Setting the Mood: Does Atmosphere Have a Place in Church?

My folks are really good at hosting dinner parties. When growing up, I remember watching my dad preparing for their guests to arrive. He would potter around the house lighting sweet smelling candles, plumping up the cushions and putting on his favourite Louis Armstrong record.

The environment he created was always perfect. It set their guests at ease and encouraged open and authentic conversation. The soft lighting and chill music provided a relaxed atmosphere to share life and enjoy friendship around the dinner table.

Atmosphere has a huge impact on how humans interact.

An appropriate atmosphere facilitates and supports the theme of the meeting. I doubt my parents’ dinner party would have been such a success had they dined to the noise of Capital FM under a bright overhead lamp. Whatever the motive for the meeting the atmosphere always affects the feel. An appropriate atmosphere can help communicate your message and facilitate response.

It therefore is crucial we consider this question for our central church gathering. As leaders or volunteers, we want to serve our church as they meet together and to enable God’s people to grow. We need to develop an atmosphere that prepares our church for meeting together around God’s word.

As we consider this question, I want to dwell on two simple statements:

1. Church: a place to receive

Our central meeting is a place for our church family receive. As our congregation meets, we want to enable them to experience community and build up one another in truth. Within the setting of this community, our members are meeting to hear God speak, to sit under Bible exposition.

We want to develop an atmosphere that grows community and encourages concentration.

2. Church: a place to respond

The Word proclaimed warrants a response. Whatever the direct application from today’s message, we want to enable our church to respond with spiritual growth and lives of servant-hearted worship.

We want to develop an atmosphere that allows response.

Practical Applications

As I approach a service, I find it helpful to ask:

1. What is the service going to be like today? Reflective? Celebratory?

2. How will the congregation feel when they arrive? Busy? Tired? Downhearted?

3. How can I help the church move to a state ready to engage with the service?

Lights

Bright overhead lights on arrival can make a room feel cavernous, while softer lights grow a sense of warmth. Bright house lights with focussed lighting on the preacher may help to encourage concentration. Singing in lower light can encourage reflection, while more light encourages ‘togetherness’ in corporate worship.

Visuals

Similarly to lighting, we should have a sensitive approach to the use of projection. A busy slide can appear complicated and overload our church with information, meaning they pay less attention. A focussed, more minimal slide conveys a sense of simplicity and can make an application appear more tangible.

Audio

Appropriate background music can be a brilliant tool for setting an atmosphere. Pumping playlists encourage conversation and a growing sense of excitement or ‘buzz’, while more acoustic based tracks help to create a sombre, reflective mood. It’s worth building a few playlists that suit different themes or moods. We can serve our church better than just sticking on the latest live worship album.

The atmosphere we develop can either distract our congregation or help to communicate our message. The answer to this question needs to be defined by what is appropriate to your church. Less is often more, but I think there are small changes that can make a huge difference to the feel of our service. It may be as simple as changing the CD or turning off a flickering fluorescent light.

We’d love to hear what you think. How do you create at appropriate atmosphere for your services? Have you seen your church respond? Connect with us on facebook or in the comments below.

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Written by Bertie Styles
Bertie serves as the Production Director at Christ Church Mayfair, London and runs Gravitize, a London-based event design and production company.
Connect with him via email: bertie@gravitize.co