All of this has been said to point out one thing. A house of worship in any denomination is more complex than any secular institution of it's size. To the best of my sources, this is true. Because of this dilemma, experts in acoustics have becomes experts in offering high priced Band-Aids that requires a huge background in mathematics to solve problems that could have been avoided. For most churches, these expensive problems could have been avoided for a fraction of the cost of consulting and building the solution into the building.
Many churches have acoustical problems and the problems are serious.
To drive this point a little further, ask yourself these two questions. Just because people hear a noise when the minister speaks, people take it for granted that they understand it. It is amazing that in spit of all of our wonderful technology, hearing in the pews must rely on laws and principals discovered over 3000 years ago by the Greek's. These laws were used by Jesus at the sermon on the mount and along the sea of Galilee. And, the church community is just sitting back and watching our church community split and fragment.