Roping off pews

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debraran

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Hi,
I don’t know what area this would fit, but what do you think of roping off pews in the back of the church so parishiners had to sit more upfront? Our church did that because we have less people attending and they wanted it to feel like a community more.
I always sit middle to front, but others like to be alone and one of my daughters who is a bit claustaphobic, doesn’t like to sit elbow to elbow with someone (like last mass)
He also has us saying hello and introducing ourselves to our neighbors in the beginning of mass, which again I think is a nice thought, but makes me mildly uncomfortable. No one you don’t know,ever calls you by your name again of course and I think you can’t force becoming friends. Shouldn’t this be something that happens after mass, not right before, maybe in a coffee-and type thing? I’m probably being a kill-joy, but I just don’t find it very reverent and I find myself at another parish some weeks.
Thanks for any thoughts.
 
Think of it as their efforts to evangelize to those present. To make the congregation more participative in the celebration and greet each other a welcome.

I too am not a fan, but on some days I’ve been down - it really helped me a lot.

Blessings.
 
funny you should mention this, my local parish has been doing this for a while, they used sellotape to cordon the last four rows or so off, i guess this is why, i wasnt sure before. im going to see if they do so on a sunday, because i cant say i recall if they do, i never notice because i sit quite close anyway. they certainly didn’t on good friday and easter sunday, when all the part-timers emerge from the woodwork!
 
The priest should invite everyone to come up to the front together, prior to Mass. That’s both effective and unobtrusive for people who don’t/can’t be too close to people.

-Rob
 
I personally do not like that approach. Though my family sits always within the first 10 pews, I know that some prefer to sit in the back. Whatever helps people to fully participate in the Mass and feel comfortable while doing so is what is important in my opinion.

Peace be with you,

Kelly
 
That was my view. At another church I go to sometimes (it’s Dominican) they wouldn’t dream of doing that, it reminds me of Mother Angelica’s church, very reverent and old fashioned, and people sit where they want to pray before and after mass. Everyone has a comfort zone, but it doesn’t affect how friendly they are later. I go to both because my children’s school is affilitated with the one that is trying all the new changes and they want to have their sacrements there.
I didn’t think it was such a big deal…seeing the ropes every time you walk in and the people crowded together seems almost staged, like a play. You get near someone with heavy perfume as my daughter did, she stood in the back rather than sneeze or sit alone with her allergies. She also can’t be near incense and would sit in the rear when they used it.
I do believe that a sense of community is a wonderful thing, but I wish they could do it with programs, volunteer opportunities, etc. and leave the mass be.
 
kell0618 said:
I personally do not like that approach. Though my family sits always within the first 10 pews, I know that some prefer to sit in the back. Whatever helps people to fully participate in the Mass and feel comfortable while doing so is what is important in my opinion.

Peace be with you,

Kelly
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I agree. There are many reasons to sit in the back of the church {besides making a quick exit after Communion:( ). People with infants or toddlers may need to take them out of the church for a while. Then there are those folks who have bladder control problems, or those who are claustrophobic, as mentioned earlier. Sitting in the back is less disruptive to others in these cases, if they have to leave.
 
The priest probably thinks he has the best of intentions by preventing everyone from sitting in the back, but people have plenty of different reasons to sit where they choose.

No one should be forced to sit where they don’t feel comfortable.

Someone should charitably point this out to the pastor/priest.
 
I would venture to say that if our priest used this approach I would be going elsewhere. Why worry about where people sit as long as they are there? I always have sat toward the back ever since I was a teen and I will continue to do so. People have their preferences and it is silly to force them to sit elsewhere… IMO.

I sat toward the back as a teen and remember our elderly priest telling me in no uncertain terms to come to the front of the church. I did;) …LOL…but now 40+ later, if the pews are roped off where I sit faithfully every weekend and Holy Day, I would go elsewhere.😦

:heart:Blyss
 
I hope this doesn’t happen, but I can’t see how it is helping, some weeks it does seem like less are there. Also knowing you have to say hello besides the sign of peace (which seems sufficient) I can tell makes some uneasy, and knowing it’s week after week.
He did mention some don’t like it, but so be it.

The daughter that wanted to stay because of friends, school, now doesn’t mind going to the other church especially since she never knows when her allergies will be brought on by something.

Too bad, I feel the pastor is missing the point, although I don’t doubt his good intentions.
 
az_4_faith said:
No one should be forced to sit where they don’t feel comfortable.
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Fasting is not comfortable (at least for me) but it is a good spiritual exercise. People should accept it as a spiritual exercise that brings up closer to God. Penance is not comfortable either. I bet that a lot of people would push to sit in the first pew if Jesus would look like a person instead of bread and wine.
 
debraran said:
Hi,
Our church did that because we have less people attending and they wanted it to feel like a community more.
.
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I guess the question is why are less people attending. At my parish if you don’t come early then you may even end up standing in the entry way and in the back.
 
The other church I go to is very busy, very reverent, 3 masses a day, confession daily (and people go) but as I said, they would never do something like that.

And we can’t think of it as fasting, if my daughter is wheezing or can’t breathe because of perfume, incense, that goes beyond being a little uncomfortable. Also I know people that are claustophobic and they can’t “just change”. The priest even accomadates them with confession because they have booths, seeing them in the sacristy or office.
 
My church has 4 sections. The middle two sections has the last 5 rows roped off until after the start of Mass. The reason for this is to minimize distrubances from people coming in late. The outside two sections people can sit wherever they want.
 
As someone with a condition that sometimes forces me to leave Mass abruptly, I would be horrified if I were forced to sit where an easy exit were not available. I would simply not go to that Church. I see this as just one more example of liturgical innovations being forced upon the congregation. It’s no surprise that in addition to this instrusion on a person’s private space, this Church would also be forcing folks to “meet and greet” in the Church during Mass. I attended a Parish that started doing this and quickly found a home somewhere else. These are the same Parishes that tell the faithful to hold hands during the Our Father or participate in the blessing of the children (where everyone holds up their arms in a creepy hiel hitler salute). There is just no end to the absurdity.
 
Cristiano said:
Fasting is not comfortable (at least for me) but it is a good spiritual exercise. People should accept it as a spiritual exercise that brings up closer to God. Penance is not comfortable either. I bet that a lot of people would push to sit in the first pew if Jesus would look like a person instead of bread and wine.
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What you state are spiritual exercises within the tradition of the Church.

Forcing people to sit where they do not want to is not within the tradition of the Church.

This exercise is unnecessary control by the priest towards his congregation. Nothing in the rubrics states that the closer a person sits towards the altar, the more full his/her experience with Jesus becomes or that the graces received are greater or that by sitting in close proximity to the next congregant constitutes a better “community” experience.

When people worship, some are fed by emotional contact with other congregants as well as their participation in Mass, and others aren’t.

What would we say if the pastor announced that from now on, everyone in the congregation is required to sing each verse of every hymn? Sounds good, but not everyone, for whatever reason, would be happy. I know plenty of pious Catholics who just don’t sing. I don’t agree with them, but I can’t say that we can force them to sing. It’s their choice.

No, this is an imposition placed on the congregation by the priest. He may have his own reasons, but they shouldn’t be forced on everyone.

Like I said, a conversation with the pastor about this would be more fruitful perhaps than leaving the parish. I’m sure he’s well intentioned and hasn’t considered the needs of the individuals who may not want to sit up front.

This reminds me of when a pastor some years ago began telling our congregation that we weren’t responding loudly or enthusiastically enough during Mass. He actually made us repeat our “Alleluias” or “Amens” until they met his satisfaction.
That didn’t last long.
 
I do not like the idea of roping off pews to force people to move to the front. Nor do I like the idea of the priest asking people to move forward because that singles out those who chose, for what ever personal reasons they may have, not to sit in front.

To me, this is just another way of forcing someone to worship the way we think they should rather than letting them worship in a way that works for them.
 
From what I have noticed, parishes that have so many empty pews that lots of them could be roped off tend to be on the verge of closing. My mother’s church started gradually dwindling in numbers in the congregation. I went there for Christmas Mass last year. There were a few people in the back and a few in the front, probably only about 100 people at Christmas Mass. The parish announced they are closing last month. They will close at the end of October. No pews were ever roped off, but they could have roped off 2/3 of the pews and still had plenty of room.
 
“From what I have noticed, parishes that have so many empty pews that lots of them could be roped off tend to be on the verge of closing”

Lak611, The priest at this church (we combined 2 parishes, the other is 1 mile away) said our church was in danger of closing, but from what people on the council said, that doesn’t mean much except that we don’t bring in a lot of $. We haven’t for many years. But if they do have to close one (both are affiliated with schools) it might be a hassle, but then both priests might be able to work together instead of running back and forth and cutting masses to accomodate both.
As I read your post though, I still couldn’t see why roping off pews does anything to change the number of people; 100 members is 100 members whether you are elbow to elbow or a few feet apart. It’s not like you aren’t heating that area or something like that.
 
debraran said:
“From what I have noticed, parishes that have so many empty pews that lots of them could be roped off tend to be on the verge of closing”

Lak611, The priest at this church (we combined 2 parishes, the other is 1 mile away) said our church was in danger of closing, but from what people on the council said, that doesn’t mean much except that we don’t bring in a lot of $. We haven’t for many years. But if they do have to close one (both are affiliated with schools) it might be a hassle, but then both priests might be able to work together instead of running back and forth and cutting masses to accomodate both.
As I read your post though, I still couldn’t see why roping off pews does anything to change the number of people; 100 members is 100 members whether your elbow to elbow or a few feet apart. It’s not like you aren’t heating that area or something like that.
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