Harold P. Geerdes

Practical comments on bringing new life to acoustically dead sanctuaries The building committee needed a break. They had been discussing the acoustical problems in their sanctuary for over an hour. They had read the complaints, studied the estimates from a contractor, and argued back and forth about the importance of a good sound system.

Scott R. Riedel. St. Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, 32 pp. This pamphlet provides an excellent and authoritative overview of the often overlooked subject of sound and acoustics in the worship space. Riedel begins by emphasizing that the "event" of worship is largely an aural activity and that the message of the gospel and the response of the assembled congregation all take place within a "sound" environment that can either enhance or detract from the whole worship experience.