When to Increase a Church’s Capacity
March 23rd, 2007 by Todd
Often Church leaders are faced with crowded conditions and wonder what to do. Should they add another service? Should they try to expand the Worship Center? There is a second related question, which is, “When should we do this?” The concern, in some instances, is that if the church has a capacity of 500 people and 400 are attending, breaking into two services would result in two very empty looking services of 200 people. Out of concern about an “empty” perception, many churches are reluctant to provide another service or to increase capacity at the appropriate time. It is understood in church Growth Planning that when a church reaches 80% of its capacity in the Worship Center it is “full.” There are several reasons for this dynamic.
Most new attendees will arrive close to the start of the service, not wanting to be with a group of strangers for an undue period of time. They tend to enter the Worship Center when it’s at its fullest. This same group of visitors is likely to have little children with them. (Most visitors are looking to meet a perceived need for their children – teaching them something about God – which has prompted them to seek a church.) Unless the children are not in the Worship Center (for churches that have a children’s church service), they will need four seats together. People tend to sit in a way that creates buffer space around them, resulting in groupings of one and two seats scattered throughout the Worship Center. A typical row of ten seats may have two empty at any given time. Newcomers are then faced with the dilemma of finding a place where all four of them can sit together. This can create some awkwardness, even with the best usher team, for the family can feel conspicuous as “room is being made for them” rather than being readily available.
Another issue that comes into play is the perception of some regular attendees who begin to feel “crowded out.” This is disquieting to them, so they begin to consider other options and other churches!
The development of the 80% rule is based on statistical measurements. The Church that does nothing when they reach 80% capacity (i.e. does not add a service or provide additional seating space) may find the attendance goes up to 90% or 95% for a period of time. This is generally short-lived, because people feel crowded and cramped and certain attendees who have been there for a while may not like the new dynamic and move on looking for less cramped quarters – a place where they won’t just be “a person in the crowd.” Statistics show that, after a period of time, the attendance will drop down from its high of 90 – 95%, gradually making its way back down to 80%. There may be brief periods where it fluctuates above this, but essentially, if nothing is done to increase capacity, the church eventually stops growing. This is the “lid.” (In other words, a church that has a seating capacity of 500 and has two services can only grow to 800 people over time.)
What this all points to is beginning another service or adding more seating capacity when the 80% mark is reached. Planning should revolve around the 80% figure. For example, a Church starts out with a seating capacity of 250. Once the attendance reaches 200, a second service is added. As they start the second service, it’s understood that when attendance levels and services are close to 200 each (400 total), it will be time to do two things:
- Add a third service
- Begin to implement a physical plan to provide increased capacity via an expansion, relocation or birth.
Please note that this strategy does not address issues of capacity in other parts of the building, such as the nursery, children’s ministry, Sunday school, youth, etc. It is assumed that the capacities of the other areas for ministry are somewhat proportional to the Worship Center (at least that is how they should have been planned).