The Church Facility: Let There Be Light!

Joseph R. Miller

On Wednesday the people walked into the room startled by how much brighter the room was. One man commented, “I will bring my Bible now, since there`s enough light for me to read.” He then explained that he had lost his chauffeur`s license as a truck driver due to limited night vision. The pastor later acknowledged to me, “I thought the man had a spiritual problem, evidenced by not bringing his Bible. He just couldn`t see with the dim lighting.”

The best eyes are useless without light. In addition to helping people see, light is a mood setter. We do not equate a dark room with life. One pastor commented that after his congregation moved into its new worship center with adequate light, he seemed to be pastoring a different congregation. The spirit of the service changed dramatically from the mood in the dismal, dark-paneled auditorium with very low light levels.

In our culture people expect good lighting. As the population ages, there will be more and more demand for good light. Therefore, good lighting is essential for effective ministry in your church. We need to read, to see the speaker without glare, and to have our spirits lifted with adequate light.

What kind of light?
Lighting equipment may be categorized for direct or down-light, indirect or up-light, and diffused or side-light. Accent lighting is added to focus attention on specific items such as a bulletin board, a display, or the speaker. The right combination of the varied equipment provides the correct lighting for utilitarian purposes and for the desired mood.

Direct light should be equally distributed to avoid hot spots and dark areas.
Indirect light should lift the ceiling or accent the beams and other architectural features. The style of the worship area should be considered in selecting the fixtures for the worship center. Store fixtures or house fixtures do not belong in a worship center.

Incandescent lights demand generous amounts of electricity to provide the light
levels preferred in the worship setting. The demand is especially hard to meet
if the light fixtures are high above the floor. There must be enough fixtures to
provide uniform light levels over the seating area as well as over the entire rostrum (platform). A bright spotlight directly over the pulpit or focused on the speaker may glare on his bald head or blind him. It is better to distribute light evenly over the entire area.

Quartz and halide bulbs are now available with appropriate fixtures for the worship center. You may need to direct the light off a warm surface in order to avoid glare or light that is too white. In one church retrofit where I was working, a series of small fluorescent tubes were used in the same pendant fixtures of the worship center to replace the incandescent units. The halide units with ballasts are also available.

Fluorescent fixtures are most often satisfactorily used in classrooms and administrative areas. Place the fixtures close enough together to provide a uniform light level. Use fixtures providing some indirect light to lift the dark ceiling. Drop-in-panel fixtures usually don`t provide ceiling light.

How much light?
Direction, height, distance between fixtures, type of light, and kind of fixture
are all factors determining the amount of light at the location where it is needed.

In our kind of church, where reading and setting a lively mood are important,
the recommendation is 15 to 20 footcandles uniformly distributed at the reading
plane for comfortable vision. Some of this light should come from up-light sources to make the room uplifting. This is an adequate light level for the worship seating and the classrooms (although most classrooms will have a higher light level with uniform fluorescent distribution).

The choir, platform, and speaker areas should have twice as much light as the
seating area. Therefore, 35 to 40 footcandles of evenly distributed light is adequate. There should be down-light for reading, up-light to make the area
uplifting (no dark wall behind the choir), and directed-light to lighten faces without glare or shadows.

The hallways and foyer should have approximately 15 footcandles of uniformly
distributed light. Provide indirect light to lift the dark ceiling. Add accent light for displays and bulletin boards. Administrative areas require 40 to 50 footcandles of light for office work. Again, avoid dark spots and dark ceilings.

Lighting is critical to comfort, to convenience, and to the character of the room. Seek professional help to upgrade your present system or to design your new facility. Be sure the design professional (electrical engineer, architect, church lighting supplier, or contractor) understands the lighting preferences in your kind of church. You need more than a minimal light over the aisle to find your way to your pew where you watch a ritual.