UUCA Sanctuary Seating

We very much want to know your opinion on UUCA's sanctuary seating issue - Please take a few minutes to take our survey.

Staff and church leaders have been interviewed for their opinions -
to read the notes from these interviews, click here.

60^th Anniversary Gift to UUCA

A Sanctuary Seating Committee was established in the fall of 2007 with the following mission:  

1. Survey the UUCA congregation, ministers, and staff to gather  opinions about replacing the current pews and other seating in the sanctuary.  Publish the survey results.
2. Study what seating other churches are using and what various manufacturers produce in various price ranges.  Key issues:   comfort;  back and leg support;  sturdiness; maintenance; style appropriate to church with award-winning modern architecture; storage for cards, pencils, and our expanded hymnals; flexibility (ease of moving the seating into various configurations within the sanctuary); need to retain at least same seating capacity as at present.  
3. After concluding the above research, present a sanctuary seating plan to the congregation for acceptance (fall 2008).
4. Have seating samples brought to the sanctuary for two weeks, for people to sit on during services. .
5. Conduct a fundraising campaign to pay for new seating.

Sanctuary Seating Committee email: seating@uucava.org

Why is UUCA considering the purchase of new sanctuary seating?
Since the church is celebrating its 60^th anniversary year, new seating would be a memorable congregational gift to use for the next 60.  Our sanctuary is our most important space, but the pews are in constant need of repair, and many people find them very uncomfortable.  Therefore, new seating seems a natural choice as a gift for our collective future.   Before the costly mold crisis of 2004, severql other renovations to the sanctuary and other parts of the building were under consideration but had to be put aside to remedy the mold and exterior water penetration.  Now we are returning to those plans, and the first renovation--a new sound system in the sanctuary—is under way.  While it may seem premature to replace the pews before other sanctuary renovations are planned and completed, the need for moveable seating that can be reconfigured to fit different needs, or moved out of the way while work is done at the sanctuary ceiling level, makes this now also a practical  project.

A short history of UUCA’s sanctuary seating  

In 1962 the sanctuary seating was planned to mesh with historic Unitarian philosophy, which encourages the congregation to be able not only to face forward but also to face one another. In conjunction with the open platform design, the seating arrangement illustrates that our liturgy does not include hidden or secret rituals taking place behind a screen or altar, and the absence of a greatly raised platform or pulpit reflects that the congregation is not separated from or unequal to the ministers.  

Adhering to these ideas resulted in some of the pews being situated so that they are actually behind those speaking or performing on the platform.  Also, people sitting in the rear and at the far ends of the pews do not have very good sightlines.  The pews have been removed from the west side of the platform, so that the grand piano and the bell ringers fill much of that space.

In 1964 funds were raised for the current pews which, with their clean lines and almost floating appearance, look identical to the drawings of sanctuary architect Charles Goodman. The pew manufacturer recommended strengthening this design with several additional leg and back supports on each pew. UUCA opted to save money and not order  these supports.  As a result, we discovered in a few years that we had not purchased  a sturdy enough product.

After the pews were reupholstered in the 1970s, UUCA member Blair A., a master carpenter who spent 25 years repairing the pews, advised against any further expenditure on them due to their “multiple design problems.”   The bounce you notice in the longer pews is a result of insufficient leg and back supports.  Frequently the small back and seat wood ends fall off.  If the pews are not lifted properly, the long bench seats separate from the legs.   

In the early1990s as the oak legs began to split from the bouncing effect,  Jim K. and Abe G. engineered various new support methods to keep pew collapses at a minimum.  They advocated pew replacement.

If you have any questions or comments concerning UUCA's sanctuary seating, please email: seating@uucava.org.