Being in the back of the room, typically slightly higher than the congregation, you probably can see who is paying attention, who is sleeping, what new youth group couple is holding hands, and who is texting during the service. Seems a lot of people don’t pay attention, and I seem to find a lot of sound engineers pay too much attention during church.

It’s actually more like paying attention to the wrong thing. I’m NOT saying you shouldn’t sing when the band is playing, or follow along in the scriptures when the preacher is talking, but… Your job is to listen to the sound while you are at that console.

If your child got hurt in the nursery because the volunteer worker was paying more attention to the band than your kid, you’d probably be upset (assuming there is an audio feed to your nursery). Can you understand that sometimes your congregation gets frustrated when there is feedback or other audio problems but instead of you listening critically to the audio quality, the congregation sees you singing right along or taking sermon notes instead of addressing the problem(s).

There is no reason a mic shouldn’t be on by the time someone begins to speak into it. When you are mixing the band, are you sure the mix is as good as it could be? The sermon may be speaking directly to you, but that’s not an excuse for a hollow-sounding lapel mic.

So, listen up to not only the content of whats coming off the stage, but honestly, more importantly, the quality of what’s coming through your audio system. Your band, congregation and visitors will be thankful… Just don’t expect to be given a big thank you. It’s a job that comes with little praise.