The Best Seat in the House

Emotions may be as important as economics in sanctuary seating

by Katherine Crosett

The Presbyterians spent the next two years making preparations to build. The one thing the elders didn't have to worry about, though, was sanctuary seating. A lifelong member of the church had promised to pay for pews.

The building committee decided to order movable pews for the sanctuary. The gentleman who had promised to pay for the pews heard about the decision. According to church notes, "heated discussions" followed. When the building committee prevailed, the congregation had to look elsewhere for pew funds.

Seating Changes
Until recently, most churches had stationary pews. At the time those pews were bolted into place, sanctuaries were busy places, hosting worship services on Sundays and prayer meetings during the week.

Today many churches are using their sanctuaries for other purposes besides worship. For them, fixed pews can be a problem. Bryan Feller, of Bertolini, Inc., which offers several types of church seating, approves the trend toward flexible seating. "The cost of church building is so expensive that it makes economic sense to use the sanctuary for other purposes during nonworship hours," he says.

Some congregations choose flexible seating because they object to the formality of pews. Some choose it because they don't want to reserve a large space just for worship. They may have to stack chairs to make room in the sanctuary for a Friday night basketball game.

Go-Anywhere Chairs
Church chairs offer comfort, style, and versatility. You can stack chairs (up to 10 per stack) to free up sanctuary space during the week for a daycare center or youth program.

The average cost for a good-quality padded chair is $30 to $35. Most vendors offer a wide range of metal finishes and fabric colors for chairs. The synthetic, commercial-grade fabric is pretreated for stain control.

Most chairs come with side loops that allow the chairs to be connected. Connected chairs look more orderly and allow easier exiting in an emergency.

Chair seating is flexible. You can alter rows of chairs as necessary and create aisles where you want them. You can also increase the space between rows to allow worshipers more room to maneuver.

Manufacturers offer more options for chairs, such as racks that can hold papers and books during a service. Metal bookracks can be installed underneath the seat, or fabric bookracks sewn onto the back of each chair.

Plan on $2 to $4 per chair for these options. For a more formal look, order arms for your chairs. This feature may be particularly helpful for seniors.

Ordering chairs is easy. Call several vendors and ask for information as well as a sample chair. Be prepared to place an order for a minimum number of chairs. Allow six to eight weeks for delivery.

Space-Saver Seating
Ron Ogden, of Alpha Church Interiors, says that many churches are putting in auditorium seats rather than pews. Properly planned, auditorium seating can accommodate up to 20 percent more people than pews.

That's because people who hesitate to move into other people's spaces tend to leave large gaps in pews. Auditorium seats, which have arms, clearly delineate where one seat ends and another begins, thereby reducing space between people. In addition, worshipers are generally more willing to move past people in such seats to the center of a row.

With sanctuary seats, you'll need to consider fabric color, style, and padding. You'll also need to decide whether to extend rows beyond the standard 24-foot length. You'll most likely be required to maintain the standard 36-inch, back-to-back spacing between rows. Auditorium seats are always fixed to the floor.

You can order bookracks, Communion-cup holders, and cardholders for sanctuary seats. The cost of such seating ranges from $100 to $200 per seat but is comparable to the cost of pews when you consider gains in seating capacity. When you order sanctuary seats, plan on waiting about three months for the product.

Time-Honored Pews
If your church is a historic landmark or is located in a historic area, pews may be your only option. Adding pews to match existing ones isn't a problem since most pew manufacturers are used to dealing with custom requirements.

A pew manufacturer will send a sales representative to your church to measure your sanctuary and help you decide on wood type, finish, padding, row length, and end pieces.

Oak is the most popular wood for pews, but the more expensive mahogany or cherry is also used. Other options include padding for pew backs and seats, bookracks, and Communion- cup holders.

Generally, the distance between pews is 36 inches. You may consider a larger space if you have a congregation with many elderly people. Pew lengths vary from 5 feet to 24 feet. The usual length of a row is 24 feet, but that could be adjusted, depending on fire and building codes in your area.

Movable pews provide the formal look of traditional seating, but they can be realigned. Pews are heavy, however, and cannot be stacked. Movable pews can slide, too, which makes it difficult to maintain consistent spacing between rows.

Manufacturers generally recommend that pews not be moved. Some will void their standard 20-year warranty if you don't bolt your pews in place. According to Sherry Rains, a representative of Rainsville Church Pew Manufacturing, bolting the pews to the floor is done without extra charge.

The lead-time from order to installation of pews is about three months. The cost for pew seating per worshiper averages $100.

Unexpected Choices
Churches that are getting up there in years aren't the only ones opting for pews. New congregations that started out with chairs are also choosing pews. For example, the small Presbyterian church in Dublin, Ohio, recently completed a new building. The sanctuary will seat about 350 worshipers—on traditional, stationary pews.

Herb Hayes, building superintendent for the church, said that for the past five years, Dublin Presbyterian Church has met in school buildings and auditoriums with movable chairs. Every Sunday volunteers had set up chairs and tables and wheeled a piano into position. When the time came to select sanctuary seating for the new church building, people said they were tired of moving furniture. They wanted fixed pews.

As Wayne Kerr of Fellowship Furniture says, "Sanctuary seating is often not an economical decision; it's an emotional decision."

If you're in the market for seating, keep in mind:

• The needs of your congregation
• The community outreach goals of your church
• The budget
• The architectural features of your building

There are many seating options to choose from today, one of which is sure to meet your needs.

Katherine B. Crosett is a technical writer from North Andover, Massachusetts.

Copyright © 1998 by the author or Christianity Today International/Your Church Magazine. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail yceditor@yourchurch.net.
July/August 1998, Vol.44, No. 4, Page 10

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