Balcony Stairs

It’s a practice that’s at least 200 years old, but I don’t know if it really works.  Like many church practices, it may exist simply because it makes us feel better to know they’re there.  Balconies (or rather, galleries, existed in churches long before they were used for public seating.  Even so, I suspect it’s a relatively recent idea to place the stairs that serve them inside the nave, or main room, for the purpose of making it possible for persons seated there to respond to altar calls.

I don’t have any real objection to an open stair that decends directly to the main floor or altar platform, but these “Baptist balconies” (my term) bring to mind 18th Century evangelist Charles Finney’s “anxious bench,” a place down in the front where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer.

Who uses them when a better means exists?  The common argument for including them is that they offer fewer obstacles for those in the balcony who wish to come forward.  My sense, though, is that balconies often provide a safe haven for those who aren’t sure they want to be noticed, either because they’re late or new or whatever.  They allow some to stick their toe in the water before they dive.  If that’s the case, who would wish to expose themselves to even greater view by hiking down what is usually a prominent structure.  Go ahead; I dare you!

This is not to say that there aren’t other reasons to consider a Baptist balcony.  First Baptist Church in Greenville, SC has a sweeping, assymetrical balcony that joins the balcony to the main floor with seating (and forms the ceiling of a chapel below).  Provisions in the International Building Code, most likely because of the popularity of open stairs in churches, allow them to escape demanding requirements that other stairs face.

Know why you build what you build, including stairs.  As they’re typically configured, balcony stairs set in the worship space occupy valuable floor space.  They steal seats, limit flexibility and complicate sightlines.  I also suspect that the cost of complex or decorative railings they require (or tempt you) to build exceeds the cost of enclosing simpler ones.