UPDATE on the SANCTUARY CHAIR PROJECT
March 3, 2025
Arlen Goff – Sanctuary Seating Project Chair

The end is in sight! 

We have raised almost $20,000 to purchase chairs for our sanctuary. You were overwhelming generous, so much so that we will not have to draw funds from our endowment to make the transition from pews to chairs.

The chairs have been ordered. Several weeks ago, I placed an order for 108 chairs (48 with arms, 60 without). According the the latest email from our vendor, the chairs will ship on April 4th.

All of our pews have been sold. I was able to list them on Facebook Marketplace, usedpews.org, and the Lakewood Antiques Market Facebook page. Over the 2-3 weeks that the listings were active, we had over 20 inquiries. Six pews are going to a gentleman from metro Atlanta and seven pews will be headed to Augusta. The one straight pew that was sold went to a local business owner (you can visit it, if you wish, at Sweet Eleanor’s in downtown Macon).

The final step will be to receive the chairs from the shipper and set them up in our sanctuary. This will happen sometime around April 10-11. We will need a number of hands (and legs and backs) to accomplish this feat, possibly over 2 days. The chairs will arrive stacked on pallets (24 chairs per pallet). We will need to “liberate” the chairs from their packing materials (possibly on the sidewalk outside the building) before transferring them into the sanctuary. Then they’ll be placed in rows in preparation for our worship service on April 13th.

My hope is that we’ll have so many hands (and legs and backs) that we’ll be able to accomplish these tasks easily, safely, and speedily. There’ll be jobs aplenty, from handling the chairs to distributing hymnals and offering envelopes among the chairs. So, SAVE THE DATE for April 10-11 for the great transition we’ve been looking forward to.