This debate is essentially for the three steps up to the altar.

This suggests an altar on the "speakers platform" (possibly with an additionally elevated pulpit) which is raised above the congregation floor level. In many such arrangements the "steps" leading up run the full width of the platform. This is a substantially different case than for a "staircase" that's typically about three feet wide. If you're talking about a thirty foot long "step" it should be stated as such.

You could also mean an actual staircase at one side of a platform/choir loft/altar.

What is the width of each step?

Is it a dominant part of the view that the congregation has to look at?

John