For many sound contractors, the most difficult part of dealing with a religious congregation may not be the details of the sound system itself, but rather the specialized liturgical and architectural nomenclature and language unique to the application.

The first meeting between a prospective sound contractor and a church sound committee can be confusing to the contractor, as many new terms and usages may be introduced to him in a short time. It is frankly embarrassing for the contractor to stop and ask what these new words mean, so he probably will not do it. He may or may not find out later just what was said.

It is basically the contractor’s responsibility to understand the terminology unique to a given denomination, or type of architecture, before the first meeting, and it is the intent of this paper to provide a broad base of information on architectural terms as well as the various titles of address used within the various groups.

In addition, we will discuss the broad requirements of sound systems in worship spaces, as they have adapted to today's changing requirements.

Titles and responsibilities:
On the local level, most religious organizations are administered fiscally by a board elected from the membership. The names vary. In some denominations the governing group is called the Vestry, Session, or Board of Elders and Deacons, to name a few.

When a religious organization decides that it needs a new sound system, the subject will usually have been discussed at length, and there may be many preconceived notions of what the system should be, look like, and cost. If there is a sound contractor in the congregation, he probably does not want to get involved in the prospective project — unless of course he wants to present it as a gift to the congregation.

A subcommittee will usually be set up to search for a sound contractor and/or a consultant for the project, and it is at this point that the contractor will be called in for a preliminary meeting and survey of the premises. In all except the smallest of groups, the contractor will not be contacted by the spiritual head of the group. The most general term of address for the spiritual head of a Christian group is Pastor, but some Protestant organizations prefer the term Minister or Rector. These are basically third-person terms, and in direct address such terms as Doctor, Father, Reverend, Pastor, and Rabbi (in the various Jewish groups) are common. The sensible contractor should gladly adopt the local term, if only as a matter of courtesy and respect.

The local structure may be known as a church, a parish (chiefly Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian), or a cathedral, if it is the seat of a bishop. Orthodox and conservative Jewish houses of worship are usually called synagogues, while the reform structure is called a temple.

Many congregations today have business managers, and this is indicative of a professional approach taken with regard to all business affairs. While the contractor will deal with the committee which has been set up to oversee the sound system project, he is likely to find that business relationships will not be substantially different from dealing with commercial organizations.

Specific architectural terminology:
Our first step here is to divide the various religious groups according to their traditions. Christian denominations fall basically into three areas: liturgical, mainline non-liturgical, and charismatic.

The liturgical groups have formal traditions of worship going back four centuries or more, and these bodies include the various branches of the Eastern Orthodox groups, Roman Catholic, the various Lutheran groups, and Episcopal.

The basic liturgical architectural form was the basilica, out of which developed the cruciform, or cross-shaped, church. Such structures were quite common fifty or sixty years ago, and most of the examples we see today date from that time. The high cost of construction today all but rules them out, but there are still many examples in need of updated sound systems.

Even when the liturgical groups cannot afford such grand structures, they will carry much of the pertinent terminology over to smaller structures. Figures 1 and 2 show the basic layouts for a cruciform church and a smaller church based on a simple rectangular structure. Note that the choir seating, or pews, are referred to as choir stalls. The vestibule or foyer is referred to as a narthex, and the various balconies are called galleries.

Figure 1. A Cruciform Church

Figure 2. Liturgical Rectangular Layout

Figure 3 shows one of many traditional approaches to church architecture and layout characteristic of mainline non-liturgical denominations, such as the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian groups.

Figure 3. Non-liturgical Rectangular Layout

Figure 4. Modern Fan-shaped Structure

The extremely rapid growth of the various charismatic denominations in the last quarter century has placed new emphasis on congregational participation, and this requires that all participants be as close to the center of service as possible. Fan shaped seating optimizes this, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 5 shows the typical architecture of a reform temple.

There are basically three groups within the Jewish faith, orthodox, conservative, and reform. The orthodox generally maintain small congregations, and in many cases sound reinforcement is not necessary. The reform and conservative congregations are generally larger, and typical structures will fit into the same architectural mold as the non-liturgical mainline Protestant groups. Determining the requirements for sound reinforcement: Which activities need to be reinforced? The contractor must make a careful survey of the activities which need reinforcement.

Some groups require only reinforcement of speech, perhaps from several locations, while instrumental and choral music will need no reinforcement.

In other locations, there may be a need for amplification of music, either in mono or in stereo. In this case, a three-channel approach may be dictated, with the center channel dedicated to speech. In some churches, dramatic presentations are amplified, including sound effects. Careful assessments need to be made of required volume levels and required frequency range coverage. In any event, the input capabilities of the system must meet the requirements of the largest service anticipated.

Integration with broadcast, TV, and recording activities requires careful planning as do needs for hearing impaired listeners and sound requirements in remote parts of the building.

Many LDS (Mormon) churches have large youth activity areas, which are adjacent to the main worship space and which can be connected through folding partitions for overflow crowds. Sound system integration of the two areas requires careful planning.

Many Christian Science churches have the added requirement of amplifying testimonials from members of the congregation, and this may require sophisticated switching of distributed microphones.