Sitting near my neighbour

SHORT of praying for an arsonist, what do you do with a church full of empty seats?

We have not always had pews, and we certainly have not always met facing the front. At the Reformation, Calvinists did not want to observe a distant ritual around the east-end altar of a rectangular building. They wanted to celebrate the centrality of word and sacrament. When they took possession of ancient Roman Catholic buildings, they placed the pulpit and a domestic table in the centre of the long wall. Around these furnishings the congregation stood, squatted or sat on stools, pews being a later embellishment Few of the pre-reformation churches remain intact in Scotland – most of our existing buildings were erected in the nineteenth century. But here and there one can find older T-shaped churches where congregations assembled to the left, right and in front of the pulpit and table.

This communitarian style of gathering where people could see each other at worship was gradually replaced by new rectangular buildings where most pews uniformly faced the front. Wrap-around balconies were sometimes included. But they rarely offered a view of more than the pulpit, since in the nineteenth century the communion table was rarely the focus of attention

This is our questionable legacy, questionable because in churches, like one I used to attend, a congregation of 40 sat scattered throughout a building with a seating capacity of 1200. One result was that the members who came from a wide area, arrived and left with minimal interaction. Another was that nobody sang. It is a rule of thumb that if you sit more than a yard away from another person, you won’t sing in case they hear you. Less than a yard away you are likely to sing because you hear them.

In that particular church no furniture was removed, but when blue cord roped off the balcony and the back ten pews, people sat together, talked to each other, sang confidently, shared leadership of worship and began to resemble the joined-up body of Christ rather than the scattered tribes of Israel. Attendance also increased.

When we enter a church full of empty pews, our immediate perception is ‘not many people here today.’ But when we enter a church where people sit together looking as if they belong to each other, we are more likely to be interested in the community than the building.

Evangelism demands that we should be hospitable communities. That’s why we have signs declaring ‘All are welcome.’ But if how we meet inhibits active engagement in worship and a sense of mutual belonging, we should decide either to change the sign or change the way we congregate. Especially if we believe that Jesus meets us ‘in the stranger’s guise.’ ¤