The Worship Experience

In our services, we try to aim for music that is the right loudness to be both safe and make worshipers feel secure. We aim for that sweet spot where the music is just loud enough that you don’t have to worry if your neighbor sitting next to you can hear you sing out of key! Sing as loud as you want! We also turn the lights down lower for this portion of the service. All of this is in an attempt to have us focus on the Savior that we worship, not those around us. Worship is for an audience of one, Jesus.

Here is what that means on a technical level:

We typically shoot for a 90-93 dBA average over the 18 minutes of worship. With quick peaks and plosives not exceeding 99-100 dBA. This is perfectly within OSHA standards and does not pose a health risk to attendees. Remember, it is not uncommon for the loudest portion of a song to read around 96-98 dBA. But the number that really matters is the average of the ENTIRE 18-minute worship set. There are loud sections, and there are soft sections that balance each other out to achieve the desired overall average of 90-93 dBA.