers didn't have access to a nice big church. Worship was held in a huge box-shaped conference room. The singing and participation wasn't what it had been in years past. Some of the chaperones were complaining about the liturgical worship and the choices of strong hymnody. They said it was too hard for the kids, or uninteresting for the kids. But at previous conferences, the liturgical worship was deeply appreciated -- the high point of the conference for most attendees. So what was up with the changed attitudes?

On the next-to-last evening of the conference, Vespers was held in a rather bizarre location. Thursday was spent at Six Flags, riding roller coasters, eating junk food, riding roller coasters, foisting MORE water on kids so they wouldn't get dehydrated, and then riding a couple more roller coasters. In betwixt all those roller coasters, the whole 1000 of us took over one of the show palaces. As soon as the pop music and light show and dancing was done, those Lutherans rushed into the place, set up an altar and lectern, covered over most of the wild decorations, got everyone seated, and began to pray.

We'd been skeptical. Having prayers in this place? Would it work? How distracting would it be?

But it turned out to be one of the best services of the conference. Not in spite of the location, but because of it. The acoustics were ideal. After all, the place was built for musicals and entertainment. The architects for Six Flags knew how important it was for the sound to carry, how important it was for the words to be clearly heard, how important it was for the singers to preserve their voices for show after show each day.

When you put 1000 Lutheran youth into that building to pray vespers and sing their hymns, the sound was awesome! Those kids did love the liturgy and the hymns. They did sing out.

It wasn't the kids' attitudes that caused the apparent lack of enthusiasm for worship earlier in the week. It was the acoustics of the building which had dampened the sound. The lousy acoustics made it seem that "nobody else was singing" and nobody else cared, and that the worship should've been different so that it could "appeal to" the kids.

Before that week, I'd always thought acoustics in church was a hoity-toity thing, important only to artsy musicians and persnicketty perfectionists. That evening, in the show palace at Six Flags, I learned otherwise. Acoustics in a church matters to everyone -- even if they know nothing about music and/or acoustics. Good acoustics in a church make it possible for the congregation to support each other in their prayers, as well as making it possible for the sound to carry so that more people can hear the readings and the preaching. Poor acoustics in church make you feel like you're there alone, singing alone, praying alone. And that's not good for the body.