Does Carpet Belong in a Church?

[MineralMan]

I recently went to a funeral for a neighbor's father. I was surprised to see carpeting on the floor of that church, since most other churches I had attended had hard-surface floor coverings. Something reminded me of that funeral today, so, I wondered whether that's a common choice for churches. Google delivered, of course, with article after article on suitable floor coverings for houses of worship. One interesting article I found was this one, from an Orthodox perspective:

http://classicalchristianity.com/2011/07/09/more-modern-problems-for-the-church/

Rip up those carpets!
by Jeffrey Tucker

Every parish struggles with acoustical problems, some because of the large space, but some because of the wholly unnecessary existence of carpet in the nave and sanctuary. Many parishes have made the huge mistake of carpeting their church space because someone on someone on some know-nothing committee thought that the carpet made the place feel warmer and friendly—like a living room—and perhaps too, someone found the echoes of children crying or hymnbooks dropping to be annoying.

Sadly, carpet is a killer of good liturgical acoustics. It wrecks the music, as singers struggle to overcome it. The readers end up sounding more didactic than profound. And even the greatest organ in the world can’t fight the sound buffer that carpet creates. All the time you spend rehearsing, and all the money paying a good organist or buying an organ, ends up as money down the carpet drain.

Elementary errors are involved in the decision. When the church is being constructed and tested for sound, it is during a time when it is empty of bodies. The decision makers stand around and note that a new carpet won’t make that much difference. Once installed, it only appears to muffle the sound of steps and things dropped. But once the place is packed with people, something new is discovered. The sound is completely dead—dead in the sense that it doesn’t move. This is not the sound of liturgy.

more at link...

Food for thought...

[lark]

1. Thinking about some of the great cathedrals we've seen in Europe.

Think almost all of them had hard floors, at least in the main area where the pipe organ resides. I do remember some of the naves being carpeted, but these were in side rooms. The churches I've been to in the USA were almost all carpeted, except some old back woodsy places I went to as a child with relatives in LA and TX.

[MineralMan]

3. I wonder if there's a denominational difference in floor coverings.

The Presbyterian church I attended as a young person had commercial floor tiles in the sanctuary. All those shuffling feet meant that the janitor had to polish and wax them before services on Sunday. That's a lot of work, especially in the rows of pews. However, carpeting would get stained in rainy weather or when someone accidentally poured the communion "wine" on the floor.

I can see how it's a dilemma.

[TexasTowelie]

2. And to think, I always thought that our choir in my small town sounded terrible.

The good news was that when I was in college they only had a runner going down the center aisle in the chapel.

[MineralMan]

6. The Quality of Mercy (and Music) Is Not Strained...

In churches with bare floors, I think.

[marylandblue]

4. I am not a fan of carpet

I just replaced all the carpeting in my house with wood floors and it looks great. Acoustically, when my wife yells at me I hear her much better now, so it has improve our marriage.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. I don't like carpeting in general, in churches or homes or much of anywhere else.

Apart from its acoustical heinousness, it collects dirt and crud and after awhile it starts to look grubby. Also, it's much more fun to watch a cat try to take a sharp corner on a bare floor at a dead run.

[MineralMan]

16. I like hardwood floors, with unobtrusive rugs in strategic areas.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. There has been a trend since about the '70s to carpet churches

(and the carpet was almost always red) because whoever was in charge of such decisions apparently thought it would look more elegant or something. And it just killed the acoustics. I know several church musicians who have made it their goal to get the carpet removed - and at least two of them have been successful, and the results were quite noticeable. There is a Lutheran church in Minneapolis that would have wonderful acoustics had it not been for the fact that about 30 years ago the pastor at the time decided the building's acoustics were too live for the congregation to hear his pearls of wisdom clearly. So he had the stone walls covered over with porous tiles, which deadened the sound. Now they want to remove the tiles but that project would also involve asbestos abatement, which is very expensive. Some churches are now being turned into performance halls because of their fine acoustics, but those don't have carpeting. As one who has sung in various church choirs over the years, I can tell you that carpeting is a singer's bane.

[MineralMan]

7. Ah. See how old I am? I became an atheist in 1965, so I must

have missed that trend. Like you, I have also sung in many choirs, and do understand how fatal carpeting and soundproofing is to making a joyful noise unto the Lord.

[The Genealogist]

8. The Methodist church I grew up in had a carpeted sancutary

Last time I was there (for a pro-LGBTI non-descrimination ordinance rally) the carpeting had been torn out and the 1920s era wood floors restored.

[MineralMan]

10. Interesting. They removed the carpeting to

reveal the original flooring. I wonder how often that happens in churches that install carpeting.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. It happens a lot.

I helped a choir director friend remove some church carpeting a couple of years ago, and there was a nice floor underneath that just needed some polishing.

[The Genealogist]

14. I'm glad they did it, honestly

I may not believe in the deity worshiped there, but it is a beautiful building. Suppressed Gothic architecture, a very dignified old building, indeed. The carpet was part of a ca 1980 slight revamp when a new pipe organ/sound system was installed.

[Dale Neiburg]

11. One thing puzzles me here:

When the church is being constructed and tested for sound, it is during a time when it is empty of bodies. The decision makers stand around and note that a new carpet won’t make that much difference. Once installed, it only appears to muffle the sound of steps and things dropped. But once the place is packed with people, something new is discovered. The sound is completely dead—dead in the sense that it doesn’t move. This is not the sound of liturgy.

Acoustical tests with people absent will be misleading whether the space is carpeted or not. The difference has nothing to do with the carpet and everything to do with the fact that human bodies absorb sound to an amazing degree.

And, fwiw, my church (Unitarian Universalist) has carpeting throughout.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. Peoples' soft, squishy, clothed bodies are definitely sound suckers.

That's one reason why buildings with high ceilings, like cathedrals, tend to have very live acoustics. The sound can float above those squishy bodies and bounce off the stone walls.

[MineralMan]

15. In the early 1980s, a vocal ensemble with an orchestra from

my community did a 14 stop European performance tour. I was the oboist for the orchestra. We played in several cathedrals and old European churches in England, France and Germany. It was wonderful to be making music in those places. A real eye and ear-opening experience. We performed the same program in all of them, which offered an opportunity to hear the acoustics of each venue.

My favorites were Canterbury and the cathedral in Strasbourg.

[Cartoonist]

17. Sound reasoning

I thought you were going to quote some Bible passages to make a claim either way. You know, like mixing fibers, or must be woven by virgin slaves. I'm glad to see someone in religion actually using science to make a decision.

[ROB-ROX]

18. I THINK OF CARPETING AS SPENDING MONEY

I think if the minister is driving an expensive car and lives in an expensive house; then why not get carpeting!!!! Most churches are plain to reflect a simple mindset of being ordinary versus a RICH environment. Carpeting means shampoo and vacuuming versus a hard floor which is swept or mopped. I do not think a church should reflect a RICH and SPOILED environment for people who want a spiritual experience.........

[MineralMan]

19. I never looked at it that way, really.

[Lordquinton]

24. Conspicuous consumption

actually hadn't thought of carpet in churches in that manner.

[Voltaire2]

20. Carpets are almost always a mistake.

Especially if they get walked all over. They get threadbare and transparent. You can see right through them.

[MineralMan]

21. And the longer they're around, the more they need to be replaced.

I wouldn't carpet, frankly.

[Voltaire2]

22. Rugs are easier to get rid of.

[MineralMan]

23. That's true. One can just roll them up and put them

in the dumpster when they get old, stale and smelly.