February 02, 2009
Standing Room Only
Many churches today are removing pews and replacing them with movable seating that can be re-arranged, stacked or stored. Certainly there is a convenience factor in chairs, but I have to tell you that I miss the physical and psychological comfort of pews. Stout and securely attached to the floor, pews offer a measure of support for both young and old alike. People can spread out or cozy-up, but I don’t think they can ever fill up a pew…there’s always room to squeeze in at least one more person. With chairs, when they’re full, they’re full. Really, when was the last time you invited someone to share your chair?
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----Pews are nice. They give a different feeling, and your choice of sitting position is a littler greater. But when you want to clear out an area for tables and a good pot luck dinner, pews become a problem. I remember a church I attended once in the Redlands. It had a very low pile carpet in the sanctuary that was striped out for a basketball court. When I noticed that, I looked at both ends of the room, and sure enough, against the ceiling were cranked up hoops and backboards. If you don’t attach pews to the floor, you can use the room for about anything.
-----Even though it is just a building, there still seems to be something special to me about a church. I know the heart is the temple of the Lord, not a building, or even the sanctuary (auditorium, for those born in a mega-church.) But what we do in that room kind of speaks to me, so the room itself does too. When pews are attached to the floor, the sanctuary does not become just another multi-use room. It remains a sanctuary. It preserves its special dedication. There is no necessity of that, but there is just a bit of extra meaning from it.
-----I maintain a room in my heart where the pews are bolted to the floor. The other rooms of my heart may have swappable furniture, but this one room does not. My heart must perform multiple functions. It must be a husband, a dad, a neighbor, a service provider, a friend, and in as much as confrontation can extract from man greater solutions, at times it must even be a nemesis. But always it must be a worshipper.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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