Church chairs

Church chairs are 21" padded chairs either made of wood or metal frames. There are a handful of manufacturers in the united states that still make chairs however most of them are now made overseas in China or elsewhere. Starting the in 1980's, the church chair industry has taken storm with the advent of the modern church. During the 1990's churches started switching out there out dated pews for something more fashionable. Typically a church may find it to be much cheaper to b chairs than pews with many added benefits. First, churches can often move the chairs around a sanctuary allowing them to use the facility for more than just Sunday morning services. During the 2000's many businesses began to see an increase in their chair sales. Joshua Gabrielson of CFMA conducted research across a five year period and found that out of the 342,000 plus churches about 46% of churches today have chairs in their facilities. He has been in the church furnishings industry and runs the Church Furniture Manufacturing Associates Website or CFMA for short. The organization is derived from businesses falsely selling church furnishings in hopes to gain sales. This includes selling of office furniture as church furniture and CFMA holds to a minimum standards within the industry.
Additionally his research found that the majority of the church chairs are being made overseas. Manufactures have since then offered smaller versions of the units in a 18.5" and 19" chair. Of all the manufacturers on the market today, only chair uses polyester as a fabric. The main fabric of choice is polyolefin; a man made material that is stain resistant mainly because it's not dyed, but rather the coloring process takes place when the fiber is made. Today’s church chair consists mainly of strep tubing, in either a 1" or 3/4" squared frame. Most chairs today are welded together and they will come on a freight liner so when choosing a chair be sure to get a quote as it may vary depending on where you live.
Wooden chairs often cost more because of the costs involved in designing them. During the 1990's Gabrielson's research found that churches were not saving money simply because the cost of wooden chairs was often times the price of traditional pews. During the late 1990's manufacturers switched to metal frames which could be mass produced. Not only did the frames cost less, they actually held up better than the wood ones, needed little to no maintenance and were overall 70% cheaper than their wooden counterparts.
The metal chairs are normally wrapped in a “vein” that is basically a powder coating. Powder coating prevents major scratches and blemishes as the chairs are often moved around over the years and with traditional wear and tear. Banquet chairs, normally smaller in width than a church chair do not have this powder coating and will typically have just a metal polished look to it. Most metal chairs are going to have a 18 gauge steel framework to them and most have been tested to withstand a weight of over 1,000lbs on the welded versions and about 350lbs on the screwed versions according to Gabrielson’s research.
The typical church chair is going to come with several different features and depending on one’s budget or purchasing location they may or may not include them. Some features will include a ganging device, normally two metal clasps that will hook the chairs together, creating a “pew” type row of chairs that interlock. Ganging devices are common on a church chair. A bookrack is also another feature. Most bookracks are either welded or screwed into the bottom of the chair and normally will feature an area for a communion cup holder for churches that celebrate communion. Also a card pocket is a fairly new feature found on church chairs, the majority of them are extra layers of fabric that are sewn into the polyolefin fabric; however some manufacturers will use plastic pockets that are screwed into the backing. Other features may include “t-nut” construction. Also known as a blind nut is a type of nut used to fasten a wooden work piece. It has a long, thin body and a flange at one end, resembling a T in profile. The flanges of T-Nuts often have hooks or serrations on the prongs that sink into a wooden work piece, providing better retention.
Additional features found on a church chairs are just like any other chair, lumber supporting, scotch guarding (although Polyolefin chairs do not need it), half circle guides for stacking that prevent scratches, and waterfall seating in the back. Most of the church chairs sold on the market today will use ¾ plywood for its backing and seating, however particle board and plastic including OSB have been known to be in them.
Sizing for a church chair is categorized as follows: 21”W x 22” D x 34.5” H as this was the normal size in Gabrielson’s studies. The most common colors of fabric are a Red / Maroon and a Darker Navy color. Least popular was Sea foam Green and Brown.

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