Sound Booth Adventures

The sound booth at my church is just wide enough to fit the large sound board and a laptop from which to run the Powerpoint slides. Behind these two controls is space enough for two chairs, and this morning I occupied one of them, the sound technician occupied the other, and watching over both of us stood . . . the Master of Ceremonies.

I don't think he was wearing sunglasses--that would have been totally weird, since it's very dark back there. But as I bent over the laptop with him behind me, I sort of pictured him with sunglasses. Maybe it was his innate dramatic coolness, but I think it was more likely because of a scene at the end of that really terrible movie The Bodyguard (if you haven't seen it, count yourself lucky and don't remedy that). The President or somebody is at some big formal gathering, and everyone bows their heads to pray--everyone, that is, except the Secret Service Bodyguard, who keeps a solemn, ever-watchful eye over everyone there.

Now, in truth, the MC was not there to keep everybody safe, strictly speaking. He was there to keep me from making mistakes. But it's all the same, really. I teased him about being unwilling to give up control, but in truth, I have immense respect for such fastidiousness. While everybody else is singing or listening to the sermon or praying, the MC makes dozens of tiny adjustments to set an atmosphere that supports what's going on at each moment. I don't mind the MC's fussiness (in fact, I applaud it) because it shows a care for the manner in which God is honored, the way His house reflects His generosity and warmth and comfort toward everyone who walks in His door and makes it that much easier for them to seek and worship Him.

There's an aesthetic factor as well; recently, the MC showed a few disciples how to make the Powerpoint slides for the sermons. "Now, don't be doing all kinds of cheesy stuff," he admonished us. Nothing sticky-sweet, nothing amateurish--just do it right, and be classy. Thank God. I don't mean to be snobbish; it just sort of pains me (okay, it's agony really) to see all the sappy stuff that churches do, especially when sometimes it substitutes for the kind of depth people really need.

So, anyway, back when I used to just sit in church, I didn't really ever consider what was happening with the lights or the Powerpoint slides. I'd probably be better at the job now if I had paid attention to which lights were coming up and going down at which moments, but it all seemed seamless, effortless. And now I know that a lot of that is because while the rest of us were praying and singing, the MC kept his eyes open, and worshiped by serving all of us.