• Update Lighting Fixtures
• Focus Light on the Primary Symbols
• Clean Out the Clutter
• Remove Extraneous Furnishing
• Remove Seldom Used Seating
• Take Up the Carpet
• Vest for the Liturgical and Natural Season

UPDATE LIGHTING FIXTURES

• Dollar for dollar you will get more impact out of an improved lighting system than most any other enhancement. Modern lighting can transform a gray dismal room into one with energy, and can even improve the acoustics.
• Replace the burned out bulbs! While you are at it, wash the globe covers. Increased wattage is not the only option; consider using bulbs that produce different kinds of light.
• Lighting needs change according to the time of day and the weather. Rheostats will give you control over the intensity. Rather than having all lights on one switch, break them into sections so you can adjust lighting by area.

FOCUS ON THE PRIMARY SYMBOLS

• Dramatic lighting accentuates focal points. Draw attention to the primary symbols of our faith by focusing intense light on the alter table, the place of the word, and the font. Light the faces of readers and the celebrant (it will both remove long shadows and make it easier to hear the readers), and light the dark spots in the congregation.
• Lessen distractions by decreasing the amount of light on other objects, such as the east wall and less important symbols.

CLEAN OUT THE CLUTTER

• Pay as much attention to the order and cleanliness of the back of the church as the front. Remove and store items not being used today:
      --extra hymnals stacked in the back pew
      --last week's (and last Easter's) sheet music piled around the organ console
      --broken umbrellas, rock salt and shovel, rummage sale left-overs, and full food pantry basket in the narthex
• Under-decorate to avoid the clutter approach to art (less is more).
• If you do not regularly polish the brass, consider having it burnished and lacquered.

REMOVE EXTRANEOUS FURNISHINGS

• Would you host a dinner and keep empty chairs around the dining table? Why keep unneeded furniture in the sanctuary? Extraneous furnishing becomes clutter. Remove the extra presider chairs and the prayer desk unless they are to be used.
• Liturgical artifacts will better retain their significance if brought out only when they are to be used. If it is not being used for today's service, take it out:
      --unlighted candles
      --seasonal banners
      --the parish processional banner
      --flags
      --the Advent wreath and Christmas star!

REMOVE SELDOM USED SEATING

• If only 60 percent of the worship space is usually occupied, remove several of the back pews to create a space for greeting before the service and for coffee afterwards. You gain an additional room, and you will heighten the sense of community during worship by bringing the congregation into closer proximity to each other.

TAKE UP THE CARPET

• Would you like better acoustics? Take up the carpet.

VEST FOR THE LITURGICAL
AND NATURAL SEASON

• Dress the altar and the walls according to the church year and be sensitive to the natural seasons. In the winter, display heavier fabrics with richer colors, and light all the candles, particularly during Epiphany. In the summer, use lighter fabrics and colors, and use few candles, particularly during Lent.
• The lessons, sermon, and hymns reflect the different story to be told at each worship experience. Let the worship space reflect the changing messages. Scarcity, abundance, repentance, and joy can be implied through our seating, lighting, vegetation and art. Encourage worshipers to enter looking for what is different today.