Church moving in the Sacramento Valley: Murdock's crew at work

Education, Civic & Community

Church Moving in Chico, Yuba City and Sacramento

Pews come up under your installer and the organ stays with its technician, while our crew moves the sanctuary, classrooms, hall and office around services.

(530) 354-8089

Licensed & InsuredUSDOT 3421940 · MC 1416634
Locally OperatedChico + Yuba City
Sacramento ValleyChico · Yuba City · Sacramento

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Planning a Church Move

Most congregations settle one question before anything else: where will people worship on the Sundays in between? Some rent a school gym or a hall for a few weeks. Others close the old sanctuary on one Sunday and open the new one the next. Once the pastor and the board choose, the rest of the move has a shape.

The sanctuary is the slow part. Bolted pews come off the floor only after your pew installer, or a contractor the property committee hires, releases them, and the same hands anchor them again. A pipe organ stays in the hands of an organ builder or technician throughout. A piano in the choir loft or the fellowship hall is planned through our piano and safe moving service.

Our crew handles what surrounds those pieces: released pew sections, the pulpit and lecterns, choir risers, hymnals by the rack, Sunday school furniture, fellowship hall tables and the church office. The altar guild usually keeps the communion vessels and paraments, and we plan around whatever its members carry themselves.

Who usually signs off: Pastor or church administrator, with the governing board approving the move plan and service location
Timing that works: Between the closing service in the old sanctuary and the opening one in the new, around midweek services, weddings and memorials; weekend or evening work on request.

What typically moves

Released pew sections with their end bracketsPadded, row-numbered and delivered in seating-chart order for the installer to anchor.
Pulpit, lecterns and a freestanding baptismal fontWrapped one at a time; a font set into the floor stays with the contractor.
Choir risers, music stands and robe cabinetsRiser sections are grouped by loft layout; robes ride hanging.
Pew-rack hymnals and BiblesBoxed by rack or shelf so ushers can refill each row in a single pass.
Sunday school tables, small chairs and curriculum shelvesLabeled by classroom and kept apart from sanctuary pieces on the truck.
Fellowship hall banquet tables and chair cartsLeft for the final potluck, then loaded as one group.
Church office desks, file cabinets and the office computerThe secretary's workstation is unplugged, padded and set up again at the new office desk.

Access and scheduling

A church calendar is fuller than the bulletin suggests: Wednesday evening services, choir rehearsal, youth night, a food pantry day and a Saturday wedding can all claim rooms while you pack. We mark each room on that calendar as in use, released or ready, so the Sunday school wing can go early while the sanctuary waits.

Older churches often have front steps, a narrow side door by the chancel and a lot shared with a school or preschool on weekdays. We walk both buildings, measure the longest pew section against every turn, and pick a staging spot that leaves exits open. When the new home is a leased hall or a converted commercial space, the landlord may ask to see our insurance certificate before booking a date. Summer carrying starts early, ahead of the afternoon heat.

Protection and handling

Pew ends and carved trim scuff at the first doorframe, so each released section gets pads over its ends and back, rides on its side on a dolly, and keeps its row number on tape underneath. Kneelers, book racks and loose end brackets are bagged with that row. The installer receives the sections at the new building in seating-chart order.

Hymnals and Bibles are boxed by pew rack or shelf, not by the armful, so ushers can refill every rack in one pass. Choir robes travel hanging in wardrobe cartons. Stained glass, memorial plaques and anything a family dedicated stay on the wall until the church decides who removes them. Membership and baptismal records remain with the church office, and the pastor decides what the congregation carries in procession, if anything.

Who does what

Some of this job belongs to other trades. The written plan names each one.

Bolted pews and their floor fasteners: Your pew installer, or a contractor the property committee hires, releases them and anchors them again at the new sanctuary. We carry the released sections.
Pipe organ, console and pipework: The organ builder or technician takes the instrument apart, moves it or oversees its handling, and puts it back together. Pianos go through our piano and safe moving service.
Sound board, projectors, wall speakers and livestream cameras: Your AV volunteers or audio contractor take them down and reinstall them. We move the loose stands and cased gear they hand over.

Not part of our work

Removing stained glass, memorial plaques or anything built into the building; the church and its contractor decide who handles them.
Packing communion vessels, paraments or membership and sacramental records; the altar guild and church office keep those in their care.

Around Chico, Yuba City and Sacramento

Church buildings across the Valley run from brick sanctuaries with front steps in downtown Chico, Marysville and Oroville to newer campuses with wide lots in Roseville, Elk Grove and Natomas, plus country churches off Hwy 99 and Hwy 20 where the truck may park on gravel. Congregations that meet for a season in a school gym or rented hall add a third address to the plan.

The crew that shows up

Three Murdock’s crew members at the back of the box truck

Two Murdock’s movers carrying a pad-wrapped table up the truck ramp

Two Murdock’s box trucks staged outside a single-story building in the Sacramento Valley

Church Moving FAQs

Another question? Call (530) 354-8089.

Our pews are bolted to the floor. Who unbolts them and who puts them back?

Your pew installer or a contractor hired by the property committee releases each section and anchors it again at the new sanctuary. Our crew pads, numbers and carries the released sections and sets them out in seating-chart order. Book the installer for both ends before choosing a date, since their schedule usually sets the pace.

We will worship in a rented school gym for a few Sundays. Can you move us there too?

Yes. The interim space becomes its own stop: a lectern, a keyboard, music stands, a hymnal crate and extra chairs if the school has none. Those pieces load apart from the sanctuary, reach the gym on Saturday, and move again once the new building is ready.

How is the fellowship hall piano handled, and what about our organ?

The piano goes through our piano and safe moving service, with stairs and turns at both buildings measured first. A pipe organ is work for an organ builder or technician, who decides what comes apart and who carries it. An electronic console can usually ride with the crew once your AV contact disconnects its speakers.

Can a Saturday wedding still happen in the sanctuary during our move week?

It can, if the sanctuary goes last. We clear the Sunday school wing, offices and fellowship hall beforehand and leave pews, pulpit and chancel furniture until the wedding is over. The sanctuary then loads after your final service there, with the pew installer following us.

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Tell us both addresses, the building rules you know about, and the dates you cannot move. We will send back a written plan and estimate.

Call (530) 354-8089

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