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Choosing Church Pews: Style

by | Feb 13, 2013 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

oak church pews

The look of your church pews is probably the issue that your congregation will be most aware of, and it is certainly important. The architectural style of your church may be the key factor in choosing the pews that will improve the worship experience rather than detracting from it. A very traditional church sanctuary looks best with a traditional style of pew — like the ones pictured, which are based on a design from more than a century ago, which we found in a small-town church. We loved the graceful lines, so we created a design inspired by those pews.

A very contemporary sanctuary design may be better complemented by a more geometric style, such as this look:

white-pews

You’ll note that the style issues for pews tend to come down to the pew end style. Most church pews have the same back and seat styling — designed for comfort.

Here are some of the basic differences among church pew end styles:

  • Cantilevered pews have supporting legs and the pew end doesn’t go all the way to the floor:

cantilevered pew

  • Pew ends may be painted white or have natural wood finishes. At Born Again Pews, we use Minwax finishes, not only for the high quality they offer, but also because this allows perfect matching when you need more pews or for your pulpit furniture, without our having to carry your pews back to our shop. You may want your pews to match or to coordinate with your walls, or you may prefer a contrast. You might also choose to combine paint and stain, as we show in the photo below:

painted church pews

  • Pew ends come in many different shapes. You can see just a few of the options in this post.

church pews

  • In addition to the shape and color of the pew end, you’ll have your choice of fabrics for the upholstery of the pews. Browse through our PDF swatch cards:
  • We also off completely custom options, such as this unique pew using John Deere tractor fabric and paint colors:

custom pew

Pew style is one of the most subjective decisions in the process of choosing pews for your church. It’s probably a once in a lifetime choice, so don’t rush it. Get input from the congregation, visit other churches to see how they’ve approached the question, and browse our gallery for ideas.