Skip to main content.
« Previous entry: Southminster art and craft exhibition | Main page | Next entry: 7 things that worry me about getting my vehicle turfed »

September 16th, 2010

The five worst places to sit in church

worst places to sit in church

My cartoon, Pews (the five worst places to sit in church) is now available on the internet. Click that link for a readable version.

not that interestingI don’t know about you, but I tend to sit on the left in church. Possibly because it is nearer the left hand door. Sitting on the right would make me nearer the right hand door, but for some reason being near that door has never been on my list of priorities.

In some churches people sit on exactly the same pews. We tend not to do that as our chairs (folding, green) are not in precisely the same arrangement every week.

Group discussion: Talk about chairs for a bit.

12 Comments »



Share this on Facebook:

If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy these (possibly) related articles:

If you liked this post why not send it to someone else by e-mail? Click here to do so.

This is a single post on the Cartoon Blog by Dave posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 at 7:50 am. Click here to read all of the latest posts. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Other things technologically advanced people may like to do: trackback from another site, follow responses via the comments feed, bookmark on del.icio.us or digg.

12 Responses to “The five worst places to sit in church”


  1. Richard Wood says:

    Cunningly, you’ve also managed to draw the cartoon ‘The five worst places to preach’ at the same time… How clever you are.

    September 16th, 2010 at 8:18 am
  2. Mary says:

    LOL Richard!

    Fortunately our children’s corner is nowhere near the pulpit. However the choir stalls are, and they’re MUCH scarier than the children!

    September 16th, 2010 at 8:49 am
  3. Phill says:

    Chairs are a problem. Our church is currently being re-ordered, which involves replacing the pews with chairs.

    You wouldn’t believe the discussions the PCC / congregation have had just on the subject of chairs. Well, you might believe it if you’ve ever been on committee for more than about five minutes, but still. It took a whole lot of time and an awful lot of sample chairs!

    Now, folding chairs was an option I don’t think we considered…

    September 16th, 2010 at 11:07 am
  4. Liz from the sewing room says:

    Our church doesnt have a pulpit any more, preachers didnt use it, they preached from a lectern, but the very little children used it as the final part of their “tiny tots assualt course” game. The church is a quadrant of a circle, and slopes down to the point, where the cross, the pulpit, altar table etc are. The would crawl under the pews between peoples feet and bags, as fast as they could so no-one could catch them. Then they would climb the step onto the raised bit where table, pulpit etc were, wander around the preacher a couple of times and then go climb into and around the pulpit. It was an accident waiting to happen, so the pulpit had to go.

    The back pews have also been removed. We now have “comfy chairs” for people who find it difficult to sit on hard pews. Those of us in that category always get to church really early so we are assured of a comfy seat.

    September 16th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
  5. Penelope Creighton-Ward says:

    um – isn’t this one you have used before?

    September 16th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
  6. Aaron Orear says:

    You left off #6, the very worst place to sit during church…at home!

    As for chairs, I think it depends on the parish. None of the places I’ve been, or any that would be likely to hire me, would ever consider chairs. If a freak fire burned up the pews, and only the pews, they’d stand for the liturgy before they bought chairs.

    They’re right for some places, though, especially where the liturgy is less formal. I’ve always found guitar masses weird in a traditional church with pews and a rood screen and a triptych, much like a solemn high mass with benediction might feel out of place in a modern space with a power point screen and folding chairs. Ah, the beauty of the breadth of Anglicanism.

    September 16th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
  7. Aaron Orear says:

    Actually, given your numbering system, I suppose you left of #0, or something like that…

    September 16th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
  8. Mary R. says:

    When I was little my Auntie in Scotland took me to church and we had to sit in the NAMED family pew! It was very high church but everyone knew everyone else and if you weren’t there one week it was even more obvious because people commented on the fact that “the ‘McSinners’ weren’t in their pew for the service this week” Thankfully, that was over 45 years ago, but I now go to a very low English church with soft comfy chairs, no pulpit, and very few children. There are 1 or 2 out-of-tune singers but they make a joyful noise, which is the main thing.

    September 16th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
  9. Erika Baker says:

    Mary
    That story reminds me of a church we visited where the man behind us sang loud, out of tune and slightly fast.
    It was a pretty-worst place to sit.

    Until the end of the final hymn, which he again finished just ahead of everyone else. Into the silence afterwards his wife’s voice could be heard to say “Well done, dear, you beat them”.

    At that moment, it was the best place to sit.

    September 17th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
  10. Joe Haward says:

    Love this Dave. We are planting a church from scratch so where we sit isn’t an issue at the moment. :0)
    Check out our progress at http://www.evangelistchanging.blogspot.com

    September 18th, 2010 at 12:11 am
  11. Liz from the sewing room says:

    Mary R – last week my husband and I were sat in a waiting room and wall were decorated with posters from days gone by, farm sales, house auctions, and there was one for the auction of a family pew in the local parish church, with a description of the pew not unlike modern estate agents could have written, including its exact place, how many it held etc.

    September 20th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
  12. joe says:

    I would think the very worst place to sit is in the direct gaze of the preacher so you’re not able to tut, shake your head or doze off. Unless you don’t care, of course.

    I’ve always found the back pew a good place to do those things. Not very original, but the back pew has a special biblical allowance for doing naughty stuff.

    September 22nd, 2010 at 7:32 am