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The Real Reason Churches Sound Like Concerts Now

Terence Fisher

216,104 views

The church service has quietly become a concert — and veteran church musicians are paying the price for a model nobody told us was changing.

In this video, I break down the four shifts that turned modern worship into a performance, the three forces that drove the change, and exactly what church musicians can do about it. Whether you want to adapt to the concert church model, refuse it, or find a church that still values real musicianship, you'll walk away with the framework to decide.

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🎬 CHAPTERS
0:00 What Church Used to Be
2:09 Shift #1: The Congregation Became an Audience
3:50 Shift #2: Leadership Became Production
5:47 Shift #3: Musicians Became Visual Assets
7:30 Shift #4: Music Became a Product
9:01 The Three Forces That Made This Happen
11:30 The Question to Ask Before You Take a Church Gig
12:36 When Non-Musicians Run the Music
13:34 The Skills They Can't Replace
14:50 The Market That Still Values Real Musicianship
15:57 What We're Really Losing

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💬 QUESTION OF THE DAY
When did YOU first notice your church was becoming a concert? Drop the moment in the comments — the haze machine, the in-ears, the day they turned the house lights off. I want to hear the moment you knew.

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20 Comments

@AllenPendleton 4 months ago

If you can't tell the difference between the church and the club there's a problem.

@slowrivertichris 4 months ago

So many churches give you the experience of a good karaoke mixed with a TED talk

@earlem9771 4 months ago

This is what happens when the focus is on the experience more than the Word.

@cocodjambo 4 months ago

“It is written, ‘My house shall be called the house of prayer,’ but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

@PaulHambym8 4 months ago (edited)

As a former drummer who was a part of a worship team with the stage lights, fog, machines, etc. I can say with pure honesty. It was fun for the moment, but eventually, it didn’t feel like church.

I stepped away because I felt like I was putting on a performance more than worshiping. After being away for a while, I’ve began to reconnect with the Lord and start going to other churches without the production aesthetic, and this is in my own opinion, i feel like the Holy Spirit moves even more without all of these distractions on stage (video cues, click tracks) Like I finally was able to feel what I was missing - my relationship with God. And now I continue every day to draw closer and closer to him than I have in the last couple of years.

@Berean63 4 months ago (edited)

I was a church pianist for decades, but stepped away when my church decided to adopt a new praise team "performance" model. The audience no longer participated. I stepped away and left that church. No looking back.

And yes, the music has been dumbed down. It's mind numbing. I'm a well trained classical pianist who accompanies vocalists and instrumentalists, and plays for choir. I also play by ear and can transpose songs into any key, in my head. I can jump in and start accompanying a song leader who starts singing when the Spirit leads. I also play hymns, worship choruses, scripture songs, Southern Gospel and classic Contemporary Christian music from the '70s and '80s that actually requires musicianship skill to play. I never charged for my services because for me it was a ministry. I did charge for weddings, though. Now I'm 65 and enjoy playing my piano and singing at home. I'm not young anymore, but still ❤ to praise the Lord in song at home.

@toddmusser6537 4 months ago (edited)

Says a lot when a church takes the cross off the platform and replaces it with a $25K LED wall... We used to sing hymns of adoration (with good theology) with the LIGHTS ON... Now we sing "praise" choruses full of "I, me, my, mine, us, our" in the DARK.

@bonjovi1612 4 months ago

I play electric guitar, have done a long time. Ten years ago I joined a church and they asked me to play. I agreed and got the chance to show off a bit but bit by bit realised I’d slipped into a trap and that I what I was doing wasn’t worship, it was a rock concert. I left and attended another church much smaller with just a lady on the piano and realised I’d got it completely wrong. This was real worship, old hymns with great words and sung with a holy passion.

@buddyalbert5808 4 months ago

Wait till the Ai pastor hits the Pulpit.

@manelmartin5264 4 months ago

Thank you for speaking TRUTH!

@ErichOverhultz 4 months ago (edited)

You hit the nail on the head. Very precise in your analysis. I'm a pianist with nearly 50 years of experience playing in multiple genres, and take my art very seriously. I was at a church where a 20 something guy who knew a few chords but " had the look" was made musical director, and immediately tells me I played " too gospelly, too jazzy", etc. He wanted someone just to pad chords all service. No style, no soul, no spontaneity. I left. Thankfully I'm now at a small country Baptist church where I can play as free as I want, the congregation is a warm one, and true Christian fellowship exists.

@henrysantos942 4 months ago

People have been conditioned to expect entertainment at church service.

@kathykexel7753 4 months ago

Oh, come visit our tiny church. On a good day, we have two guitarists and a pianist. On a good day, the sun shines in through the windows.

@bmzansi 4 months ago (edited)

The struggle is real. You find an anointed praise and worship team with no fanfare then you have to find one that teaches scripture not prosperity gospel. So help us God 🙏🏽

@jeffgermanich8105 4 months ago

My wife and I recently moved to North Carolina. We both played on our previous worship team. No fancy lights, fog, giant LCD screens, etc. We worshiped with just our voices and talents the lord gave us. We hope to find a church that still holds to these values. We don’t need concerts but heartfelt worship.

@jq8974 4 months ago

Honestly, after 5 years of ear plugs and tiring of big ego leaders and zombie congregations we started meeting in homes again. We were tired of all of it, but I especially missed singing and harmonies. We gave it back - and it’s wonderful ☺️🙌🏽

@howtohamster 4 months ago

Many of modern churches have turned worship music an Idol.
I saw a political cartoon that shows Jesus near a worship leader. Jesus said "I need you to repent" The worship leader: "What?! I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am!"

@angeliquemclean8255 4 months ago

I can feel our church slowly getting into this format with a couple of our worship teams, where the congregation isn't really invited into worship, more so just observing. Our last Christmas Eve service I left feeling so disappointed and actually sad because I went expecting to sing all the wonderful classic Christmas carols, but instead it was more of a performance by the musicians, leaving only the last two songs for us as the congregation to join in.

@JeffHendricks 4 months ago

With the modern church's attempt to become both a church and a concert venue, what ends up happening is they're not good at either.

@kittyfruitloop8264 4 months ago

Wow, I needed to hear this..I play the pipe organ, I'm completely ignored in our church even though an elderly couple donated a 90s model Baldwin home organ. It's not great , but I can make it sing! The pastors want me to play but the music band clique never asks me to play at all!!! My husband doesn't want to leave this church bc he grew up with one of the pastors. This church sings like only 20 or 30 songs over and over.... It's like the Groundhog Day movie every Sunday. But God blessed me with a Lutheran church where I've been subbing regularly for 3 years. I'm treasured there! It's a day and night difference between the churches. Your basketball team illustration is right on the money!