Production values (in church)

Before the pandemic, I went to two churches almost every week.

One church put a lot of energy, money, and time into “production values.”

I am sure that, in the other church, not one person in the pews even knows what “production values” means.

The first church recorded an album a few years ago.

Nobody is going to ask to record the second church any time soon!

The first church pays professionals to perform in worship.

At the second church, the least bad singer bravely volunteers to be the first to start singing until everyone else joins in.

Guess which church I miss the most.

I like good worship as much as the next Christian, but I love the people in the pews a hundred times more. What I’m learning from the pandemic is that I will take people over production values every time. The chitchat that happens just before and after worship means more to me than what happens between the welcome and final “amen.”

Please don’t get me wrong. I miss the church with production values, too. But I found that what I miss about that church is what happens in Bible classes, in the lobby, and in small groups. The interactions that nobody can design or plan are the ones that mean the most to me.

I also note that how much I miss church has to do with how much I felt like I was giving something that meant a lot to the church. In the church with high production values, I felt more like a spectator.

But in the church with no production values, I feel like I am giving something every time. People receive my gifts and give thanks for them. I receive the gifts they bring with gratitude. The singing may be off-key, but the giving of gifts to each other makes it feel magical and sweet. The worship may not sound like much to human ears, but it surely sounds angelic to those who live where angels sing.

After almost a year away from church, my family is thinking hard about going back in the next few months. What we miss the most about church “before” will help us choose how to be part of church “next time.”

We may choose to go back to the church with high production values, but those high production values will not be the reason we go back.

We will go where we can find some fellow weirdos who want to share common faith, hope, and love with us.

We will go where people are eager and happy to have the gifts we bring and where we are happy and thankful to receive their gifts, too.

We will go where relationships grow and give life to ritual.

We will go where people are the true value in the “production”.

Grace and peace.