That church in Portland made me rethink pews entirely

I visited this old Methodist church in Portland last weekend, the one on Hawthorne near 30th, and I couldn't stop staring at the pews. They had these deep grooves worn into the wood right where people's hands rest during prayer, probably from a hundred years of Sunday mornings. It got me thinking about how much physical stuff shapes our worship experience, like do hard wooden benches actually help you focus or just make you fidget? I heard one of the volunteers say they've never replaced a single pew because the congregation likes the history. That seems crazy to me since most modern churches I see have those padded stackable chairs now. Does anyone else think old pews add something real to a service, or is that just nostalgia talking?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor3057d ago

My buddy went to that same church last spring and said he spent half the sermon just running his hand over those grooves, thinking about all the people who sat there before him. He texted me after saying it felt more like a real connection to faith than any modern sanctuary he'd been in.

elliotr396d ago

Respectfully @taylor305, I get the feeling but old worn wood doesn't mean better faith than a new building.