Too often writers for Church Orchestras compose string parts that are nothing more than long, unbroken chords that simulate an unimaginative keyboard part.  By requiring the Viola and Cello parts to be woodwind compatible, the writer must approach these parts with the same creativity and musical interest as they would any other brass or woodwind part.

Even if we were to ignore the Concert Band instrument doublings, any piece written for the typical "Church Orchestra" would still have an instrumentation that translated poorly to either the small Community Orchestra or the large Symphony Orchestra.

...while older, sacred orchestral music is often being brought from the concert stage back into the church, the music being composed for the Church Orchestra is not moving the other direction. As such, although we now have an environment conducive to the creation of new larger-scale, sacred orchestral compositions within the church, we're not seeing new works created.