We are not talking about how big a turkey to roast or how to hang stockings with care.
Instead we are talking about the physical equipment needed each year during the holidays to stage all the wonderful pageantry your church presents. While the necessary equipment such as mobile stages, risers and partitions are often the backdrop to the presentation itself, they are absolutely critical to the safety and success of the production.
Holiday performances present some unique challenges for the Church staff. How will they deal with the increase in demands for physical equipment, moving more people about and having all needs fulfilled at the right time, making sure everybody is safe using the stages, with the same number of staff?
How will you provide risers for the large adult choir and the preschool children’s choir at the same time? It may seem trivial, but each family member wants to be able to hear and see their loved ones from every angle, whether it is Grandpa Jim or little Johnny. How can you have enough risers for the holidays and then not use them again for four months. How will you come up with multiple stages when the only one available is in the family center, and it’s booked already? Where and how will they be stored? Do you rent or buy?
All these questions really point to a growing trend in church infrastructure. Some Churches are moving away from the static rows and rows of hard stationary pews and infrastructure in favor of more flexible, movable components. This can be because of the vastly changing roll of the church providing more community services and therefore needing more flexibility in their staging capabilities. Or this might be because the church is in the building growth stage of the church life and are starting with large multipurpose rooms that will have multiple uses every week.
What used to comprise the standard church was a large sanctuary that is predominately used on Sunday for weekly worship services. Then there would be Sunday School classrooms, again used on Sundays and a few offices for the minister and staff.
What has changed is that the church has taken on a much more dynamic roll in the community. Instead of the sanctuary, you might find a large multipurpose room filled with chairs instead of stationary pews. Once the weekly worship service has concluded, the chairs may be moved or rearranged so the space could be used for evening youth groups events. In order to accomplish this, free standing portable partitions may be brought in to separate groups and provide for privacy and sound absorption.
Along this line are portable stages, choral risers for both sitting and standing performances, portable risers that can be moved to the event and folding chairs and tables that can be stored and moved with dollies and caddies.
Sunday School rooms might become day care centers or meeting rooms every night of the week and must be able to change with the need.
Whether your church is one large room with many purposes or a large church with many rolls and a need for flexibility in their staging equipment, the need for flexibility and portability is greater than ever. Now is the time to think about all the ways you will be using the staging equipment to ensure you purchase the most versatile types possible that will fulfill your needs and requirements for this Holiday season and years to come.
Now, back to that turkey question?????
For more information contact Wren Ovard at 800-599-6636 or via email: wren@worthingtondirect.com.