Larry Calo entered an elementary school in Glen Rock, N.J., for Sunday services of the Emergence Church, greeted fellow congregants and scanned the room for an open seat. Then he dipped his hand into a glass jar and pulled out a pair of orange PVC foam earplugs.<\/p>\n
Before long, an electric guitarist, bass player, drummer and singer were tearing through a roughly 15-minute set featuring parish classics such as \u201cKing of My Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
The high volume was a bit much for Mr. Calo, 64 years old, who lost part of his hearing working with heavy machinery. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t want to lose any more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Houses of worship have featured live music for centuries. In recent years many have been plugging into rock-style sound systems and cranking up the volume. The effort to appeal to more and younger churchgoers is splitting opinions\u2014and ears.<\/p>\n
Crossroads Church, which has 13 locations in Ohio and Kentucky, declares on its website: \u201cMusic brings us all together and closer to God\u2014so we can turn it up to 11,\u201d a nod to a joke from the rock mockumentary \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cLaura Kaiser, 49, attends the Crossroads Church in Mason, Ohio. The music there, she says, is \u2018louder than a lawn mower. […] They were going after rock concert levels,\u2019 she says.\u201d (@WSJ<\/a> A-hed by @estherfung<\/a>) https:\/\/t.co\/8NUN2RDWot<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Paul Wood (@woodnwheel) January 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n