First, we appreciate all 63 people who very thoughtfully sat in and provided feedback on the chairs last Sunday. We are asking for those who’ve not yet voted for your favorite chair, to try the chairs on Sunday April 30th and put your vote in.
As we are gathering your feedback on the sample chairs, some people have asked questions that the Sanctuary Chairs Team will answer here.
Background Note: The Sanctuary Chairs Team has been meeting off and on for 3 years doing extensive research and exploring various chairs considering many, many options and approaches.
Why are we getting new chairs?
Unfortunately, the current chairs are breaking. Our current chairs are 55 years old and have been breaking at a rate of at least 19 chairs per year. Over a 7-year timespan we repaired 132 broken chairs, and at our last count, we had 57 chairs still in need of repair and 30 that are beyond repair. Instead of spending thousands of dollars repairing chairs that many of our members find no longer meet their needs, we decided 4 years ago to buy new chairs. Thus, we allocated money from the Capital Campaign to pay for them. Because we want to provide a safe environment for our congregation, guests and renters, we do not want to put their safety at risk as they sit in a chair that collapses under them.
Why don’t we just replicate the current chairs?
We explored this option. We researched 11 different companies to get quotes to replicate our current wooden, non-cushioned chairs. Their quotes ranged from $780-1700 per chair. That is way beyond our budget. Our current budget is a maximum of $350 per chair.
Why can’t we have wood chairs?
The Team also wanted wood chairs and looked at many varieties for 3 years. Besides often costing much more, the weight of today’s wooden chairs is greater. Today’s chairs have wider seats. Also, we would want wooden chairs with cushions. The lightest weight wooden chairs we could find were 17lbs. Note: Our current chairs are 12 lbs.
What is the difference between the Capital Campaign and the current pledge campaign?
The current pledge campaign is for the Annual Operating Budget. This Pledge drive only supports the operations of the church including staff salaries etc. The Capital Campaign is run about every 5-10 years and is a special effort to raise money with the sole purpose of repairing, maintaining or upgrading the church building and grounds. Monies from the Capital Campaign cannot be used for the Operating Budget.
How can we keep cushions clean?
We’ve selected options where the seat material is a “performance driven” coated fabric, resistant to moisture and staining.
Are these chairs eco-friendly?
We have looked at the carbon footprint of our choices. For example, one of the chairs we’ve chosen for you to test drive is produced without PVC’s, FR, formaldehyde, solvents, plasticizers, phthalates or lead and meets other eco-friendly standards.
Why did one chair get taken out of the test group?
Sadly we learned at the lat minute that the chair cost more than what we were led to believe earlier, so it is out of our budget.