Band moved to the choir loft

[christhee68]

Our praise band has traditionally played at the front of the church (700+ capacity) and off to the side of the altar. Our new preist has just decided to move us to the choir loft, which is at the back of the church, raised above (and behind) the congregation.

This will make us completely removed (out of sight) from the congregation. I suppose that will allow us to focus solely on the music, since no one will be seeing us flip pages, trip over cables, switching instruments, etc. We can probably just sit in a circle on focus on the music and the message.

Anyone else ever play that way, or do most bands take center stage at church?

[BuckyB]

Interesting. From one aspect, i kind of like it. It puts more focus on worship and less on the "watching a show" mindset. I just hope you don't have any monitoring issues.

[DonB52]

We did a similar thing for a while. The pastor wanted to make sure we were not "performing", but leading the congregation. So, he moved us off the platform into the front row. The result was mixed. We are now back on the platform, but we learned a lot about leading rather than performing!

[praisebass]

Originally Posted by christhee68

Anyone else ever play that way, or do most bands take center stage at church?

I would really like to be in a similar situation. I don't like being 'on stage' at church. I was recently visiting another church, everything was laid out in the proper angles and spacing for lead singers, choir, rythm section... WL had all the 'worship moves' down pat... it made me very conscious of looking like a performance or concert.

I would love to play IN the congregation. Behind and out a sight would be just fine with me as well.

[TxTeleMan]

I played in the choir loft at an Episcopal church for several years. It worked very well, and I found it preferable to sitting up front, where we could be a distraction, and we could be distracted.

[christhee68]

Originally Posted by TxTeleMan

I played in the choir loft at an Episcopal church for several years. It worked very well, and I found it preferable to sitting up front, where we could be a distraction, and we could be distracted.

I'm starting to see it that way, too.

I was kind of sceptical about the whole thing at first, but the more I think about it, this could be a real positive move. Our band can be up to 7 members, and this may solve a lot of space issues. Maybe we can even leave our gear (monitors, drums, keyboard, etc) up there and that will cut down on our setup and teardown time. Shoot, maybe we will even get some new gear.

[Butch Snyder]

This subject, the subject of the worship team/praise team/band being visible or not visible, is a big one and there are a lot of views. As I see it, the sole bottom line is that Jesus is glorified. People need to realize that they need a savior and they need Him.

God gave us the wonderful gift of music for His enjoyment because, and it's all through Psalms, people have been worshiping Him, praying to Him, and just praising Him through music. Sometimes, it's a huge fanfare, sometimes it's a soft acoustic guitar. The main point here, is the heart that the music is played.

A worship team that's leading worship are the pastors/preachers for that segment of the service. The congregation, many times, will feed off their energy. If a worship team (I'm including singers and musicians here) are on stage and just kind of standing there playing, regardless of how great the music is, the energy will not translate and the congregation has nothing to feed off.

I don't think it's necessarily wrong to put a band in the back, for distraction's sake, but I don't think it's right either. They are part of the worship experience and the congregation needs to see them. Then there's the issue of solos - guitar solos and such. Should they be there? At one point, I decided I wouldn't take any more solos. I didn't want to bring attention to myself and take away from the worship experience. My pastor, as well as others, told me that a solo, with a humble heart, is just as much a part of worship. I had to change my mindset and realize that I could worship through a solo just like a vocalist does.

Huge subject - when in doubt, refer back to my first paragraph....

[ADinNYC]

How's it going to sound from up there?

[christhee68]

Originally Posted by ADinNYC

How's it going to sound from up there?

We're not too sure about that. We've been on hiatus for a couple of weeks. We probably will start back in a week or two.

Before, we had a powered mixer/PA that we used to run 4 monitors (two in front of the band, 2 behind the band). We plugged our mixer into the house system to project to the congregation.

I'm not sure what kind of setup we will have upstairs, but I expect it will be similar.

[christhee68]

Originally Posted by Butch Snyder

A worship team that's leading worship are the pastors/preachers for that segment of the service. The congregation, many times, will feed off their energy. If a worship team (I'm including singers and musicians here) are on stage and just kind of standing there playing, regardless of how great the music is, the energy will not translate and the congregation has nothing to feed off.

I don't think it's necessarily wrong to put a band in the back, for distraction's sake, but I don't think it's right either. They are part of the worship experience and the congregation needs to see them.

Those are valid points, but our band is not "leading worship" as most of you know it. We are a Catholic church, and our priest does all the worship leading. We simply provide the music.

Our church has 6 weekend services. The other five have music by the choir and an organist, or a cantor and the organist. Up until now, the organist and the choir were always upstairs, and the cantor was in front of the congregation. He or she would face the congregation and say things like "Join us now as we sing Hymn number..." and raise her hands encouraging the congregation to join in. Now even the cantor is upstairs. It has taken a little getting used to, hearing a voice coming out of nowhere telling you which song we're going to sing next.

We may be adding a couple of new singers to the mix, so being upstairs may help the newbs avoid stagefright by not having 700 people staring at them.

I'm still undecided--personally, I would like to be able to see who is playing/singing. On the other hand, our organist and regular choir have been upstairs for years and it seems to be fine. I guess the new priest looks at us like we're the "choir with guitars." Sounds like a good band name.

[bingy]

Originally Posted by christhee68

We're not too sure about that. We've been on hiatus for a couple of weeks. We probably will start back in a week or two.

Before, we had a powered mixer/PA that we used to run 4 monitors (two in front of the band, 2 behind the band). We plugged our mixer into the house system to project to the congregation.

I'm not sure what kind of setup we will have upstairs, but I expect it will be similar.

If that means everything is in the PA you should be OK.

If instrument amps aren't that could be a problem.

Remember, bass frequencies are more onmi-directional... the higher the frequencies, the more directional to the listener they need to be (regardless of volume).

[christhee68]

Originally Posted by bingy

If that means everything is in the PA you should be OK.

If instrument amps aren't that could be a problem.

Remember, bass frequencies are more onmi-directional... the higher the frequencies, the more directional to the listener they need to be (regardless of volume).

Everything goes into the PA. The only issue possibly would be that when we were up front we used our rear monitors and bass amp to reinforce the sound coming from the house speakers.

We'll find out soon how it all works.

[Stackabones]

It's a good thing, especially in a Catholic Church. I wish our parish could do the same, but we don't have a choir loft.

I've sung in churches that have choir lofts and I prefer it.

One thing I wish cantors would stop doing is raising hands during the Psalm -- TOUCHDOWN!!! I think parishoners can figure out which part is repeated, especially when it is repeated.

[christhee68]

The church music director (not our band leader) even told us we could wear jeans and flip flops up there since no one will ever see us.

She also said we could bring a novel to read in case the homily goes too long. I'd never do that, but I thought it was funny that she said it (and meant it).

[Stackabones]

Originally Posted by christhee68

The church music director (not our band leader) even told us we could wear jeans and flip flops up there since no one will ever see us.

She also said we could bring a novel to read in case the homily goes too long. I'd never do that, but I thought it was funny that she said it (and meant it).

Attire is a good point. You see the priest and deacon and altar boys in their vestments, and then you see the choir in whatever they happen to be wearing that day -- sometimes dressed even more poorly than the parishoners.

One of our pianists always leaves during the homily and plays with her iPhone (you can see her fiddling with it as she leaves the sanctuary). At least if something like this is done in the choir loft, scandal is avoided.

[christhee68]

Originally Posted by Stackabones

One of our pianists always leaves during the homily and plays with her iPhone (you can see her fiddling with it as she leaves the sanctuary). At least if something like this is done in the choir loft, scandal is avoided.

Funny you should mention that. Last year, since we were at the front, we could see everyone in the congregation. There was one lady near the front who was always fiddling with her iphone during the service.

One day I mentioned it to my wife. "I can't believe Mrs. Jones was playing with her phone during the service--how disrespectful."

My wife, who was sitting behind her, said "I saw that. I looked over her shoulder and she was looking up the bible verses the priest was talking about."

[Stackabones]

Originally Posted by christhee68

Funny you should mention that. Last year, since we were at the front, we could see everyone in the congregation. There was one lady near the front who was always fiddling with her iphone during the service.

One day I mentioned it to my wife. "I can't believe Mrs. Jones was playing with her phone during the service--how disrespectful."

My wife, who was sitting behind her, said "I saw that. I looked over her shoulder and she was looking up the bible verses the priest was talking about."

One in a million, I'm sure.

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by Stackabones

One in a million, I'm sure.

I'm sure there's an App for IDing them -- like that bird song App.

[DonB52]

As worship leader in a small congregation, we are very informal. Our church is very laid back about traditions and we have "lost" the vestments and robes, etc. My team dresses casual and in summer we often wear shorts and sandals. God isn't concerned about what we wear but where our hearts are. So look to your heart and give it to God.

[christhee68]

Originally Posted by DonB52

God isn't concerned about what we wear but where our hearts are. So look to your heart and give it to God.

True, but our last pastor (RIP) put it this way: If you were having dinner with the governor you'd dress up a little, right? Why would we come to a feast with the Lord looking like you just rolled out of bed?