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If you think getting ready for services is difficult for your church, imagine having to unpack every item you need from crates stored in a trailer!

Many churches that do not own their own facilities meet for worship every Sunday in such diverse locations as schools, skating rinks, video arcades, car dealerships, malls, medical clinics, and fast food restaurants. Even though these churches don't have permanent quarters, they are still expected to have all the necessities of a church, including furnishings for nurseries and children's programs; supplies for coffee and other beverages; audiovisual, sound, and lighting equipment; and musical instruments. Further more, unlike congregations that accumulate such assets gradually as do nations come in to pay for them, people in port able churches expect all the amenities of a fully functioning church.

Church on the Move
Will Davis, Jr., senior pastor at Austin Christian Fellowship in Texas, knows what it means to be a portable church. His church started meeting in temporary quarters six years ago. The congregation bought a building but soon outgrew it. Today it's back to being a portable church, this time meeting in a local elementary school.

That means that each Sunday a crew packs up everything needed for services and programs for 350 adults and 150 children including nursery equipment, toys, floor mats, TVs, VCRs, multimedia equipment, podiums, plates, microphones, greeter tables, food supplies, and signs. "About the only thing we don't have to pack and unpack is the chairs that the school lets us use," Davis says. It takes 20 volunteers about 90 minutes to unpack 30 6-by-4-by-2-foot crates from two trailers and set up for church.

Church in a Box
What goes into the box is key for a portable church. Pete van der Harst, an industrial engineer and owner of Portable Church Industries (PCI) says that even little decisions make a big difference when you need to store items. For example, churches may want wicker rocking chairs for the nursery, but an aluminum rocking lawn chair will take up a tenth of the space and be a quarter of the weight.

Space and weight are important criteria when you consider storage costs, which van der Harst estimates at $50 a cubic foot. "The low-cost solution is not the summation of the lowest cost parts," van der Harst says. If buying the cheapest microphone means you will need to add another trailer for storage, you may want to pay an extra 20 percent for stacking microphones because the overall cost is cheaper.

Another important consideration is speed. For example, portable churches with quick set up times need coffeepots with an "instant-on" feature or the brew won't be ready for the setup crew. Likewise, such churches must avoid coffeepots with water jackets that will freeze if stored outside.

Furnishings That Flex
Churches that live out of a box appreciate items that are adaptable and portable. "We get calls for easy-to-move lecterns, portable baptisteries, and portable sound systems," says Bruce Baber, marketing coordinator for Life Way Church Sales. Items that work well:

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