The Proper way to talk with pastor

[theatre4jc]

My pastor loves to see the eyes of his people. He wants to walk into a brightly lit room and though he has never directly said it, I am well aware that the room will be at 100% any time he is on the stage. I desired dimmer lighting for worship and I obtained permission (from the worship pastor and my boss the video director) to slowly lower the lighting level during the music over a several week time period. It took about 3 months but I finally found a level that the congregation enjoyed, made pastor happy, and I could live with. So during worship my (very large 7,500 seat) room is at 45%, during our offertory special the room is at 35% and for everything else the room is 100%. Our service is also pretty traditional with full choir and orch.

But the lesson is taking things slowly. Changing the level doesn't have to happen from one sunday to the next but could change very slightly one week ad sit there for 2 or 3, then slightly dim again. Do this until you everyone finds a point of "this is it".

[D.R.HADDOCK]

You might try to sit down with the pastor,
explain what you want to do,
If he does not want to do it,
Sensitively ask him why,
There may indead be a good reason,
that you have not considered.
But be polite and sensitive about it !
If in the end he does not want to do it
you will have to accept it, no matter how
much you might not aggree.
After all he is the man with ALL the responsibility.
And you should support him.

[SamG269]

I agree. I have learned to submit myself to my fathers lead. He is my father but I must also look at him as my Pastor which would be bad if I didn't. It wouldn't reflect well with the congregation or especially more important with God.

Have you done this yet Chazman14?? How did it go?

[mstone133]

All people make decisions differently, so it is hard to give advice on dealing with a specific person.

I am speculating a lot (OK, I'm actually generalizing about techs and pastors), but it sounds like logical and rationale justifications are being used while trying to persuade an emotional decision maker.

The suggestions to have the pastor experience the lighting changes while sitting in the house are good, but be prepared for your pastor to stick to his current position. Emotional decision makers don't have a set "if you prove this or show me that" criteria like rationale decision makers.

If dimming during all songs is out of the question, try getting permission to dim the house just one song during the service.

[jthtiger]

Originally Posted by mstone133

If dimming during all songs is out of the question, try getting permission to dim the house just one song during the service.

Personally, I think that's taking it too far. I think dimming the lights for just one song out of the service will be distracting to the audience and ultimately set you back in the process. I feel like it would just be too random, especially if the audience hasn't seen it before. They would get used to it by the last chorus and then the lights would come back up.

A better alternative might be this. If you have a service that runs like the following:

Song
Song
Song
Offering (with song)
Song
Sermon
Song
Dismiss
Reprise

Leave the lights on for the first three songs, dim the light during the offering all the way out, then bring the lights back up to 50-75% or so for the sermon. After the dismissal, bring them back up.

You need to show your pastor what it would be like on a normal basis, and not just some random song during a service. The service shouldn't be a test ground for technology. That's what rehearsals are for.

Hope this helps!
-Tyler Herron

[mstone133]

I agree that dimming the lights during a random song is bad and didn't mean to imply that should be done. Most services have a special song where it would be appropriate to have a different lighting scheme from the rest of the service.

I don't think that dimming the lights during the offering is a good idea; some people wait until then to write the check and need some light. In addition, despite dimming the lights during songs, we bring house lights up nearly full during the sermon to allow the pastor to see and interact with the congregation and to allow the congregation to read their bible and outline.