Building Size

 Several years ago I led a healthy church seminar in a church in Colorado as part of a series of seminars I was doing for that particular denomination. During lunch the pastor told me the church had been struggling for years. Like many churches, at one time the building was full nearly every week, but now attendance had fallen off. I believe he told me the sanctuary would seat 500-600 people, but their attendance now was around 60. He said it felt like the place was empty.

He had led the church to do something very wise. They had closed off much of the sanctuary so that there was now seating for around 200 people. The building didn't feel as empty now. He said this had improved the worship service and simply made the service more comfortable.

Whether he knew it or not, he was following a strategy that is important for a growing church. Growing churches have a worship attendance of about 65-80 percent of the building's capacity. If the building seems too empty it sends a message to any newcomers that this meeting must not be too important since there are so few people attending. This becomes one of the first impressions your guests will make and will be challenging to overcome.

On the other hand, if the church is too full, over 80% capacity, it makes it difficult for late-comers to find a place to sit. This is especially true for families as there may only be one or two seats available together. They may decide they would rather stay home than have to go through the discomfort of finding a place to sit. I think of a few churches I've seen who had to bring out chairs into the aisles to accommodate the people attending the service. It wasn't too long before those chairs didn't need to be brought out again. People simply stopped coming due to the discomfort the crowded sanctuary made them feel.

This does not apply to those special Sundays in which you expect larger crowds such as Easter, Christmas, and Mother's Day. It's OK to be overcrowded on those days, and you don't want to make changes that will make the church too large on the other Sundays.

So what can church do that is overcrowded?

• If you use chairs in the sanctuary you might be able to rearrange them to improve the seating capacity of the church. With pews you have less flexibility in this matter.
• You can set up seating in another part of the facility with the service broadcast in.
• You may be able to enlarge the sanctuary by knocking out walls and adding seats.
• You can start another service.
• You can build a new facility with more seating.

The worst thing you can do is to do nothing. The capacity of your sanctuary will determine the size your church will be. If you want your church to grow it's important for the sanctuary to be neither too empty nor too full.