pews to chairs

As part of our five-year vision for All Saints Church it is proposed that we replace the pews with chairs. Last year the Church Council agreed to move forward in support of the vision.

Why are we doing this? The main reason is that pews can limit how we use the building. Below are some benefits there will be by introducing the chairs.

• Enhance the options of layout for public worship.
• Improve access for those dependent on wheelchairs, mobility devices or baby buggies. Pews prevent those using mobility devices from being easily welcomed and accommodated.
• Facilitate better use of space, particularly around the servery, when offering hospitality at services and events.
• Enable more flexible use of space for church and church-related events.
• Allow external community use of the building with layouts to suit the needs of individual and differing events.
• Facilitate greater use of the building for both church and community events.

Following an extensive and quite rigorous process that included consultations with the church family, a Faculty was granted to introduce chairs in two phases. The first phase is to replace the pews in the side aisles and the second phase for the centre pews of the building following a review of the initial phase.

Chairs for the first phase have now been ordered and delivery is expected in February 2022.

If you would like to contribute towards the cost of the new chairs then please fill in this form and email it to the Treasurer at treasurer@4u-team.org.

We are aware that many of the pews were donated by families, some of whom are still connected with the church, and the following options are being offered to any families or donors who can be identified.

• Families to be offered the pews for their own use.
• If the pew is not wanted, the plaques are available to the families and the pew to be disposed of by the church.
• If neither the pew or plaque are requested, a display board will be created and the plaques will be displayed as a record of this period of time in the church’s history.

The full list of plaques can be found here. Please do have a look at it and help us identify people who may wish to keep a pew.

If you are interested in a pew please contact John Gillbe at john.gillbe@gmail.com. If you do not have access to email then please write to John Gillbe via the Parish Office, The Causeway, Marlow, SL7 2AA

With regard to disposal of the pews, we have committed to look for disposal options which will either enable the pews to be reused, or value obtained from them with the timber being reused.

We are very grateful for those who made pew cushions and kneelers. If would like these returned to you or your family, then please let John know.  If you would like to include a cushion or kneeler to your pew or chair request then please let us know.