The church layout is a way of arranging seats often seen in places of worship, but it can also be found in lecture halls, performing arts centers, and conference rooms. You might have seen it at a conference, workshop, or even a church service you planned or went to. But what does a church chairs seating look like, and why is it used for events that don’t occur in churches? Follow our instructions to find out more about why the church’s seating arrangement might (or might not) be suitable for your next meeting. Then, stick around to hear some real-life examples and tips on how to do things best, which you won’t want to miss.
What is the arrangement of the seats in the church?
Even though there are different kinds, the most common way for church pews to be set up is like theatre seating in that they are in parallel rows that face the altar or another focal point in the room.
Most sitting blocks have at least one aisleway in the middle, and sometimes there are even two. This makes the sitting block into three parts. If the stage is round, the designers can choose to make the seating blocks into arches to match the shape of the stage. With enough space at the location, you could also make it look like a theater-in-the-round by putting many parts around the stage’s edge.
There is much room for change when church seating is made up of individual chairs instead of pews. If there aren’t enough seats, you can add more rows to the back of the room or, for a quicker solution, put more foldable chairs along the aisles.
Benefits and drawbacks of the church seating arrangement:
When many people get together to work on the same goal, the way the seats are set up in the church helps create a sense of community and a united front. It’s easier to talk to other people in a church because of how the seats are set up. This is helpful whether you’re there for business, religion, or a party. Guests can quickly turn to talk to each other or people in the rows in front of or behind them, but they can still keep their attention on the speaker or presentation when they need to.
Because people will want space to move around without feeling too closed off, using seats may make it hard to have enough room. Also, wood benches and traditional church pews are often not padded, which is not suitable for parties that last longer than an hour if people plan to sit the whole time.
If you want to use chairs, people sitting in them may feel like they have to move them around or break up the rows. Even though you can assign seats, the most common ways, like using tape to make an “X” over the seat, aren’t very attractive and might take away from a design that would otherwise look good on Instagram. Also, you can choose where people sit.
