WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — An Episcopal church in the New York suburbs is hoping that the removal of two dozen pews from the sanctuary will make the church feel less empty and more inviting.
St. Bartholomew's Church in White Plains, an 80-year-old congregation that like many mainline Protestant churches has experienced shrinking membership, hatched the plan as part of an effort to create a more intimate space for worship that could appeal to visitors.
"When people visited before, it seemed like a museum," said the Rev. Gawain de Leeuw, rector of St. Bart's for five years. "The church seemed empty. Each person could have had their own pew. Changing our sanctuary space immediately changed the way people feel in the church. It's an important start."
The church gets about 50 to 60 people during its morning services on Sundays. In its heyday in the 1950s, more than 1,000 people attended services.
The 18 removed pews now sit in a spare room. The church was unable to sell them on Craigslist for $300 each. Other pews were used to build a new altar, which now rests at the front of the church floor.
De Leeuw said he believes that a welcoming and energetic church could draw a few thousand people looking for an open-minded, tolerant form of Christian worship. His goal, however, is 600 families.
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I can only say Amen to those that cited the last paragraph of the article as a cause for concern. Christianity and tolerance are oxymorons if you go by what Scripture says. It's so sad to hear an ordained minister use the phrase "Open-minded" and Christianity in the same sentence. OK, I'm open minded to new techniques in how to preach to people to tell them they need to repent and submit to the will of Christ. Unfortunately the only thing the Episcopal church wants to repent of is their pews. Preach the true Gospel, live out your faith with conviction, and stop bending over and try to culturalize your church. As the young people say - YOU FAIL!!!
Amen Daniel Paul!
Why not preach and live the gospel and fill the pews?
"draw a few thousand people looking for an open-minded, tolerant form of Christian worship"
Umm .... Didn't Jesus die for us because God is intolerant of sin? Perhaps this approach is so open minded that their brains leaked out....
Why is this news? Churches are changing worship spaces everyday...are we just hearing about it because they are Episcopalian?
Just what the world needs now; " tolerant form of Christian worship"? What's that?
Amen, msnchris!
The episcopal church has a joke!!!
Maybe they ought to keep the pews but remove Gene Robinson and Kathleen Jeffries-Schiori instead, ha ha!
Abandon political correctness. Preach the true gospel, be loyal to Biblical values, show love to others, witness, pray, wait on the Lord, and the church will grow. Continue down the liberal path of the present Episcopal Church, USA, and why would people come who can go to other churches that adhere to the Bible.
Like most Episcopal Churches you need to preach from the Word of God. God is pruning you and other Protestant denominations like the Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists and others because you allow women pastors and priests, you preach that homosexual relationships are not sinful, you preach that abortion is not wrong, etc, etc.
When you start living in the Spirit again, and follow the Truth which is in His Word then you may recover your numbers. Meanwhile, all those who hunger for Truth are being fed elsewhere and not in the Episcopal Church. Pray for God to follow His Will.
Pastor, removing the pews is not the solution to the problem. Get the people you have left to Pray, and recomit yourselves to God.