AIBU to want church to keep its music inside?

[Mylobsterteapot]

I live next door to a newly established church. It wasn’t there when I moved in. They play loud, awful “music” multiple times a week. It’s not nice old hymns but crappy Jesus themed pop music, played badly by a band and sung poorly.

Today they have all their doors and windows open and the music is so loud. I’m trying to work, someone else is trying to sleep after a night shift, and everyone else just wants to enjoy their Sunday morning in peace.

WIBU to go round and ask them to shut the doors and windows to keep the music inside? Mine are all closed. I’m sure God will still hear them, but we won’t!

I’m just here waiting for the first poster to say ‘but the church was there before you were’ because they haven’t read the OP properly.

I would contact whoever runs the church, tell them it’s very loud and ask that they reduce the volume or keep the windows closed.

That would infuriate me and I go to Church!! That's not an acceptable way to behave and I'm surprised they were allowed to open so close to your house. Complain to them and your council.

Its really hot and humid right now. A church service is only a couple of hours tops. This is part of living in a society. You may find it poorly played or whatever but the people inside are gaining great positive emotions from it. I'm an atheist btw. When did we get so utterly intolerant of other people living their lives?

The church isn’t showing much tolerance of other people living their lives

Having recently had to go down a noise complaint for another reason, this is what I'd suggest:
-I would initially try contacting the church and asking them to keep it down
-Install a decibel reader app on your phone.

-Start keeping a noise diary. Date, time noise started and finished, record the dB you record from inside your house, type of noise etc
-Contact your council and lodge a complaint

I gain great positive emotions from completing work well, my flat mate gets them from being able to sleep after a night dealing with rape and murder. We can’t do this because it’s too loud!

I know it’s hot. We’ve got all our windows shut to keep out the noise.

I could cope with this once, maybe twice per week but not multiple times per week. I would speak to the church in person, and if that didn’t work then go to the council.

But OP says this occurs multiple times per week, not just for a couple of hours on a Sunday.

Try speaking to them first. Then go to the council. You say it wasn't there when you moved in. Is it just a building that is now a church? Do they have permission to use it as a church?do they need permission?
They just might be breaking some rule or other

Sensible, balanced advice, though good luck @Mylobsterteapot; if this is one of the newer "charismatic" churches and your council are as useless as ours you may well have a problem getting this resolved

While fully entitled to enjoy their worshipping you'd hope folk would use a bit of consideration too - maybe choosing premises away from housing for example - but sadly this sometimes isn't the case and if they were considerate people they probably wouldn't be blasting the locals' eardrums in the first place

If it is only a few Sunday mornings a year, then reasonable to cope with it. If it is several times a week for a lot longer, then I think you should talk to them.

Poor singing I agree makes it worse. Even music not to my taste is less objectionable if sung well.

Apologies, I missed the several times a week point. In that case yes I suggest opening a dialogue with them in the first instance.

Definitely contact them. None of the churches I have been a part of would want to be a nuisance to people living locally. There should be scope for reducing the sound system output or closing some windows or closing them all and installing air-conditioning if there's still an ongoing issue after trying some different things.

Unacceptably loud noise is a nightmare at anytime let alone when trying to work. Sleep, try ear plugs, not ideal but it's hard doing shift work anyway
Good luck but I'd be speaking to the management for a
Solution

Speak to the licensing officer at your local council. Any amplified music (music played through a speaker) in a commercial setting (in this case the church) should have a license.

The license ensures that a licensing objective - in this case the prevention of public nuisance is being adhered to.

What sort of church?

I suspect posters are imagining a few hymns for an hour on Sundays but if it is one of the newer evangelical/pentecostal churches it could be loud music all day on Sundays and multiple time a week.

One of our local pentecostal churches uses the local park football pitch on Sundays during the summer. They play loud music through a giant sound-system right under my window until 11PM, light barbeques and firepits (despite the no bbq rule), and play football on (proper team-based, regulation strip, not a bit of a kick-about) despite not having officially booked the pitches, which means no-one else can use the area.

They did this regularly through lock-down too.
The police say "call the council"
The council say "call the police"
One of the local councillors makes vague "I'll do something about it" noises, but never has.

It is infuriating, frustrating, and unbearable. Despite it all being against the park bye-laws

The council stopped taking down the goal-posts a few summers back (which would at least make the unofficial football games more difficult)

So, we all close our windows and stew quietly indoors.

I feel your pain OP and hope that you can get something reasonable done about it.

Yabu 'Shine Jesus Shine' is an absolute tune.

Same here! There is a church like this near me. Right next to a block of flats. I do t know how they put up with it several times a week.

Get in quickly and complain to your council. Churches have to adhere to noise regulations too.

There is a church like this near me. Right next to a block of flats ...

That's why I suggested things like this could perhaps be better sited - on an industrial estate, say, or in a sports facility - rather than in a residential area

As said, though, the issue can be not so much recognising what the regs are but getting something done about it, and that's not always easy if the congregation are less interested in neighbourly relations than being consumed by the spirit

Would you do it of it was a mosque?

Didn't think so.

I live a few doors down from a Baptist church and they go on most of Sunday and then several hours on Wednesday nights/ In addition to the music I can hear the pastor shouting his face off. 😳

I feel your pain OP.

For 20 years we have lived next door to a Methodist Church.

For the first 10-12 years no issues whatsoever.

Then they started to rent it out to the 7th day Adventists. Noise was unbelievable.

After years of arguing as politely as we could with the church and the Council we finally got to the point where the Methodist Church stopped renting to the 7th Day Adventists.

Brilliant - you would think...

... but about a year ago they started renting it to a Portuguese Church....

... all the same issues now - really loud amplified music going all day again.

Yesterday after 2 hours of hearing it all through the house I went over and into the Church to see what was going on.

About 12 people in the whole place. On the stage a singer, guitarist, drummer and keyboard player, a couple of amps and aobut 6 speakers... and to the side a fucking mixing deck!

They were doing "band practice"! I asked them if they could turn their amp down. They had a moan and said they would and came outside to listen... and did turn it down... but 5 minutes later back up top volume and carried on until 9.30 last night.

Of course not ONE person from the Methodist Church available or on site to monitor any of it.

We're going to have to campaign the Council again and I honestly don't feel like I have the energy....

... I'm known as "Church Noise Lady" on here!

I FULLY understand that there is a difference between a church and church service and what is essentially a music concert and the associated practice!!!

It depends on how loud it is. If it is so loud you need to wear ear plugs, you have a case. If it is just like your neighbour playing a bit of music in the garden, which may not be to your taste, but is reasonably balanced, then I would leave them to their service.