They say audio is king—but based on what I’m seeing in churches lately, I think the LED wall manufacturers may have put a hit out on him.
It’s not hard to grasp. If you’ve got a limited budget—and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?—most would agree that audio should come first. I’ve repeated this mantra in one form or another for years: “Nobody ever said, ‘I really could’ve gotten to the throne if there were more blinky lights.’”
But people do say things like, “I couldn’t hear the message,” or “The music was so loud I left halfway through,” or “I won’t be watching that stream again.” That’s the kind of feedback that actually shapes attendance and engagement. And still, I keep seeing the same issue show up—more and more lately.
In small to mid-sized churches, where AVL budgets are often hard-fought over and highly scrutinized in the name of good stewardship, I’m seeing massive upstage LED walls pop up—seemingly out of nowhere. And in the same room, the audio is still borderline unlistenable.
Now, I’m the first to admit my bias. I’m an audio-first kind of guy. Always have been. But this isn’t about personal preference—it’s about priorities.
A while back I consulted with a church on their sound system. We worked with what they had, provided training, and created a solid roadmap for growth. It wasn’t a huge budget, but they were making progress. A few months later, I tuned into their livestream. The mix was still rough—maybe even rougher than before—but behind the worship band, stretching wall to wall, was a brand-new upstage LED wall.
And that’s when it hit me: here we go again. Rinse and repeat. Another church, same pattern. And these aren’t all my clients—if they were, I’d be wondering if it was a me problem. But it’s not. I’m seeing this everywhere. Apparently, there’s no shortage of bad audio out there…but hey, save some LED walls for the rest of us.
I’m not anti-LED. I’ve seen LED technology used beautifully to enhance worship environments—especially for IMAG (Image Magnification), lyrics, and teaching content. In fact, some megachurches have documented nearly a 30% increase in sermon content retention—and even higher levels of engagement—after replacing out-dated projection systems with high-quality LED side screens. Better readability. Better connection. That makes sense.
But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re not talking about functional side screens—we’re talking about scenic upstage LED walls. And here’s the thing: as of this writing, I haven’t found a single credible study showing that an upstage LED wall—used as a scenic background—has any measurable impact on spiritual growth, discipleship, or engagement, whether in the room or online. Not one. Meanwhile, churches keep chasing aesthetics at the cost of clarity, while the thing people need most—audible, intelligible content—is still getting overlooked.
To ground this even further: the megachurches cited in those LED side screen statistics already have world-class production across the board. They’re not sitting in a conference room trying to figure out how to cut the audio budget to make room for more LED panels. Their decisions aren’t made from a position of compromise—they’re made from abundance. Most churches aren’t operating in that realm.
And that’s the disconnect. The trend I’m seeing is churches with painful audio issues—where the pastor’s mic is still unreliable or the vocals are buried—dropping tens of thousands of dollars on scenic upstage LED walls. Not because they need them, but because it feels like the thing to do.
I can’t help but ask—if you can’t afford to get your audio working properly, where exactly did the LED wall money come from? Was it a donation from a larger church that recently upgraded? Did it come from a designated gift or special offering? Or was it a well-intentioned move to keep up with what everyone else seems to be doing—maybe even funded by a loan? If there’s a Dave Ramsey of church AVL, I imagine he’d say, “Don’t go into debt to buy things you don’t need to impress people who can’t hear what you’re saying anyway.”
Whatever the source, even a “free” wall costs something if it keeps you from fixing your most essential tool—your sound. Because if people can’t understand the pastor or follow the worship, that wall behind them isn’t helping. It’s just making the failure look expensive.
And let’s not kid ourselves—this isn’t about audio versus visuals. This is about misallocation. It’s about churches making massive investments in appearance while the actual message delivery—the core communication of the Gospel—is getting neglected.That’s what I’m struggling with. It’s hard to reconcile how easily these big visual upgrades happen while the sound remains so bad.
Yeah, that stings. But it’s not wrong.
Good audio is hard. It takes time, training, and collaboration. But it’s not impossible—and it matters more than most churches realize. Because when people visit your church or stream your service, what they hear is what they remember. If it’s too loud, too boomy, too shrill, too muddy—they don’t come back. No amount of slick visuals will fix that.
This isn’t about being anti-creative. I’ve worked with some fantastic video and lighting folks. But if your team can’t get the pastor’s mic to stay on or the vocals above the band, then that LED wall behind them becomes a really expensive distraction from the confusion happening in front of it.
If you’re a church leader, and you’re working with limited resources—and again, who isn’t?—put your money where your message is. Invest in what helps people hear– the message, the worship, the Gospel.
You don’t need perfection—but you do need priorities. Start by being faithful with what you have. Train your team. Tweak your mix. Improve what’s already in place. Because there’s a principle at play here that goes beyond production.
Like it says in Matthew 25:21, “…….you have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things…….”
Start there. Nail the fundamentals. Invest your resources—both human and financial—to make your audio as clear and consistent as possible. Then, if you have enough left over, add the wall. At least you’ll be adding it to a solid foundation.
But please—don’t skip the foundation.
Don’t invest in what looks good until you’ve invested in what helps people hear the Good News.
Because for now, the King still matters. Let’s stop pretending he doesn’t. Let’s refocus the mission, realign the budget—and while we’re at it, as always, don’t forget to listen.
