Recently, my beloved Seattle Seahawks beat the San Fransisco 49’ers on Sunday Night Football. But not only did they win the game, but Seattle now holds the official Guiness records for loudest fans in the World. They first set the record early in the game when San Fransisco QB Colin Kaepernick was sacked with a crowd noise registering 133.3 dB’s. Later on their broke their own record by reaching a level of 133.6 dB’s. So the fans in Seattle went home soaking wet (it’s Seattle after all) with a win, a record, and hearing loss. 133.6 dB’s is 48.6 dB’s over the OHSA safe limit.
Dustin Kensrue and Andy Girton over at Mars Hill Church have put together a very intersting piece on volume and safety in the church HERE. But it’s not just rock music, the Oregon Symphony Players Association (bet you didn’t know that existed) has a very informative piece on hearing safty on their website. So it’s not just a crancked amplifier… the oboe and the flute are also clear and present dangers to your hearing.
There is always going to be a contingent of people in your church who will complain that the music is too loud. They will quickly be followed by the contingent of people in your church who complain that the music is too quite. What do you do? How do you handle it? Can we really worship God below 85dB’s?
Real World Worship 