Can Church Design and Decoration Inspire Worship?

It is easy to get lost in color schemes, spec sheets, dimensions and details when working at designing a church and how it will look. The typical western church today has a parking lot, a main entrance, a lobby, a sanctuary and multiple other side areas for Sunday school rooms, offices and fellowship areas. Some are built for twenty five people while others for twenty five hundred people, but all should be designed for the same purpose – to inspire people to congregate together in worship and in fellowship. When people feel welcomed into a place they are more likely to stay and involve themselves in a church. What makes someone feel welcomed and comfortable can be a variety of things depending on age, location, culture and preferences; but warm greetings, acceptance and love are inviting to everyone.

Aside from personable interactions with people, there are other things to consider when creating a welcoming environment for people in a building. From the parking lot to the sanctuary seating, there are dozens of opportunities to encourage fellowship and worship; such as a welcome center area at the entrance offering information, perhaps a refreshments table or coffee shop, as well as bookstores and seating areas for in between or before services. Inspiring an attitude of worship is also an important aspect of church decoration. Things like wall crosses hanging on the wall and pictures featuring Scripture and Christian heritage are among some of the many great ideas for reminding visitors the great purpose in joining together for worship.

Once inside the sanctuary people will typically see the stage in the front and center of the room and the sanctuary seating facing the stage. Depending on the church visited, there could be traditional altar furniture like a pulpit, minister chairs and a communion table, and the typically wood crafted furniture pallet extends out into the congregation seating with wood pews. Or there could be a full range of instruments on the stage and contemporary interlocking chairs for seating. These types of design options are based predominantly on culture and preferences and whether regularly visiting congregants lean more towards traditional services or contemporary ones. Regardless of the style, the atmosphere should lead people towards unity together and in offering up gratitude to God for all He has done, and this is done through teaching, preaching, music, communion and fellowship. The pieces of church furniture in most sanctuaries are there to aid in all of those things mentioned above  and to help facilitate a time of worship.

So, can church design and decoration inspire worship? Absolutely! That is their purpose and will continue to be into the future as the church continues to grow.