Sanctuary Seating

It's one of the biggest questions facing churches today when building a new facility or renovating an existing one. Pews, chairs, or theater seating? In our annual focus on sanctuary seating, we evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each type of seating, and examine how each choice can reflect the particular mission, vision and goals of your church.

Here are some great "take-aways" from this section.

Pews
The common objectives of a balcony are additional seating and a good sight line to the pulpit area from the balcony seats. These two objectives can be met perfectly and still leave a myriad of issues and problems that no one thought to address. Most building committee members simply don't know the questions to ask or the issues that need to be addressed. The best way to equip a balcony with pews is to deal with experienced professionals who know the business and are willing to provide insight into problem solving.

Chairs
Not all church chairs are created equal. At the minimum, a church chair has to be "gangable." Gangable means you can "gang," or link, the chairs together. A ganging device is a simple metal hook on one side of the chair that fits into a metal loop on the other side of the chair, securing the row in place, even as people get in and out of them and maneuver down the aisles. All around, church chairs have undergone a revolution. Today's church chair is comfortable, attractive, durable, inexpensive and flexible.

Theater Seating
One reason to choose theater or auditorium seating is that your ministry focus may be such that you do not want your worship area to look like a traditional church interior. Theater seating is typically an accepted style of seating by the mass market. It is comfortable and non-threatening, and it invites a relaxed atmosphere. Look to your design/build firm, your architect, other churches, and seating sales representatives for the information you need to make the best seating decision for your worship environment.