Church steeple design comes right from European church design from the 18th century. When colonist began settling in American, they wanted churches that resembled the churches they had grown up seeing in Europe.
The church design preference for years was towering structures defined by straight vertical lines that were emphasized by the steeple; often multiple steeples on larger cathedrals. The steeple drew the eyes upward to the heavens.
While early Americans could not afford to build grand structures, they still worked to imitate the design in their smaller churches. church steeples were typically white for practical reasons. Metal was an expensive extravaganzas since it was hard to get. For that reason, early American churches were built of wood, which included the steeple. At that time, wood structures were automatically whitewashed, which is why they were white.
As time went on, the traditional look of the steeple remained popular even as other church design features changed and evolved. Many churches started shingling their steeples to cut down on needed maintenance. Other churches make their steeples out of copper if they can, which further cuts down on the need for maintenance.
Church steeple design has changed over time, but steeples are still a defining feature of churches all over the world. Even in modern society, they create a visual line pointing to heaven.
Building or remodeling a church can be very expensive. In part because of the specialized features and furniture. The average furniture store isn’t going to carry church pews or kneels, which means churches have to go to specific distributors to find what they need, which can be very expensive.
Out of necessity has grown a cottage industry of refinishing, refurbishing, and reselling church furniture, architectural elements, and decorations. The items are salvaged out of churches that have closed down or bought from churches doing remodeling and getting rid of older items. A crafted restoration specialist than works to bring these older used items back to their original glory.
Churches looking for items and furniture that will be new to them can then choose from refurbished pieces to furnish their church. There are a multitude of options when it comes to refurbished church furniture.
Similarly to the church steeple design, pew design and overall church design has changed dramatically over the years. Many newer churches have even moved away from having pews and opt for chairs instead of a long list of practical reasons including needing to use the space for multiple purposes.
Some newer churches simply want to get away from the appearance of a traditional church, so they are building structures that do not include a steeple, pews, or anything else reminiscent of a traditional church.
For other churches, it is simply a money issue. They are meeting in storefronts, malls, and school gyms until they can build up the financial foundation to physically build their own church.
When cost is an issue, there are ways to cut costs and still get the look and feel desired for your church. One way to do that is to look into refurbished church furniture and design elements.
