Dr. Scott Young explains how in-ears work and how they help in worship:

“I can’t hear” is a common theme onstage for all musicians. When worship occurs onstage, musicians struggle with several road blocks outside of just playing their instrument: their voice or instrument causing a physical issue such as losing tune, band members not playing their parts correctly, and the sound from their wedges (Doing what?). So little information is available to our crews on Thursday night rehearsals and Sunday mornings when it all starts for that weekend that too many variables can be violated to create a cacophony of signals that disrupt the presence of God, which is the reason we come to be on the worship team. We all know that the worship team cannot be a soloing stage in which others admire their talent; it is a platform to tap into the heart of God and usher the people in front of His throne room, when they have just been in an early Sunday morning argument with the kids rolling out of bed.

Even if the Worship Pastor has an experienced team overall, he might also have many problems to reconnoiter as to each musician’s fit within the whole. Does the new worship team member, whether he is a Sound Engineer or drummer, understand the function and direction of this church? Is he a clanging gong against the harmonies trying to be created onstage? Or is it that pesky channel upon the sound board that keeps distorting the bass in the 10:30 service? These are all the concepts running through the mind of the Worship Pastor when he or she steps onto the platform, even if his face betrays a calm. Joe Montana, Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1989 Super Bowl against Cincinnati, exuded that type of bucolic nature noting that the comedian John Candy was in the crowd. Noticing Candy created a chuckle in the huddle for his teammates allowing them to traverse 93 yards to their eventual Super Bowl win. I met a worship leader years ago, Garo Nargiz, who could do that with everything that occurs on stage. There are also factors that can reduce the stress in the whole worship team so that Joe Montana’s calm doesn’t have to be a regular occurrence.

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