The Proper way to talk with pastor

[chazman14]

Hey all. I have a small dilemma. My pastor likes to have all the lights on during the whole service, with no changes between pre-service to worship to the sermon to the end. What would be the polite way to bring up the idea of turning the lights off for the different aspects of the service? We do not have any colored lights, just all the off white color of bulbs. There are a lot of people (and a pastor) who agree with the view of dimmed lights. We are a pentecostal church with upbeat music/hymns and with energetic pastors.

In need of advice...

[tdangelo]

Chazman14,

I am sure you would agree that not all churches need to use technical arts in the same manner. No different than each church decides whether or not to use print, radio, internet, video, broadcast, I-mag, Etc. And then each church decides what emphasis to give to each of those tools.

It appears that your pastor has decided to not take advantage of contemporary lighting. I think it’s important to avoid communicating that his perspective is wrong. We as tech people sometimes communicate our passion regarding good or high production value as anything short of the Grammy Awards is unacceptable. You may find that your Pastor is not opposed to contemporary lighting but is rather concerned about such being
done in a non-distracting or otherwise tasteful manner.

I would suggest avoiding (like the plague) concepts or communication to the Pastor of this or that type of lighting as being right or wrong. Rather, it may be more effective to subtly show him photos or video of other churches that use lighting effectively. Ask him if he likes what he sees and if it fits into his vision for your church. Then you can discuss what is different about the photo (or video) and what your church is currently doing.

[petereit]

You said, "...and a pastor..." My guess is that the suggestion would have more weight with your pastor if it comes from another pastor.

[chazman14]

Thank you both for your suggestions. My pastor has been to churches that use contemporary lighting and from what I have heard from him in the past is that he likes it. So I will get some examples and show him.

The other pastor is the worship pastor. He has even mentioned that we turn down the lights to the pastor, and when the pastor is on vacation, he wants the house lowered with more emphasis on the stage.

[cbcmary]

have you considered asking the pastor to sit in the sanctuary (not during a service) and show him the differences when you change the lighting (if you can do that with what you have). perhaps if he sees it from that direction he will see it differently. if he still says no, I would drop it.

mary

[SamG269]

My father is the pastor and we were kind of afraid that he might not like the idea of turning off the lights during worship. He usually comes in 10 minutes into worship. So what we did was go ehead and turn off the lights. He had a surprised look when he came in but after service we asked him what he thought. He said he liked it. He could tell the people did as well and that they were more into worship. He said that it seemed like the people relaxed more and it was more intimate.

[bcastle]

do you turn off all of the lights or just some. we have lights running down each side of our sanctuary and then our stage lights. in our situation we turn off the sides and only go with the stage lights. it makes it easier to read the lyrics on our projector. I agree with cbcmary. the proof is in the pudding. try and simply show him. Since you have stated that he kinda is leaning towards turning them off, suggest trying it for a service and get feedback from congregation.

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by SamG269

My father is the pastor and we were kind of afraid that he might not like the idea of turning off the lights during worship. He usually comes in 10 minutes into worship. So what we did was go ehead and turn off the lights. He had a surprised look when he came in but after service we asked him what he thought. He said he liked it. He could tell the people did as well and that they were more into worship. He said that it seemed like the people relaxed more and it was more intimate.

I will try to say this as gentle as I can. This is the wronge way to go about it. To me the way it reads it seems underhanded and undermining.
Even if it did work out positively in the end

[SamG269]

Yeah I know. I figured somebody would say that. But how can I put this not sounding disrespectufl to my father.... He's one to show things to. If he doesn't see it. He doesn't believe it. On top of that he most of the time doesn't exactly input any yay's or nay's to the way we set up the stage or anything. I guess you could say he kind of leaves that in our hands. I don't know if thats such a good thing at times.. But thats kind of the way the "relationship" is.

[chazman14]

@cbcmary: I will try that.

@SamG: My pastor stays in the sanctuary the whole time, he starts the service and he ends it. When I forget to get some of the lights, he points it out, even if we are 10 minutes into worship.

@bCastle: Are you asking me? We keep all the lights on during the whole service, unless there is a video. He is not leaning toward turning them off. For some reason, he wants them 100% on all the time. Others want them off, including an associate pastor, and other ministry leaders.

Thank you for all of your input, it is very good to hear what others have to say on the subject.

[scmatthew]

SamG,

What you have and what we all need to have with our pastors is a relationship built on experience and trust. When someone knows you, they are more willing to accept your input and suggestions.

Steven

[SamG269]

He his my father. So that helps more than anything. Of course we do butt heads sometimes but thats any relationship. Now Im not saying thats how chazman14 should do it. I do back everyone else up when they say show pictures or videos of other churches doing it. You could try it out with him. Or. Confront him in the manner Paul confronted his churces that he wrote too. Your going to have to read some of his letters to see the way he did this.