1. I cannot see the pastor or worship leader<\/p>\n
2. I cannot see the screen with the words, pictures, outlines, videos<\/p>\n
3. When the room is too cold (or too hot)<\/p>\n
4. When I cannot hear what the speaker or singer is saying because they talk too quietly or too fast<\/p>\n
5. When there are typos in the bulletin or on the screen<\/p>\n
6. When I do not know the songs<\/p>\n
7. When I do know all the songs and am bored with the sameness<\/p>\n
8. When there are no new people<\/p>\n
9. When there are too many new people<\/p>\n
10. When the parking lot is so full I have to walk a long way (or just drive home)<\/p>\n
11. When something political enters the sermon\/teaching<\/p>\n
12. When nothing political enters the sermon\/teaching<\/p>\n
…..How many things trigger an “anger response” from worshipers directed at you the worship leader or pastor when their expectations are not met.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This all started when we got working on improving the sight-lines in the balcony when I am pastor. Some people shared the abysmal viewing from the back rows of the balcony and pledged to help us resolve it. That is a good thing to do, to create a worship space with no “penalty box” seating areas.<\/p>\n
But in sharing this project with my wife (who is just about 5 feet tall on a good day) she said “Sight lines! Trying being short! There are no good sight lines when anyone but children are standing. That’s a tall person’s problem.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s a good thing to check our own expectations and what prompts us to anger and to do that with the congregations we serve. How do you do it?<\/p>\n