Pews in rows in a church.

A pew is a long bench used for seating a church congregation. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 1163 KB) The church benches in the Gustaf Vasa church, Stockholm. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 1163 KB) The church benches in the Gustaf Vasa church, Stockholm. ... Classic garden bench For metonymic and other uses see Bench (metonymy) and Bench A bench is a piece of furniture, which mostly offers several persons seating. ... Typical Western wooden chair A chair is a piece of furniture for sitting, consisting of a seat, a back, and sometimes arm rests, commonly for use by one person. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... A congregation is the group of members who make up a local Christian church or Jewish synagogue (or those who are present at a service thereat), as opposed to the building itself. ...

Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the coming of the Protestant Reformation. The rise of the sermon as a central act of Christian worship, especially in Protestantism, made the pew an indispensable item of church furniture. Most Orthodox churches do not have pews; they have stands instead. The Protestant Reformation was a movement in the 16th century to reform the Catholic Church in Western Europe. ... A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... Protestantism is one of three main groups within Christianity. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Eastern Christianity. ...

In some churches, pews were installed at the expense of the congregants, and were their personal property; there was no general public seating in the church itself. In these churches, pew deeds recorded title to the pews, and were used to convey them. Pews were originally purchased from the church by their owners under this system, and the purchase price of the pews went to the costs of building the church. When the pews were privately owned, their owners sometimes enclosed them in pew boxes, and the pews were frequently not of uniform construction. Conversley, some churches were fitted with uniform box pews throughout, while some of these may have been owned by families, or held as possessions of farms in the parish all, or others, would be available to the general congregation. Title is a legal term for an owners interest in a piece of property. ... A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ...

Pews are generally made of wood and arranged in rows facing the altar in a church. This area where the congregation sits is called the nave. Usually a pathway is left between pews in the center of the sanctuary to allow for a procession; some have benchlike cushioned seating or even footrests, although more traditional, conservative churches usually have neither cushions nor footrests. Many pews have slots behind each pew; these usually hold Bibles and hymnals as well as other church literature. Sometimes the church may also provide stations on certain rows that allow the hearing impaired to use headsets in order to hear the sermon. In many churches pews are permanently attached to the floor. Look up Altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Links to full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are also found at the entry Cathedral diagram. ... Ajax prepares to violate the sanctuary of Athena by abducting Cassandra by force: red-figure vase, c. ... Former the 60s progressive rock band, Procession, see Procession, Sixties band Funeral Procession, illustrated in a manuscript of the Hours of the Virgin. ... The word Bible refers to the canonical collections of sacred writings of Judaism and Christianity. ... See also hymn - a program to decrypt iTunes music files. ...

In churches with a tradition of public kneeling prayer, pews are usually equipped with kneelers in front of the seating bench so members of the congregation can kneel on them instead of the floor. These kneelers essentially have long, usually padded boards which run lengthwise parallel to the seating bench of the pew. These kneeler boards may be 15 cm or so wide and elevated perhaps 10-15 cm above the floor, but dimensions can vary widely. Permanently attached kneelers are often made so they can be rotated or otherwise moved up out of the way when the congregation members are not kneeling. Kneeling is a human position in which the weight is distributed on the knees and feet, typically on the ground. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

External links

• The West Parish History Corner: Pews, Pew Deeds, and Taxes