As the most significant life area of a church, worship space demands a thoughtful understanding not only with regard to the size of the space, but also with regard to its design — particularly as a response to “the way our church does worship.” Today, there is growing diversity in the manner in which services are conducted, and thus a rapidly changing model of sanctuary design.
Jim DePasquale
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Let’s start with quantitative considerations. At the overall planning level, a church must determine its most significant number — just how many persons do we want to accommodate in worship? An easy formula that has successfully worked for our firm in guiding churches when developing new worship space is double the number of the current sanctuary capacity.
The formula works for planning for up to 1,000 when the current capacity is at 500. Beyond that, it is better to consider the specific amount of growth that will be accommodated. A church may, for example, plan for 1,600 to 1,800 persons if its current capacity is 1,000. The growth factor in that case (600-800) would be more manageable than simply doubling. The shift here, off of the doubling formula, is that the larger the church, the more demographics and funding govern the numbers regarding size increase.
Now, let’s look at the physical size of the worship space. Because contemporary worship (with its new forms of music and the integration of performing arts) demands more floor area than traditional worship, we need to consider two columns of square footage guidelines:
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Traditional
300 Persons — 18-20 Sq. Ft./Person
301-500 — 16-17 Sq. Ft./Person
501-800 — 14-16 Sq. Ft./Person
801-1,000 — 12-13 Sq. Ft./Person
1,000+ — 10-12 Sq. Ft./Person
Contemporary
300 Persons — 19-21 Sq. Ft./Person
301-500 — 18-19 Sq. Ft./Person
501-800 — 16-18 Sq. Ft./Person
801-1,000 — 13-15 Sq. Ft./Person
1,000+ — 12-13 Sq. Ft./Person
The above formulas include chancel/choir loft/baptistry/band areas. Other variables can result in a 10 percent (more or less) deviation of square footage factors.
Another tip to keep in mind when considering the size of your church’s new worship area is when the space is 75 percent filled it is essentially full, particularly when the seating is in the form of pews.
Another tip is to allow for the “white space around the perimeter, therefore providing an aesthetically pleasing and functionally appropriate space.
Lastly, if your new worship space will be a multi-purpose facility with full (high-school size) basketball court, then you can plan on seating approximately 650 persons on the floor area. Stage areas, etc. would be in addition to the floor area.
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Next month we will examine those evolving design interpretations of today’s worship space that I noted earlier. We will also take a look at the even more important theological implications when planning new worship space.
Jim DePasquale is a partner in a Richmond, Va., architectural firm and a member of Bon Air Baptist Church in Richmond. Send building, landscape or site-related questions to the editor at [email protected] or to DePasquale at [email protected].