Frustration with our leadership (Pastor, elders, technical director, worship leader, etc.) is a part of our world. Trying to satisfy the “crowd” is impossible and gratitude is virtually non-existent in most Churches. Our Pastor spoke just yesterday about the importance of being grateful for what you have. His second bullet point was (as a congregation) “thanking the technical team” for their hard work. On occasion we will get a thumbs up or a “sounds great” but most are negative grumbling from folks that do not want the contemporary stuff in their Church.
So to handle the congregation we must keep an opened mind and spirit. Understanding that a 70 yr old that has poured their lives into a Church may not be as quick to let go of tradition. It is my opinion that confrontation with the negative person is best handled by the leadership of the Church. If you are approached by a member of the Church your best bet is to be kind and politely tell them that the leadership of the Church approves what you are doing. Whether that is lighting, sound, video or even dance/drama, you have been given permission at some level by your leadership.
An example could be:
“…our technical team has done tireless research on volume in a worship environment and our leadership agrees and trust us to keep our volume at a level consistent with other worship venues.”
“…yes I know the lighting was dark today but the message had a moment when we felt the dimmer lighting may lead the congregation into worship.”
Any honest comment spoken with respect and without anger will be appreciated by most.
Now that the congregation is happy, lets deal with the leadership.
For the most part, our Pastors are onboard with the decisions of the worship team. These decisions are handled in closed door meetings weeks before the technical team is involved. Typically, the Pastor shares sermon ideas with the worship leader, the worship leader then picks songs and elements of the service to enhance the sermon. The technical team is then charged with making it all sound and look good. A Church with a Pastor who supports the worship team is blessed.
In my 20+ years of service as a musician and audio engineer in the Churc, I have found the most difficult relationship is the one between the worship leader and the technical staff. In general, the worship leader simply wants results. They do not want to be bogged down with technical problems. I have never met a worship leader that insisted on the first 5 minutes of rehearsal be a sound check. Stopping rehearsal to fix a buzz in the guitar or a bad cord on the keyboard, etc. really sets them off.
So how do you relate to this person? First, it is extremely important that the worship leader understands what it takes to pull off the task of worship every Sunday. The worship leader and the technical director must have regular conversations to avoid train wrecks like this....
TD: “How was I supposed to know you were bringing in a 6-piece string section this week?”
WL: “We just added that element Wednesday? You will figure it out?”
TD: “I’ll have to rent mics, we just don’t have that type of equipment here?”
WL: “Like I said, you’ll figure it out.”
And guess what? Somehow we always “figure it out”. That’s a good thing.