Churches make great venues

Although this article is about comedians who play the church circuit, the points made apply to musicians as well.

Christian comics change lives one joke at time — JSCMS, 4/24/07: "'Nationwide, there are more than 300,000 churches and less than 300 comedy clubs,' said Lenny Sisselman, 49, a booking agent based in Nashville, Tenn., who specializes in Christian acts. And 'some of these churches have better performance spaces than the clubs. They have better sound systems, lighting and more seats. [The audience members] also have longer attention spans. Remember, these are people who enjoy sermons.'

Some mega-churches, like televangelist Joel Olsteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, seat upward of 16,000 and have an architectural style closer to Radio City Music Hall than a traditional church. They even have giant video screens that allow for close-ups of the speakers."