Passive verses Active Worship. Is there a difference?
Posted by jdbsound on October 8, 2021
Many people ask how the panels will look before hearing how they perform when it comes to managing the acoustic of a sanctuary for worship. Here is a short video comparing two acoustic treatments. One system comes from a non-Biblical solution that partially works and is very expensive. The other system comes from the Bible. It provides the proper acoustical conditions for worship every time and at a fraction of the cost. Our experience shows that most church members change their opinions on aesthetics when the acoustical fix does a great job of fixing the room.
Congregation members of most churches do agree with one idea. It seems that if the acoustic system fails at improving congregational singing, the panels on the wall have to look good as wall furniture. If the acoustic treatment improves all parts of worship, especially congregational singing, concerns about how the panels look melt away. The aesthetic issues disappear.
The half-round diffuser systems are also passive noise cancellers. If you have a noisy HVAC system, they can reduce noise up to 20dB at no extra cost without over-dampening or compromising the worship space acoustics.
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Passive worship is when people feel alone during congregational singing. Feeling alone prepares people for hearing a feel-good message, whether it is prosperity or a self-help gospel.
Active worship is when more than 60% of the congregation is actively singing all the time, and for some, sing the harmonies in the hymns. When there is active singing, it helps to unite people to hear the full Gospel message regardless of how strong that message is preached. Active worship often leads to a stronger church and people making long-term relationships.
The acoustical condition of a worship space is a very accurate measuring tool to determine the type of worship any church practices. A good-sounding worship space supports congregational singing and does a better job at supporting amplified speech with less sound equipment.
An under-performing worship space not only makes a room full of people feel like they are all alone, but it takes 3 to 4 times the audio equipment to get decent speech quality, and since less than 60 to 75% of the congregation is not singing, the excessive sound system is also used to entertain the congregation with worship teams and performance singers. What better way to end a long session of feel-good music to cap it off with a feel-good message. Here is an article that explains this more.
By Joseph De Buglio
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