“More and more churches have chosen to turn down the house lights when the congregation sings. Search for ‘worship’ in Google images and the majority are mostly dark or shadows. For a number of years I’ve wondered why.” Who Turned the Lights Out?
- About
- Forum
- Account
Discussion
NewI always find this practice
I always find this practice helpful when I’m trying to pick out a harmony in the hymnal. :^)
Seriously, churches that turn the lights down tend not to use hymns, but….
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
NewCandlelight Services
Anyone else here have candlelight services on Christmas Eve?
I would submit it can be quite reverential to worship God in lower-light surroundings.
NewIf the lights are low we are less likely to ....
If the lights are low we are less likely to:
Twitter
Jim's Doctrinal Statement
NewOn evangelical worship
If we expect congregants to have a Bible on their lap and follow along, the lighting has to support that need
Twitter
Jim's Doctrinal Statement
NewOn congregational participation
Don’t get me wrong, I’m entirely for this: but I would submit that (at least the presumption of) universal literacy & the invention of the printing press have more to do with such an expectation than any inherent Biblical standard.
NewThink the Bereans
Given that Acts speaks glowingly of the Bereans, it strikes me that the early church had something of an expectation of literacy and Biblical engagement, especially among the Jewish believers. I would guess that this expectation was reduced as more and more of the Church was composed of gentiles, especially those who were slaves and would not be expected to have learned to read.
But that said, the expectation of Bibles in the pews would have to have followed Gutenberg, as books were simply unaffordable prior to the development of the printing press.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
NewIf one's ability to worship
If one’s ability to worship is dependent on the lighting or being in a certain mood to worship then that person is departing from the faith.