While at the conference, I had the opportunity to connect with several of the vendors at the trade show exhibit.  I was surprised there were really no church furniture manufacturers or dealers displaying in the exhibit hall.  I imagine the high cost of doing so (fees, travel, shipping, personnel, etc.) is the reason for this, but nonetheless I still expected there to be a few.  There were numerous lending institutions and construction companies present, but no church furnishings booths.

I did enjoy connecting with my friends from Midwest Church Construction at their booth.  I have worked with several church builders over the years, but Midwest is my favorite.  If you have any sort of construction project being considered at your church, I would encourage you to be sure to take a look at Midwest.  And for all your church furnishings, check out Save Your Church Money.  These are two great companies to obtain quality products and services from for your church.

Over the years that followed, I had the opportunity to attend several all-day conferences at this center.  I would sit in the main auditorium for hours at a time in the chairs they had purchased.  When I first sat down in one of these chairs, I immediately noticed how comfortable it was.  But what surprised me was how comfortable it was even after sitting in it all day.  I remember commenting on several occasions to staff members of the conference center how much I appreciated their choice of seating.  Like each of you, I had experienced many times at other venues discomfort after being seated for less than an hour.  Being comfortable on a chair after several hours of sitting certainly enhanced my experience at their events.

Several years ago we needed several hundred chairs for a similar environment at our church.  I decided early on we should purchase the same chair the conference center had purchased, one that was perfectly suited to the desired application.  I made the necessary inquiries and discovered the ELAN Series from Comfortek Seating.  My decision was confirmed early on when I learned the nickname for the ELAN is “The Eight Hour Chair”. That was seven years ago now, and we could not be more pleased with our decision. Several other churches have now made the decision to purchase this same chair after visiting New Hope and enjoying ours.

Since our purchase I have discovered several other manufacturers produce similar chairs to the ELAN from Comfortek Seating.  However, none carry the attractive pricing that Comfortek offers to the church community.  So from years of personal experience as a consumer, and now for the past few years as the Church Furniture Guy, the ELAN has been and continues to be my favorite church chair!  You can read about its attributes here.  And as always, feel free to contact me with questions and comments.

One more quick suggestion:  Be sure and connect with Save Your Church Money if you have interest in the ELAN or any other type of church seating.  Their expertise and pricing strategy is of great value to churches across our country.

Permanent Seating: This style of seating continues to dominate most church environments.  My use of the descriptive “permanent” does not denote that the seats are affixed to the facility, though that can certainly be the case.  Rather the implication is that in this type of application, the chairs rarely need to be moved.  The use of the room is quite static throughout the various programs of the church, therefore the “function” of the seating for the room is static as well.  The seating needs for the room simply do not vary.

Flexible Seating:  With the growing need for worship and other church environments to lend themselves to various applications and uses, the use of flexible seating has increased significantly over the past couple decades.  By “flexible” I mean that the seating can be used in different configurations such as in rowed auditorium style seating as well as more informal arrangements such as around tables.  These chairs tend to be less bulky and a bit lighter than permanent seating.  They also then to cost a bit less.  However, the assumption is that they’re consistently being used in the room they’re located in and not stored.  If the chairs need to be stored, rather than flexible seating, the description that applies best is transitional seating.

Transitional Seating: With many church environments today, rooms will need to be reconfigured many times during a week.  When this is the reality, seating that’s simple to handle and simple to store is important.  Some transitional seating options of today can be stored in 25% the space it takes to hold a comparable level of permanent seating.  Transitional seating tends to be very strong and will weigh far less than what permanent and flexible seating will.  While these types of chairs will be more expensive,  they can  be a wise investment over the years of use they’ll provide.

For a visual overview of these three types of church seating, check out this presentation from Save Your Church Money.

• Weight: The most common style of worship chair weighs around 20 pounds.  If you have to reset a 500 seat auditorium, that means more than 10,000 pounds have to be moved.  That will build a few muscles!  In addition, standard worship chairs stack six or seven high, and the higher you have to lift a chair, the more that weight affects your handling.  There are lighter-weight alternatives of chair styles for worship of course, but the trade-off is always higher costs.  However, I always encourage churches to take a serious look at these options as the benefits over time for handling can be tremendous.
• Gripping Points: Handling chairs becomes far easier when the chairs have convenient gripping points for lifting and moving.  Some worship chairs provide such gripping points, others do not.  If your application calls for chairs to be moved regularly, making sure such gripping points are available is important.  Look for a bar running laterally across the top back of the chair.  These provide a great grip point and with a wise choice of frame finishes, looks great as well.  It’s far better to have your hands rub on metal than repeatedly on the fabric itself from a “fabric wear and tear” viewpoint.
• Chair Trucks: When moving a large number of chairs, not having enough chair trucks can greatly impede the process.  I recommend one chair truck for every 100 chairs that need to be moved.  This provides a good balance between those stacking the chairs and those moving them.  Make sure your chair trucks have good quality tires and side rails to help prevent chairs from slipping off the side of the bottom plate for safety is important.  Save Your Church Money has a great selection of chair trucks at low prices so be sure and obtain a quote from them if you’re planning to purchase.

• Chair Frames: I believe the most attractive frames are still those made out of wood.  The problem of course is that wood frame church chairs are much more expensive than steel frame church chairs.  There are now a dozen or more metal frame finishes available for churches.  The ability to match chair frame to chair fabric has never been more available for churches.
• Fabric Choice: Every manufacturer now have standard lines of fabrics as well as upgrade lines.  The reality is that there are also thousands of additional choices from mills around the world.  Choosing from these mills may cost a bit more and take longer to access, but almost all are available.  Some premium fabrics in our day though can double the price of a chair.
• Chair Backs: The back of a chair is seen more than the seat.  When you’re sitting in a seat, you’ll be looking at back of the chair in front of you.  Do you want to see all fabric as you look forward?  We call this a “covered back”.  However, covered backs do cost more and if your chairs are going to be moved a lot, covered backs tend to provide less handholds and the fabric may wear more as a result.

Enjoy the process of choosing worship seating that perfectly compliments your environment.  And don’t forget, you’ll find great chair aesthetic choices at Save Your Church Money.

• Frame Strength:  Far and away, the primary factor that determines chair durability is the strength of the frame.  How do you determine if the frame is strong?  Specifications to consider include the gauge of metal used to construct the frame.  Also look for how many lateral cross members the chair has, both connecting legs to each other and those under and behind the seat.  Lateral stability is accomplished through these cross members.  Is the frame a wire rod frame or of tubular construction?  Tubular almost always provides more stiffness and longer life for the chair.
• Fabric Endurance:  Fabric is rated in “double rubs”.   This term refers to how fabrics are tested before they are released for the church furniture market.  Essentially a machine rubs the fabric twice, imitating a person sitting down and getting up.  That equals one “double rub”.  Look for fabrics that have a minimum of 150,000 double rubs for their rating.  Some will have twice that, but unfortunately some will have far less.
• Foam Quality:  Chair foam quality can have a huge range.  Some foam will be very soft at first and this may lead to a church chair purchase based on the appearance of comfort.  However, keep in mind that foam will only get softer over time, never firmer.  I recommend you choose a chair that is more on the firm side when purchasing.  In a few years you’ll not be “bottoming out” like you will by purchasing a softer foam.  Also, it’s wise to only purchase chairs that have the foam compressed before applying the fabric.  This way as the foam softens over the time, the fabric will stay taut and not wrinkle, something I see often.

As always, there’s more I could add here.  Please contact me with any questions you might have.  You can also forward questions to Save Your Church Money where you’ll find expertise on this subject and some recommendations for chairs that exhibit great durability.