How loud is too loud

[Dave Roberts]

The musical accompaniment to our congregational worship can often be too loud. This can be true in contemporary and traditional settings. I have heard praise bands who seem to think a louder volume is more spiritual and I have heard organs and orchestras who can compete on the same volume level. How does one determine the proper volume level of accompaniment for congregational singing? My basic belief is that if the accompaniment is so loud that the singer in the congregation can not hear himself sing or those around him sing - then the accompaniment is too loud. I recently read a book by Rick Muchow, worship pastor at Saddleback Community Church, that had a chapter titled: “How loud is too loud.” I thought he made a number of excellent points on this topic.

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[Andi]

I agree about noise level to a point but its worth asking if the woshipper is complaining about 'distracted because of the noise' who is at fault? Is worship about music and its levels or about an attitude that says (Rich Mullins) God you are my God and I will ever praise you!? Having said that the greatest quality a worship leader can have is sensitivity to the leading of the holy spirit whether to raucous praise or reflective worship and also the skill to apply 'touch' to whichever instrument you are playing.