Portable Church Industries

What Portable Church Industries does

Portable Church Industries (PCI) is a US-based, privately held LLC that designs, manufactures, and delivers custom-engineered portable church systems for congregations operating in rented or temporary venues. Founded in 1990 by industrial engineer Peter van der Harst and operating full-time since 1994, PCI has equipped more than 3,000 churches across the United States and Canada spanning 50+ denominations and church networks. Its customers range from first-time church planters in school gyms and theaters to large multisite organizations such as Life.Church (34 locations), Manna Church (15+ campuses), and Church of Eleven22.

PCI's core product is a turnkey portable church system built around custom-manufactured rolling storage cases (sourced from specialty wood, with proprietary hinges, castors, and hardware rated for 8–15+ years), custom cargo trailers optimized for rapid unloading (under two minutes per trailer), and full audio/video/lighting (AVL) systems sourced from established brands including DiGiCo, Yamaha, d&b audio, L-Acoustics, Blackmagic Design, Chauvet, Shure, and Sennheiser. Adjacent product lines include children's ministry environments with portable check-in kiosks, custom signage and displays, and the recently launched Portability 101 educational video library. Manufacturing takes place at a Detroit facility while the corporate headquarters sits in Troy, Michigan.

PCI's business model combines custom hardware sales ($250K–$750K per portable church system, contracted over multi-year terms) with embedded consultation and design services delivered through a proprietary 10-step process spanning planning, build, and launch phases. The company sells directly to churches via a consultative, sales-led motion augmented by content marketing (blog, resource library, webinars) and strategic partnerships with church multiplication thought leaders such as Rich Birch (unSeminary) and Leadership Network. The company is bootstrapped, has never raised external capital, and is led by CEO Curt Banter (since 2024).

Name

Portable Church Industries

Legal name

Portable Church Industries LLC

Website

https://portablechurch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Portable Church Industries designs, manufactures, and delivers custom-engineered portable church systems—including rolling cases, cargo trailers, AVL equipment, and children's ministry environments—for over 3,000 churches across North America through a direct consultation-based sales model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Facilities Equipment / Portable Church Systems

NAICS

Commercial and Institutional Building Construction (236220), Nonresidential Building Construction (2362)

SIC

Public Bldg & Related Furniture (2531)

akta.pro primary industry

Religious & Cultural Building Construction (Places of Worship, Museums, Libraries) (IMAFACAH)

Keywords

• Portable church systems
• Church plant equipment
• Multisite church solutions
• Church AVL systems
• Church launch consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Troy

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Portable Church Systems Sales: PCI designs and manufactures custom portable church solutions including rolling cases, trailers, AVL equipment, children's ministry gear, signage, and staging. Each solution is custom-designed for the specific church's needs and venue requirements. Revenue is generated through one-time system sales with full consultation, design, manufacturing, and delivery.
2. Consultation and Design Services: PCI provides ongoing consultation throughout the 10-step process including site visits, concept design, review and refinement sessions, delivery planning, and post-launch support and warranty services.
3. Free Resource Library: PCI offers free ebooks, whitepapers, checklists, and case studies (e.g., Life.Church, Manna Church, Faith Promise Church) to attract and nurture leads through the sales funnel, generating qualified consultation requests.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Portable Church Industries designs, manufactures, and delivers custom-engineered portable church systems that allow churches to establish and operate full worship environments in rented spaces such as schools, theaters, and gyms. The offering bundles rolling storage cases, cargo trailers, full audio/video/lighting systems, children's ministry setups, signage, and volunteer-friendly setup infrastructure with consultation, design, manufacturing, delivery, training, and ongoing support.

Product overview

Portable Church Industries offers a comprehensive suite of portable church solutions centered on its Custom-Designed Portable Church Systems. The core product consists of modular, volunteer-friendly setups that enable churches to launch and operate in rented spaces including schools, theaters, gyms, and civic centers. The portfolio includes custom-engineered storage cases and cargo trailers for equipment transport, full AVL (Audio/Video/Lighting) systems, children's ministry environments, check-in kiosks, and signage solutions. These products are delivered through the PCI 10-Step Process encompassing consultation, design, manufacturing, delivery, training, and ongoing support. The company also provides the Portability 101 video library for ongoing education. The company has served over 3,000 churches across North America with a 95.6% viability rate after five years for church launches.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Portable Church Systems Custom-designed, end-to-end portable church setup systems that enable churches to establish full worship environments in rented spaces such as schools, theaters, and gyms. Each system bundles AVL equipment, custom storage cases, cargo trailers, children's ministry setups, signage, and volunteer-friendly design, delivered through PCI's 10-step consultation, design, manufacturing, delivery, training, and support process.
• Multisite Launch Solutions Comprehensive solutions for established churches launching additional campuses in temporary venues. Includes strategy sessions, portable system design that matches existing brand and tech standards across locations, and volunteer training programs to enable rapid, consistent multisite expansion.
• Portability 101 Video Library Online video library designed to help church leaders avoid costly mistakes and build portable church systems that work. Provides training content for volunteer teams and staff on portable church operations, equipment handling, and launch best practices.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95.6% five-year viability rate for new church launches using PCI
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• unSeminary (Rich Birch)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRich Birch is a strategic partner and Multiplication Specialist for PCI. He co-hosts webinars with PCI leadership, contributes to blog content, and actively promotes PCI's portable church solutions to his church leadership audience. His unSeminary platform reaches thousands of church leaders considering multisite expansion.
• Leadership NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPCI partnered with Leadership Network to produce the Campus Pastor Report, a resource for multisite churches that has become a key lead generation tool. Leadership Network is a major research and networking organization for church leaders.
• The Unstuck GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPCI partnered with The Unstuck Group to create resources on building healthy campus launch teams. The Unstuck Group provides church consulting services and together they offer resources combining PCI's portable solutions with The Unstuck Group's leadership expertise.
• Cools Solutions GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCools Solutions Group collaborated with PCI and Multisite Solutions to create the Facility Cost Comparison Matrix, a free resource helping churches evaluate venue options for multisite launches.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MultiSite Solutions: Provides multisite strategy and consulting services to churches, similar to PCI's growth-stage church customer base. They collaborated with PCI on the Facility Cost Comparison Matrix resource, confirming direct overlap in target customers and complementary (sometimes competing) offerings for new campus launches.
• The Unstuck Group: Church consulting firm focused on strategy, vision alignment, and healthy growth for churches and multisite networks. Directly comparable to PCI because they target the same Lead Pastor, Executive Pastor, and Campus Pastor personas pursuing growth, and they partner with PCI on campus launch resources.
• Auxano (now part of The Unstuck Group): Church consulting brand specializing in vision clarity, strategy, and navigational planning for churches. Competes with PCI for the same executive pastor buyer and overlapping budgets, and has been absorbed into The Unstuck Group, which itself partners with PCI.

Broad incumbents

• Stadia Church Planting: National church planting organization providing coaching, assessments, and resources for new church starts. Comparable because it serves the same church planter buyer at the front end of the customer journey, before portable equipment decisions are made.
• Lifeway Christian Resources: Broad church supplies, curriculum, and resources arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, with established reach across US congregations. Comparable as a long-standing institutional supplier to churches, though it does not offer portable facility systems.
• Outreach Inc: Provider of church communications, signage, and connection-card products with deep penetration in US churches. Comparable as a vendor supplying physical resources to churches; competes for portions of PCI's signage and guest-experience budget.

Emerging players

• unSeminary: Church multiplication content platform and podcast hosted by Rich Birch, a PCI strategic partner. Overlaps with PCI's content marketing funnel and serves the same multisite/church planter audience, though it does not sell equipment or systems.

Others

• Worship Facility (WFX) by EH Media: Trade publication and conference serving church tech directors, AVL integrators, and worship facilities teams. Not a competitor but a channel partner that influences the same buyer personas (Tech Directors) PCI targets for AVL systems.
• Leadership Network: Research and peer-learning organization for large-church and multisite leaders. PCI partnered with Leadership Network on the Campus Pastor Report; it is adjacent rather than competitive, serving as a thought-leadership channel that funnels prospective buyers to PCI.
• Cools Solutions Group: Church facility and operations consulting firm that co-created resources with PCI. Adjacent rather than directly competing, but its facility consulting practice overlaps with PCI's consultation services for churches evaluating launch venues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/portablechurch
• Facebookfacebook.com/portable.church.industries
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/portable-church-industries

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Portable Church Industries