If you’re looking to upgrade the seating arrangements in your church or place of worship, you’re no longer restricted to pews. In fact, more congregations than ever are choosing individual chairs instead. If you’re thinking of taking this route with your place of worship, then read this guide to church chairs from the Rosehill team first…
Church chairs versus pews
The first question we generally receive from people looking for new seating for their places of worship is whether they should go with pews, or choose individual chairs instead.
As we mentioned at the outset of this article, more and more congregations are abandoning pews for individual, upholstered, stackable chairs instead.
There are some very good reasons for this trend:
- Pews can be double or even triple the cost of chairs.
- Pews do not offer the same level of comfort as upholstered chairs.
- As many places of worship are becoming multi-use spaces, chairs offer a degree of flexibility that pews cannot.
- Chairs are far easier and cheaper to maintain compared to pews.
- Chairs are far more ergonomic than pews, making them more suitable for extended periods of sitting.
- It’s far easier to buy extra chairs for growing congregations than pews.
- Chairs allow you to seat far more people within a defined space compared to pews (as people tend to space out more on pews).
As you can see, chairs have considerable benefits over pews – which is why traditional furniture suppliers to churches, such as ourselves here at Rosehill, now sell far more chairs than pews.
Why choose chairs for your particular place of worship?
It’s clear then, that chairs offer many advantages over pews for many places of worship.
But, are they the right choice for your place of worship?
Below, we’ve set out a series of questions. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of them, then you’ll find that chairs are the best seating option for your place of worship.
Is your place of worship regularly used as a multi-purpose space? E.g. Does your church also double up as a community centre, Mums n Tots space, accommodate youth or scout groups on a regular basis?
If the answer is yes, then choose church chairs, as these will provide you with the flexibility to use your church for a wide variety of uses. Stacking church chairs are particularly useful in this regard.
In addition, if you choose stacking chairs that can be used with a trolley, they are very easy to move and store – this is especially helpful if your place of worship has limited storage space.
Is your congregation growing, with new members joining on a regular basis?
If the answer is yes, then church chairs are the most cost-effective way of accommodating new members. Rather than buying expensive pews, which may have far more seating capacity than you need, church chairs can be bought individually, (or in small batches).
Do you require seating for a variety of settings? E.g. vestibule, nave, aisles, transept, apse etc.?
Should you have answered yes to that question, then you’ll find that church chairs are ideal, as they can be used across multiple settings unlike pews, which are usually confined to the nave.
It’s also possible to buy complementary church chairs. For example, you may want particularly high-quality chairs for the nave. But, you won’t necessarily want to spend the same amount of money on chairs for the vestibule or entrance area.
However, you can buy chairs that will complement each other – cheaper chairs for the entrance, and more expensive chairs for the nave – which look and feel very similar to each other. This maintains a consistent look across the entirety of your church.
Does your place of worship include a cafe?
Should your church include a cafe or kitchenette area, then church chairs which are upholstered in waterproof fabric make the perfect choice. Alternatively, chairs without upholstery are easy to keep clean and maintain in such an environment.
As you can see, chairs are a highly versatile seating option for churches, offering far more flexibility and practicality compared to more traditional seating options like pews.
The key point to take away is that church chairs help you to tailor your building to the many different groups of people who are likely to be using your church throughout the week.
What is a church chair?
This may seem like a strange question, but we are often asked if chairs for churches are different from regular chairs.
The answer is yes!
Church chairs are classed as ‘contract furniture’. This is furniture which is designed for use in public spaces, and as such, features robust designs and construction methods in order to ensure a long service life.
Contract furniture is in contrast to domestic furniture (i.e., the type of furniture you buy for your home). Domestic furniture is not suitable for use in public spaces such as churches, as it’s not as hard wearing and doesn’t meet the same fire and safety standards.
So, it’s important that you buy chairs for your church or place of worship that are expressly designed and manufactured for that purpose.
Here at Rosehill, we offer a wide variety of church chairs, but as a general rule, you’ll find that church chairs:
- Feature solid wooden frames (although some churches do choose lighter weight metal framed chairs).
- Have upholstered seats and backs.
- Have an option for book storage.
- Can be upholstered in a range of fabrics and vinyls.
- Are available with accessories such as linking, armrests.
As churches and other places of worship tend to be very unique buildings, you’ll find that church chairs are highly customisable. For example, here at Rosehill, we’ve worked with congregations who required chairs with healthcare fabric that can resist staining from bat droppings, and can even be cleaned with a bleach solution.
We also understand that a chair that works in one particular church, might not necessarily work in another. That’s why we stock many different chairs, each of which can be further customised to meet your specific needs.
Traditional wooden church chairs vs modern high-density stacking chairs
The chairs that we have described above are what we call ‘traditional’ wooden framed church chairs. However, many churches are now also buying high-density stacking chairs.
Many churches now select a combination of both.
They’ll use the more traditional, wooden-framed chairs for the main worship space – where masses and services are conducted.
They’ll then use the more flexible, high stacking chairs to provide additional seating capacity – either in the nave for bigger services – like weddings or funerals, or in other multi-use areas of the church.
High-density stacking chairs are highly versatile, lightweight, and can be easily stored away. So, they are perfect for those scenarios where you need to quickly add or remove seating capacity within your church or place of worship.
Tip – when it comes to seating for your church, it doesn’t have to be either/or. You can use both traditional wooden framed church chairs, and modern, high-density stacking chairs.
What to look for when buying church chairs
If, having read this far, you’ve decided that chairs are the best seating option for your church, you’ll want to keep reading.
Why? Because, the Rosehill team is about to tell you the key things you need to look for when selecting chairs for your church or place of worship.
Frame
If you’re like many congregations, you’ll almost certainly want your chairs to have wooden frames.
But, don’t just settle for any old wood. You should check exactly what sort of timber your chosen chairs are manufactured from.
Here at Rosehill, we recommend always buying church chairs which are made from a hardwood such as beech, oak, or ash. These types of timber are not only of extremely high quality, but are hard wearing and look beautiful too.
When looking at the frame of your chosen chair, you should also take the opportunity to see what staining options are available. Most church chairs will be available with different stains, from lighter to darker. This can be helpful if your church has a lot of existing wood features which you want your new furniture to match in with.
Aside from checking what material the chair’s frame is made from, you should also look closely at the frame’s construction. The very best church chairs will have mortise and tenon joints which not only look good, but provide the chair with a rock-solid construction.
Having said that however, there is a new generation of wooden framed church chairs entering the market which feature extremely strong, yet lightweight, pressed-plywood constructions.
These are primarily chairs which have a modern, contemporary look and feel, and which are designed for high-density stacking. Take a look at this example, to see if these new generation chairs are right for your church.
Fabric
The majority of church chairs are upholstered (although it is possible to buy church chairs without upholstery).
As such, if you’re looking at buying upholstered chairs for your place of worship, be sure to pay particular attention to the type of fabric that’s used in the upholstery.
Here at Rosehill, we have divided our church chair fabrics into three categories:
Standard fabrics
These are contract-quality fabrics which can withstand exceptional amounts of wear. These fabrics will have a Martindale fabric abrasion score of 50,000 or above, meaning they are able to withstand heavy use (in fact, at Rosehill, we don’t sell any fabrics with a Martindale fabric abrasion score of less than 30,000).
Our standard fabrics are fire retardant. As churches are generally classed as low hazard buildings, all of our standard fabrics are suitable for use in these contexts. If you need a higher fire retardancy in your building, then we have fabrics in the next bracket with a medium hazard rating which you can upgrade to.
In terms of aesthetics, our Advantage range offers traditional tweed finishes. If you want a fabric that is particularly eco-friendly, then check out our Rivet range which is made from recycled plastic bottles, not that you can tell from looking at it, as it also has a traditional tweed appearance and is soft to the touch.
Treated fabrics
The second category of fabric that we stock here at Rosehill is treated fabrics.
As the name suggests, these are fabrics which have been treated to be; stain resistant, waterproof, antimicrobial and antibacterial, and/or REACH compliant.
These fabrics are Crib 5 rated, making them more than safe enough for use in church settings.
Because of their treated nature, these fabrics and vinyls are ideal for settings where regular cleaning of seats is required e.g. in a church cafe, or Mums n Tots groups. We even had one church who wanted a bacon-grease proof fabric on their chairs, as they had a breakfast club before their Sunday Service!
Premium fabrics
At the top end of our fabric range are premium fabrics. These are fabrics which embody all of the best characteristics of contract-standard fabric, but in high-end finishes such as tweed-effect, wool-blends, luxury velvets, soft faux leathers and more.
Regardless of whether you choose a standard, treated or premium fabric for your church chairs, you’ll find that you have an enormous range of colours to choose from.
To see which fabrics and colours are available for your chosen chair, simply navigate to the ‘upholstery options’ section of the product description as pictured below:
Note – for more information on the available fabrics for church chairs, explore our dedicated fabric department. We recommend requesting colour swatches, so that you can check the colours in person.
A note on fire safety and fabrics
It’s important that the chairs you select use a fabric which is compliant with the current fire safety regulations.
According to BS 7176: 2007, churches are classed as low hazard premises with regards to fire risk. This means that the fabric of your chosen chairs must conform to the following standards:
- BS EN 1021:1 2006 (Smouldering Cigarette).
- BS EN 1021:2 2006 (Match Flame).
In addition, the foam that’s used within your chosen chair must be what’s called ‘Combustion Modified High Resilient’ (CMHR), and must conform to the requirement of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations.
It’s important to note, however, that the actual hazard level of your church will depend on how it is used. For example, if any part of your premises holds a licence to sell alcohol, then it will be classed as a medium fire hazard, and your chairs’ fabrics will need to be accordingly compliant.
Note – for more information on the fire safety regulations that apply to church furniture, read our in-depth guide on the subject.
Ergonomics
Whilst we know many churches prefer upholstered chairs, we understand that sometimes this isn’t possible as you’re required to use chairs which fit closely with the broader aesthetics of the church. If that’s the case, then don’t worry. We offer church chairs without upholstery, which are incredibly comfortable!
When many congregations are shopping for new chairs for their church, they often make the mistake of assuming that the more plushly upholstered a chair, the more comfortable it will be.
And, that does make sense. But, it’s not always the case.
When it comes to selecting the most comfortable chairs for your congregation, you’ll want to pay attention to something called ‘ergonomics’ rather than just looking for upholstery.
Ergonomically designed chairs are built to support the body, being curved and shaped to provide postural support to just those parts of the body that require support.
So, conversely, an ergonomically-designed chair with no upholstery, might actually be more comfortable than an upholstered chair which hasn’t been ergonomically designed.
Armrests
Many church chairs are available with or without armrests. Armrests can provide users with additional arm support, and are particularly useful if you have older people amongst your congregation.
Armrests will typically be made from the same material as the chair’s frame, and will be incorporated in such a way as to still allow the chair to be stacked (whilst most wooden armchairs don’t stack, many metal ones do).
Portability and storage
As many churches these days are multi-use spaces, it’s important that you check how portable your chosen church chair is.
If you’re choosing traditional, wooden-framed church chairs then you’ll find that many of them can be stacked – to a limited extent (e.g. four to eight high).
Should you be going for high-density stacking chairs, then you’ll find that they can be stacked extremely high (as much as 60 high for some models!).
There is also a middle option, which is one of the new generation of wooden-framed church chairs that are also high-density stacking chairs. Our Gallery stacking chair is a great example of this newer type of chair, and that stacks 15-20 high.
A note on church chair trolleys
When selecting church chairs which can be stacked, it’s important that you also buy a chair trolley at the same time. This applies whether you are buying traditional, wooden-framed church chairs, or modern, high-density stacking chairs.
Chair trolleys are essential to the proper moving and storing of chairs. It’s also worth remembering that specific chairs will often have specific trolleys that they must be used with.
Chair linking
If you want to keep your chairs arranged in neat, fixed rows, then you’re going to want to select chairs which can be linked together.
Should you not be sure if you require linkable chairs, the general rule is that the more chairs per row, the more probable it is that linking is needed.
As we’ve written about previously, linking your church chairs together reduces the risk of the ‘scatter effect’. This is where somebody shouts ‘FIRE’, causing people – and chairs – to scatter, potentially blocking fire escapes.
So, linking chairs together isn’t merely an aesthetic point, but a safety one too.
Note – some church chairs come with a linking feature as standard, whereas on others it’s an optional extra. Check the product description of your chosen chair to see which applies.
Guarantees
For peace of mind, you should always check if your chosen church chair comes with a guarantee.
Here at Rosehill, all of our chairs for churches come with guarantees. The average guarantee for a wooden church chair is five years, but this will vary depending on the exact model you select.
Book storage
If your place of worship distributes prayer books and/or bibles to the congregation on entrance into the church, it can be handy to include book boxes on your chairs.
Depending on the model chair you select, the book box will generally be mounted on the rear section of the chair, providing somewhere for the congregant seated behind to store their prayer book etc.
Note – on some models of church chair, you will be able to select from several different types of book box including curved book boxes, sliding book boxes, back pad curved book boxes and others.
Acoustics
Churches and other places of worship are meant to be spaces for quiet contemplation, thought and prayer.
Yet, with churches increasingly becoming multi-use spaces and community hubs, it can be difficult to keep things at an acceptable volume.
That’s where acoustic panels come in. These discrete panels can be affixed throughout your church in order to baffle and dampen sound, reverberations and echoes, creating a serene environment.
Chairs for other parts of the church
Whilst your main focus is probably buying seating for your main prayer area, it’s important not to overlook other parts of your church.
For example, if you have an area for bereavement counselling or other private discussions, armchairs and easy chairs or sofas make the perfect addition.
Or perhaps your church includes a cafe. In which case, cafe-specific chairs will be the best option for this area.
Customer service
Whilst this isn’t a characteristic of church chairs, it’s something that’s really important when it comes to selecting the right chairs for your place of worship.
Buying potentially hundreds of chairs is a big investment, so you should ensure you choose a church chair supplier that is able to provide you with in-depth advice and information.
Here at Rosehill, we’ve helped hundreds of churches to select the perfect chairs for their premises, and we’re more than happy to help you too. You can reach our expert, friendly sales team on 0161 485 1717 or by email at: sales@rosehill.co.uk
Track record
It’s also important that you select a church chair supplier that has a demonstrated track record of working with churches to help them select the perfect chairs.
As we mentioned earlier, churches are unique buildings. So too are their chairs!
Here at Rosehill, we have a strong track record of helping all types of churches across the UK to select their perfect seating setups. We can help you too!
As you can see from the infographic below, we’ve been designing and manufacturing the very best chairs for churches for over 40 years. So, we know what works!
Gallery – to see the huge range of churches to which we have supplied chairs, see our gallery.
Other church furniture
In the world of contract furniture, you’ll generally find that you receive better prices and discounts the more items of furniture you buy.
Therefore, it can make sense to buy other items of church furniture at the same time that you’re buying new church chairs.
What’s more, buying other items at the same time as chairs allows you to ensure that every item matches and complements each other, creating a nice visual unity across your church.
Here at Rosehill, we don’t just sell church chairs, but also lecterns, kneelers, communion tables, modesty panels, hymn boards, and book trolleys.
You can view our complete range of lecterns and other sanctuary furniture here.
The best church chairs UK
We hope you’ve found our guide to church chairs useful and interesting. If you’re now in the position to buy new chairs for your church or place of worship, then explore our most popular church chairs below.
Churchill Ultra Stacking Chair
Our absolute best-selling church chair, the Churchill Ultra combines traditional looks, with modern stackability and portability.
Thanks to its curved stacking rails, the Churchill Ultra can be stacked up to eight high (but this can be 10 if the chairs are being stored away). Combine these chairs with the Wooden Chair Dolly, and you’ll be able to quickly and easily move six of these chairs at once.
The Churchill Ultra features a slightly larger seat and back pad compared to the standard Churchill, making it a great choice if the comfort of your congregation is a top priority.
The Churchill Ultra is also linkable, with the option to add wooden armrests for additional comfort and support.
Maxim Deluxe Stacking Chair
Another one of our most popular church chairs is the Maxim Deluxe Stacking Chair.
Combining elegant, sophisticated looks, with the practicality of being stackable. It’s widely acknowledged as being one of the most comfortable church chairs on the market.
Made to order, the Maxim Deluxe chairs are highly customisable with a choice of solid beech, oak, or ash frames which can be finished in one of six stains, and a constellation of different fabric finishes available.
The Maxim Deluxe is also linkable, with the option to add book boxes, non-marking foot ferrules, a wooden back cover, and more. An armchair version is also available.
As you can see, the Maxim Deluxe really is a church chair that can do it all!
Churchill Deluxe Chair
The Churchill Deluxe is similar to the Churchill Ultra, but with comfort at the forefront of mind.
Featuring a large 11-inch back pad and a deep luxurious seat, the Churchill Deluxe is idle for congregations that prioritise comfort for their seating requirements.
Available with three different types of frame (solid beech, oak, or ash), with six different stain colours, the Churchill Deluxe can be purchased in a standard version, a stackable version and an armchair version.
The Churchill Deluxe also features underails beneath the seat, which not only add strength but also provides a place for convenient book storage.
Faith Chair
Are you looking for an upholstered chair that can mimic the straight linear lines of a pew? Then choose the Faith.
This is a seat which has been designed to provide the flexibility of individual chairs, which can also be linked in a row to form a continuous seat to imitate traditional pews.
Aside from this immense practicality, the Faith can be purchased as either a standard model, a stacking model or an armchair model.
Like our other church chairs, the Faith is available with a wide range of wooden frame options, stains, and upholstery options.
Pew Cushions
Are you retaining a few of your pews? Then you can make them more comfortable for parishioners via the addition of new pew cushions.
Here at Rosehill, we offer a made-to-measure pew cushion service, meaning you can get cushions that fit your pews absolutely perfectly.
Our pew cushions are made from a hard-wearing tweed fabric, with durable chip foam materials. This foam is designed to be thicker than traditional chair foam, making our pew cushions highly durable, and versatile.
Tower Wood Stacking Chair
If you’re looking for some modern high-density stacking chairs to supplement your traditional wood chairs, then take a look at the Tower Wood Stacking Chair.
As the name suggests, this is a chair which can be stacked 30 high (when used in conjunction with a transport trolley)! As a result, the Tower is the perfect chair for when you need to expand the seating capacity of your church.
Aside from all of these highly-practical features, the Tower is available in a wide range of finishes. These include oak or walnut finishes for the plywood seat and back. The frame is available in eco chrome, black, or white. This makes it easy to select chairs which will fit seamlessly with your church’s broader aesthetic.
The Tower Wood Stacking Chair can also be customised to include welded links, so you can easily connect large rows of the chairs together.
Note – if you’re looking for other wood-finished, stacking chairs, take a look at the lightweight plywood Gallery or the solid hardwood Chantry.
Maestro Stacking Chair
Another highly-popular stacking chair for churches is the Maestro. Designed to be stacked up to 10 high (or 38 high when used with the Maestro Transport Trolley), the Maestro is lightweight, with a useful hand hold in the back for easy manoeuvring.
Don’t let the Maestro’s plastic back and seat fool you. This is a very comfortable chair, and is designed to make sitting for long periods a breeze.
Whilst the Maestro is lightweight, it’s extremely well made. So much so, that it comes with a 15 year warranty!
All in all, the Maestro is the ultimate multi-purpose chair for churches and other places of worship.
View our complete range of church furniture now.
Rosehill: the home of church chairs
For over 40 years, Rosehill has been supplying chairs of all kinds to churches and places of worship across the UK.
If you’re considering replacing your pews or upgrading your current chairs, then speak to the Rosehill team about your requirements today. We’re happy to help, and provide advice across every stage of your journey. So, whether you’ve got an initial question, or you’re trying to decide between particular chairs, speak to us today.
Shop church chairs at Rosehill now
For more contract furniture buying guides, information and advice, read the Rosehill blog…
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