Tawas Area Presbyterian Church "A Church with a Heart, in the Heart of the Bay." Tawas Area Presbyterian Church "A Church with a Heart, in the Heart of the Bay."
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‘Pewology'

Did you know that back in the days of the reformers, people had to stand through the entire service! and the services were 3 hours long! Nobody knows who was the first person to hew a pew, but when seats finally arrived, a lot of problems came with them: for instance, What to call them? Lecterns were elevated to "pulpits", robes were changed to vestments, and songs were re-christened to "hymns". So you couldn't just call the seats the "seats". It was finally decided that since they were really benches that rested on carved feet, they should be named after the old medieval word for feet, which was "puie". A lot of old smelly medieval feet probably deserved the word, but it wasn't fitting for use in church, so they changed the spelling to "pew".

Disagreement over when to use them caused major theological discussions. Anglicans were still much of the old school, that "no pews is good pews". Lutherans just used pews as a stopping place between risings and sittings. Baptists had no strong feelings either way. As long as you go all the way under when you're baptized, standing or sitting didn't mean a thing in the end. The only thing the Bible says is: "that a person should not stand in the company of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1:1 KJV) Of course, anyone that perfect wouldn't really need to go to church in the first place. Pews have not just been the cause of disagreement; they have also been the source of familiar expressions like "splinter groups" and "dead end". Some pews come equipped with cushions. But one church had to put suction cups on the bottoms of the cushions because the sexton decided to wax the pews one day and worshipers were sliding right out of sight.

So how much pew time does it take before we like church? For me it took about 18 years! I've been attending Sunday School and worship services since before I was old enough to remember. My earliest memories were those of fidgety boredom. But like it or not, I put in my pew time and today, by the grace of God, I am what I am. I'm convinced that if it wasn't for all that pew time, I wouldn't be serving the church today. I'm just old fashioned enough to say that's what it still takes.

Doing "pew time" is an essential ingredient of Christian faith regardless of our age. Our faith will never grow without it. It's something we're called to do whether we feel like it or not. I realize that some people can do ‘pew time' all their lives and still not like it. We may as well get used to pews, because it says that in heaven ‘Sinners shall not stand in the judgement' (Psalm 1:5 KJV) Whether that be the case or not, in the mean time, pew time is needed, desperately so!

  See you in church,
 

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