Emergent, Age Diversity, and Hearing
My wife and I recently paid a visit to Solomon’s Porch, an emergent congregation in the Minneapolis area. As most emergent’s know, a lot of the activity in this gathering happens ‘in the round.’ Two stools and a set of microphones are placed in the middle of the room. Rows of couches are arranged in concentric circles around the microphones.
The night we attended a lot of the participants in the service did not actually speak from the center position. The call to worship was lead from within the congregation. One person shared a story from her seat. Another leader explained and lead a prayer from the side of the room. Questions were asked and responses were given during the service from within the congregation.
Now, my wife and I are only in our late thirties, yet we both struggled to hear and to understand everything that was going on during the service. At the same time, we didn’t notice any significant numbers of people in attendance who were much older than we were, so we can only guess that hearing and making sure every one can fully participate has not yet been a significant challenge for Solomon’s Porch.
Recently, in my own fairly traditional and very age diverse congregation (18 mnths to 93 yos), I tried to engage in some dialog with the congregation during my sermon. I was pleased with how well it worked, but at times I struggled to hear some of my congregants responses and I can only guess that the older folks in our crowd had a much worse problem in that regard.
I appreciate the move to involve more and more people in the process of leading worship and breaking down the barrier between pulpit and pew. And I love the idea of developing more of a diaological, conversational approach to preaching. But how on earth do I ensure that everyone, especially those who are hard of hearing, is able to engage and be involved in the process as well???
Comment by Neal Locke on 28 May 2007:
Doug Pagitt actually addresses that issue in his “Preaching Reimagined” book (just finished it last week).
He points out that when it’s difficult to hear, people tend to be more actively engaged in “trying” to hear, and are thus better listeners. Or something like that (his words are more eloquent and logical than mine).
It’s an interesting point, but I could definitely see some red flags. One member of our congregation is deaf, and a few are decidedly hard of hearing, so it’s not quite that simple to just ask them to listen harder.”
But his larger point that amplification (ie microphones) sends a very exclusivist message of control (I’m the only one with the ability to speak) is, I think, a valid one. Perhaps if the group we’re addressing is so large that it requires amplification, we should be asking ourselves if that’s a sustainable venue for spiritual formation in the first place?
I can’t help wondering how many people in the crowd actually heard Jesus preach the sermon on the mount. Seems like his usual audience size was more along the lines of, say, twelve?
Comment by Reyes-Chow on 28 May 2007:
Jim, our space is similar to the Porch set-up and we experience the same kinds of issues. We are going to play with non-obtrusive choir-type mics. We’ll see.
Comment by Jim Bonewald on 29 May 2007:
I guess what I’m struggling with is trying to find some way to adapt emergent thoughts on preaching and increased participation while still serving in a church with a fairly traditional set-up and with a fairly traditional Presybterian crowd.
* How do I encourage dialog/congregational participation when my senior members will feel left out by not being able to hear what’s going on? I really value them in our congregation and I don’t want them to be marginalized in anyway.
* How do I encourage the same when our set-up is not conducive for it (pews set-up in straight rows?) I could ask the session to consider taking them out and getting new chairs, but what’s the likelihood they’ll go for that?? (at least not until they see the value of it.)
There’s what I’d like to do and there’s what I can realistically do given the parameters of my current context.
Comment by Brian on 29 May 2007:
Our setting is wide (rather than long) and dark, a combination that makes dialog very challenging. We also have a tremendous age range so not having people be able to hear is a major issue. We’ve approached this in two ways.
1) For “quick dialog” such as seeking short answers from the congregation we encourage them to say them out loud so the speaker can hear them, and then the speaker repeats it to the whole group.
2) For longer responses/questions, we have multiple microphones that two members of the service planning team carry throughout the room - so that those who want to share can be heard by others.
The use of mics loses some of the “personal” touch, no doubt. But these are the best solutions we’ve found to the problem.
As far as training people to participate, when we first began we would often “plant” questions or ask a few people ahead of time to be ready to comment. If this is repulsive to you - then forget I ever said it, but it works. These plants can serve as a model for others in the congregation.
Comment by Jim Bonewald on 29 May 2007:
Brian,
Yeah, I wondered about placing microphones around the sanctuary for people to walk up to. I do worry that it might actually restrict people’s willingness to participate, even so, it may just be the best solution to the problem. Should probably be prefaced with encouragement as to why we want people to actually use the mics.
The one time I tried fostering dialog during my sermon (beyond a quick poll or a short answer question) it went pretty well without my having to “plant” people to get things started, so I was pretty encouraged about that. It left me with the feeling that maybe people do want an opportunity to participate and be more involved.
Comment by Rev. David on 29 May 2007:
Good conversations about having conversations in church!
I began having some conversations with our “contemporary” service and it has played out very well. People seem to respond and if we have an issue with someone speaking too softly, I’ll just repeat what they said. What helps is that I’m mobile enough to walk all around the sanctuary and go directly to the person. Unless I feel they would be uncomfortable with me coming too close to them, I’ll come into their vicinity and they seem to share very well.
Having a good sound system is important all the way around. If you want others to participate in worship, they’ve got to be able to hear the others. If we have someone read a prayer or a reflection on the sermon topic, they’ll usually have a hand-held and no one seems to mind.
In my mind, the younger generations aren’t intimidated by technology, so having a mic shouldn’t scare them. Older folks know the mic is needed for them, so they usually will use it too. but there are those rare cases… the good thing I’ve found about a handheld that’s passed around is that it can limit those who may be a little more “long winded” in their responses. I’m not saying I”m not up for a good long response, but for those that have a tendency to go on and on and on holding a mic can…not always, but can help!
Comment by Drew Ludwig on 30 May 2007:
A tip I got from Jim Mead (you can take me out of Pittsburgh, but you can’t take Pittsburgh out of me!) has been really helpful. Here it is: Give people time to think and even write something down before you ask them to share it out loud. If you think about it, this is only fair (we prepare our words for a lot longer!), and it gives people a chance to respond more thoughtfully and more confidently. It’s also cool to ask people to have short conversations with one another.
My church is still a bit wierded out by the whole experience of talking during the sermon, but they are doing great!
By the way, we solve the microphone problem by me repeating every answer. I know that this isn’t exactly empowering, but in my experience, people hate using microphones (especially if they would have to move to use them). Also, it shows the people that I am listening and checks for understanding.
Comment by Jim Bonewald on 30 May 2007:
Drew, I agree about repeating the answers; in my experience, most people will say when you try to give them a mic, “oh I don’t need that.”
Comment by John Gay on 31 May 2007:
Jim and everyone -
I just found this site a couple of days ago, and I’m so excited by the very idea! Jim, you might not remember me, but I was a year behind you at UDTS. Good to “hear” you, as it were.
I guess my comment would be that if you’re going to get mics to the congregation, it would be better if you got a few wireless ones that you could pass around. Have the ushers (if you have them) stand up and make sure that people have a chance to let them know they want to make a comment or question. That way they have a chance to think about what they want to say as well, while they’re waiting for the last person to finish and get the mic to them. If you have more than one, it would go faster, though. Also, in that way you don’t have the idea that the one with the mic is in charge…you just have to wait your turn and be polite to the other person(very Reformed, actually). And you pretty much do away with the hearing issue as much as you can - considering probably your 93 year old can’t hear anyway…
Also, I would repeat the question anyway, even if you are sure that you heard it - so you and they know that you understood it. It also provides a second chance for someone who had zoned out for a second.
Comment by Jim Bonewald on 31 May 2007:
Hey John, hope you’re doing well! Glad you happened upon our little venture at Presbymergent. Thanks for your comments.
Comment by Jeannie on 6 June 2007:
Pass around a hand-held. On top of helping folks hear, i.t helps people wait their turn. We pass around a hand-held during announcements or during giving-thanks services, or during prayer times, and we’re to the point that the folks who can’t hear so well ask people to use the mic, and people announcing ask for the mic b/c they know that their fellow worshippers need it to be able to hear them. It’s really not a big deal.
J