Church and the churchgoer

As you know, I have been a church attender my entire life, and I usually enjoy it. There are, of course, small frustrations with whatever congregation I'm a part of, but nothing to get truly upset about. But this article highlights a few of my pet peeves:

These are the points that bug me, too:

Sermons are critical. Praise music, though, is my favorite part of the service. It’s where I most predictably meet God. But increasingly, what I’m seeing in churches are praise bands singing songs that are inspirational and performed with excellence, but that are…well…“unsingable” by us rank amateurs. They’re popular tunes that are written for a talented lead vocalist, not for people whose range is a mere octave. So we in the pews are relegated to a spectator role, watching the good folks on stage praise God. They do a fantastic job and we acknowledge it by clapping when they’re done—but the applause is more for their fine performance than it is thanks to God.

When such things happen, the worship time has morphed into a concert—a substitute for a worship service.

“Special music” is another example of this. Some exceedingly capable person wows us with an instrument or a song or both, and we’re awestruck by his or her gifts. This continues for at least five minutes and then we offer a rousing ovation. But here again, it’s become a concert. It’s not corporate worship, it’s corporate watching.

and

We’ve all been there. The music is awesome. The congregation’s voices are growing. Eyes are closed. Hands are raised. Fifteen, thirty, sometimes forty-five minutes go by in a flash because people are meeting God through the experience. It all comes to a crescendo with a closing prayer of thanksgiving and some people wiping away tears. The Spirit has been ushered into this place in a mighty way.

…but then abruptly, the Spirit’s asked to sit quietly in the corner for ten minutes so we can take care of some housekeeping.

Sometimes that housekeeping is a set of announcements that we could just as easily read in the weekly bulletin; sometimes it’s walking the kids to their Sunday school classes; sometimes it’s a church member making a pitch for more participation in a budding ministry. Whatever the reason for the hiatus, it completely torpedoes the moment. People’s hearts have been prepared to hear God’s Word and a powerful message. What they get instead are the logistics for the church picnic. Sit down, Spirit. We’ll call you when we need you again.

The article does not address this, but as someone who prepares the visuals for both kids and adult services, this is obviously something that I care about - when the screen does not match the service. You know, you're singing a song, and then the praise team starts singing something completely different from what's on screen (sometimes this is because they forget what they're doing, but it's usually the fault of the AV person). Or when the phrasing on the screen does not match the rhythm of the song (especially important for new music - visual cues are very helpful). Or the sermon notes aren't in order, or never advanced because the person running it fell asleep. Excellence does not lead to pride - in reality, when practiced, excellence hides the AV person.

So those are my thoughts. Any ideas on how to convey the message to churches? Without sounding like a complainer or an "I-can-do-better" micromanager?