5 Major Trends for Churches in 2022 : South Florida Caribbean News
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Church trends are a little slower to take place than fashion trends, but there are a lot of new church trends to explore this coming year. When you’re either redecorating or starting a congregation, consider the following:
1. Use chairs instead of pews
Church pews have been used since the time of kings and queens. When people would go to church, they would worship while standing. There wasn’t the traditional seating that people know and love in today’s churches available.
However, the aristocrats of the time wanted a place to sit, so they purchased their own pews and placed them in the church.
Times have since changed. Everyone can now sit in a church, and pews have become outdated.
What should you offer for seating instead of pews?
Stackable chairs for churches. When you offer stackable chairs, they have many benefits over pews:
Comfort is increased because of the chair’s padding
Space is given to members
Interiors can rapidly be rearranged to offer more space
Plus, it’s challenging to find someone to repair or replace church pews. You can easily replace singular chairs without going to a specialist to do so.
2. Additional spacing between seats
Spacing matters a lot in churches. While there was a time when people liked being packed into church pews where they would sit almost shoulder to shoulder, these times are fading. People want space, and the distancing makes people feel more comfortable.
When you expand spacing, you’re offering:
Comfortable seating where people don’t feel as crammed together
Safer options for people that want to avoid colds, flus or the coronavirus
Open feeling that is a major trend in church layouts
Opportunity to change your design or add seating if necessary
Overall, people tend to like having additional spacing between seats. If your church can offer the added space, it will be well-received by members of the congregation. The one time when more spacing may not work is if your church is already small and cannot afford to lose the seating space.
You also have another option for spacing: moving outdoors.
One of the changes that have been taking place since 2020 is that more churches are opting to have outdoor spaces. An outdoor space is a great way for people to get back into nature and also offers better ventilation.
If there’s one thing that people have learned in recent years, it’s that everything can change in an instant.
We’ve seen plenty of indoor spaces that have had their doors closed. However, outdoor spaces are less likely to be closed due to pandemics or sicknesses. In the worst-case scenario, some of these spaces go underutilized.
Creating outdoor spaces is an excellent way to:
Offer sermons
Encourage people to go to church
Plus, it never hurts to get more people to come to your congregation. Outdoor spaces are hip and a chance to offer something new and exciting to the church experience.
Children are a breeding ground for sickness. While there was a time when children would sit among their families, we’re beginning to see children’s spaces become the norm. When you offer spaces just for children, you’re:
Making it much easier to sanitize the space
Giving parents some freedom to worship
Allowing children to socialize on a deeper level
You can even create children’s spaces outdoors with smaller chairs and children-centric decorations.
5. Bright, open design concepts
Finally, we’re seeing a trend where the dark, closed spaces of churches are disappearing. Pews made the décor and interior of a church very crammed. There was little opportunity for changing the interior due to the length and size of the pews.
Chairs and additional spaces are leading to spaces that are:
Design concepts are changing, and if your church doesn’t adapt to the open, bright spaces that people love, you may lose some of your congregation in the process. Over time, incremental changes can be made to open up churches and make them brighter.
Trends in church buildings and décor are changing. While many of these trends have been growing in recent years, they’re picking up speed this year. If you’re considering a new concept for your church, keep the points mentioned above in mind.