Background of Church Furniture
Church furniture was not always as prominent to the chapel as it is now. Before the Protestant Reformation churches did not often have permanent pews within the chapel. In fact, for over 1,000 years congregations did not sit during a church service. Instead, they walked around and mingled with other members of the church. When the sermon became the main focus of the church service, the pew began to be a standard item of church furniture so the congregation could sit comfortably to listen to the entirety of the sermon. Pews are now the most popular and widely used form of church seating throughout all churches, with the exception of some Orthodox groups.
The first pews were used in the 13th century and were nothing more than removable stone benches propped up against the walls of the church. These days, the appearance of pews and other forms of church seating changes throughout various churches. In some churches pews are only simple long seats made from wood. In others they are benches with cushioned seating. Occasionally pews are found that, in addition to having cushions, also include a hassock or footrest for the member of the church to utilize. Some church services of certain affiliations, such as the Catholic church, include platforms to kneel on in front of the seating bench due to the amount of kneeling prayers done throughout the services.
Refurbishing Your Church Seating
Church and religion is often very important to the people who consider it a priority in their lives. Gallup, an American research-based consulting company, conducted a few surveys and polls about church attendance and the importance of religion to Americans. The study found that 68% of Americans state that they attend church occasionally, at the very minimum. The polls also showed that 40% of Americans define themselves as being very religious. These people stated that they attend church services every week and that their religion is very important to them.
For these people, church furniture is a staple of their religious experience. The congregation should feel comfortable during worship and be able to focus on opening their hearts to the Lord instead of thinking about what they are sitting on. It isn’t even necessary to buy church pews brand new for the chapel. Used church pews can be just as nice as new or antique church pews. All it takes is to have a church furniture refurbishing team to work on your existing church seating to spruce it up a little bit and make them look brand new. Companies that specialize in upgrading second hand church pews can make it easy for the church to get their seating refurbished. They pick up the seating and deliver it to the refurbishing factory, then return it to the church and have a team reinstall the pews.
