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After serving as an ordained minister for years, John Sammons started selling school furniture and church pews. He often said that somebody ought to build a good chair for churches, and he eventually decided to do it himself.

He designed and built the first model in his garage, and then showed it to his family.

"Do you think people will buy that?" he asked them.

They thought so. And they were right.

Sammons' first chair was among the first to pave the way for flexible seating—sometimes referred to as "stackable chairs"—in churches. More than 40 years later, Church Chair now distributes chairs throughout the United States and to nearly 50 countries. Several other manufacturers, including ChairTex, Irwin Seating Company, and Bertolini, also have established long track records with flexible seating, creating a bona fide niche category serving churches.

"We started building the first chairs in the garage, borrowed a little money, and before we knew it, we had a manufacturing industry," says Dean Sammons, John's son and the current president of Church Chair.

Sammons believes the high demand for flexible seating is due largely to the many benefits of quality chairs.

"They're very comfortable and they join together in a bench-like formation," Sammons says. "They're extremely flexible. If you need to add a few seats or remove a few, it's not a problem."

Sammons is also proud of his chairs' durability. In fact, he once used four chairs to support the weight of his Dodge Ram pickup truck.

"We've also stacked up to 2,000 pounds on one chair," Sammons says. "These frames are so sturdy, they shouldn't break."

But if that's not reassuring enough, Church Chair is one of the manufacturers that offers a lifetime warranty on its frame. The chair's fabric comes with its own warranty.

"I don't like to hear about any problems with my chairs," Sammons says. "It's very seldom we have any problems, but if we do, we'll take care of it."

Church Chair may have been a pioneer for flexible seating options, but it certainly isn't the only option.

"Flexible seating is the way of the future," says Roland Rietz, general manager of ChairTex. "As churches are trying to make a bigger impact in the community, they're trying to better utilize their space. So they're using their facilities for more than just a sanctuary."

When churches renovate their facilities, Rietz says many of them are putting down new carpet, removing the pews, and putting in chairs.

"I've never heard of a church wanting to sell their chairs to put in pews," Rietz says.

Aspen Group is a church design and construction company that builds and designs worship facilities for churches. Greg Snider, a senior project developer for Aspen Group, is familiar with the seating options available to churches.

"I guide the church through the decision-making steps when they're thinking through seating options," Snider says. "The first question I ask is, 'Do you want a dedicated space for worship, or do you want it to be multi-purpose?'"

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