Re: pews within the Church

I like pew-less churches for several reasons that are entirely personal.

Without pews one can experience the physicality of Orthodox worship in a way that is simply not possible with pews.

In the absence of pews I also find that young children can move about or even curl up in a corner and are therefore less likely to be vocal and squirm.

Pewless naves also have distinct advantages for people in wheelchairs.

Some of the issues cited about the comfort of pews could also be remedied by people simply wearing comfortable and modest clothing!

That being said I think that the real culprit is our increasingly shortened attention span which makes us feel uncomfortable with sitting for an hour at anything where there is not constant motion or easy emotional gratification.

That seems to be a more crucial issue and if it can be addressed and handled I think that those who come to corporate worship will find a depth and richness regardless of whether their local parish has decided to install pews or not.

John