It's sad to see a good idea handled poorly.  I envision the Praise Team Ministry as a “support” to encourage involvement in congregational worship.  You will hear me say repeatedly, the worship minister’s job is to do everything possible to elicit the most participation from the entire congregation.

It is amazing how much influence the sound engineer has in this process.  In fact, in many circumstances, the decisions made by the sound engineer can ultimately “make or break” the level of participation of the church singing.  Here’s what I mean.  If the volume level of the praise team is extremely loud and much higher than the congregation, people are more prone to simply listen and not to participate.  They tend to become spectators rather than active participants in the “congregational” singing.  If the volume level is appropriate and the blend of the team flows seamlessly with the rest of the congregation, the overall experience is greatly enhanced and participation is contagious.

Since I travel quite a bit and deal with many different sound engineers, I have found it to be very important to communicate this concept with the technical team and leaders of the event.  In order to clarify what I’m trying to communicate, I use my hands as visuals.  If the congregation is singing at “9”, I’d like to hear the praise team level mixed at “8”.

CONGREGATION: 9        PRAISE TEAM: 8

However, if the congregation is barely singing at a level “3”, and if the praise team is cranked up to a high level “9”, the praise team may quickly become a hindrance to participation and a potential distraction.

CONGREGATION: 3        PRAISE TEAM: 9

Here’s an interesting application of this principle.  On Wednesday nights at our “Prayer & Praise” at Madison, our starting time is 6:30 P.M.   On any given evening, there may be only 50% to 65% of the ultimate number who arrive “on time” from their work, homes, etc. (No other church has a late problem, do you?)   By 6:45 P.M., we’ll have close to 100% of the people who will be attending that evening.  As you can imagine, the volume level of the congregational singing is much lower (as much as 50%) at 6:30 P.M., than it will be just 15 minutes later when the room is full.

Many well-intentioned sound engineers would set the team at a level used the previous week (when the room was full) and forget about it.  Thus the problem comes when the room is half full and the praise team is “blowing them away” in volume.  This unbalanced level discourages the congregation from actively joining the singing and finds them listening instead.

On the other hand, when monitored closely and handled wisely, the praise team becomes a supporting factor that seamlessly flows into the worship experience, bringing out the absolute best of the congregation!

At Madison, we have visitors commenting on how much they love our congregational singing.  When I mention that we have a praise team (for support, hearing parts, etc.), most often they are surprised.  “Praise Team?  Really?”  The reason they are perplexed is a result of how the volume of the praise team blends seamlessly with the entire church (and the fact that our team is seated.)  I guarantee you that our singing is MUCH better as a result of the praise team, even though most visitors don’t realize we have one.

I strongly believe in the praise team ministry concept.  I am saddened to see how the “mishandling” of the volume levels has produced a negative experience for some churches who might otherwise have achieved new heights.