In recent times the Congregational Committee has been discussing seating in our new building. Over the course of three meetings, the Committee has been considering whether to purchase pews or chairs for the main worship area in the new meetinghouse.
On Thursday evening the Committee met and made the decision to purchase chairs. You will know that the meeting on Thursday night was held in 1st Ballymena Presbyterian Church. The reason for that is because the Committee wanted to see an example of a church that has chosen chairs over pews.
The Committee were keen to share the process behind coming to this decision. We have taken our time with this decision. An initial discussion took place at a meeting in May which was followed by another discussion at a meeting in June. The decision was made on Thursday evening on the back of both of these meetings.
Two elders from 1st Ballymena were at our meeting on Thursday evening and shared the story of how they came to choose chairs over pews. They also shared some of their experiences and the Committee found that both helpful and reassuring.
Another significant factor behind this decision is a financial one – and again, the Committee were keen that I would share this with you. As part of the process in making this decision, we received quotes for both chairs and pews. These are below.
There is a significant difference in terms of price and the Committee felt that choosing pews over chairs could not be justified from a financial perspective. To move on to phase two of the project, the Building Project Sub-Committee looked at a variety of cost saving measures. There have been other aspects of the project that have been reviewed and changed so that we can move into a fully functioning building in the near future.
The church family in 1st Ballymena have very kindly allowed us to borrow some of their chairs. In making this decision, the Committee were keen to involve you, the congregation. We have been kindly granted the use of these samples for a couple of weeks. They will be at the front for you to come and have a look at and to test. These are only samples and our chairs will not be the same colour. Colour schemes for the new meetinghouse are currently being drawn up by the architect.
