ElePHPant Haven

I took a hiatus from church at the start of the year for a couple of months (until midway through April if I remember correctly). Reflecting on that period, it actually resulted in a higher proportion of Sundays that I actually enjoyed.

Now, I don't really see a point in going to church. As I'm on sound most of the time (rostered on every second week, plus the cover/filler guy and I get special events too), I can't really get into the praise and enjoy it. I have to try and restrain myself from being moved too much by the sermon, so I'm not incapacitated for the praise after the sermon.

I can partake in personal praise from my bedroom (in fact, I do that must of the time. iTunes is great) and get sermons I can take the time to enjoy and think over from podcasts.

Next, people will probably mention the social aspect, and coming together to be part of the community.

Let's see how that falls apart. In a normal service, I arrive sometime between 1630 and 1800. I pick a seat and wait for the service to start. If I'm lucky, a couple of people will have greeted me, with a potential conversation with Byrce before the service starts. If I'm not, I'll get a few waved greetings and nothing else.

During the service, I sit alone. I'm usually sitting before anyone else is, so it's their choice.

After the service, I used to try hanging around until the end so that people I would like to talk to weren't otherwise engaged. This got interpreted as me wanting a ride home. Go figure. So Matthew and Christian chat for a bit, with maybe one or two others, then I go home. Community fail.

These means the main reason I continue going to church is to do sound. Mainly because there's no one else willing. Seriously, this is the roster for June->September. Weeks I'm rostered on are green. Positions I'm rostered on or covered for are red.

While I don't mind doing sound frequently, this is starting to get ridiculous. I ended up doing sound and power point by myself for all of July. To top it off, most of the times people talk to me is to insult, ridicule, complain, judge or tell me how to do my job.

Compare this to the positive comments: I've been told the mix is sounding good twice that I can remember. Both times by visiting musicians. Only two of the leaders have thanked me for doing sound for them more than once, one of which has left and I can't recall any other positive comments made.

Given this atmosphere, I'm not surprised sound people have a rather low retention rate. If it wasn't against my nature, I'm sure that my hiatus earlier this year would have been a lot longer, if not permanent.

So, what's the point and why should I care about church?