Published by Have you ever wondered just exactly what is a pew and how did we get the name pew anyways? One must admit it is a little funny-sounding word, and to be use in places of high reverence such as our churches and courts seems a little odd for such an undignified sounding word.
Pews came into existence around the period of the 1400 and 1500. Between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries they showed up in the form as backless benches as a place to rest your weary frame. After the Reformation things took on a different social code and sometime between of the 1600 and 1800, when thing were changing rapidly and there was a social stature in society that influenced the architectural style of the day. One of the things that was influenced was pews. Pews were also used to distinguish between the various social classes. Pews had become a dominant feature in the church just to serve this sole purpose. Or did they?
As the Church evolved so did the pew, we have gone from having free pews to selling, renting, and taxing them back to having free pews. We have gone from a simple pew, to the pew box which families paid for and sat to together, mainly out of necessity to stay warm, with the more expensive closer to the pulpit. Pews were separated into groups; one for the general public and one were set-aside for the special groups of people. There was a different kind of seating order for the poor, adolescents, and people deaf or hard of hearing, widows and blacks. Blacks often had their own pews way in the back of the church or up in the balcony. These pews were known as “Negro pews”. After this some time the, pews began to be longer in length and often were very ornate: of course, the more ornate the pew, and the closer pew was to the pulpit it was located the more the church member had to pay for it. Finally in modern times after the 1930’s churches have moved back to providing simpler, free pews in order to welcome everyone, rich and poor alike, thanks largely to the work of William Seymour, founder of the Assembly of God Church. Seymour wanted to welcome all people and to break down racial and economic barriers. Before this, segregation within our church still went on and the churches in America and Europe had became just like the Jews with the Gentiles in the temple; were the Gentiles or women were not allowed to worship and learn in the same place as the Jewish men. As we are instructed in Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Yet history continues to repeats itself.
So back to what is a pew and what is the meaning of pew? I know it is a funny question, but what is a pew? We sit on them, place our belongings on them, they allows for easy, record keeping, keeping take of the attendance number week by week. We let our kids fall asleep on them, we become so comfortable we fall asleep on them week after week, some kids play under them. Pews define our social standing and our place in society. We have our favorite pew and some become down-right indignant if anyone else sits in ‘our place!’ By ‘religiously’ sitting in the same pew Sunday after Sunday it tells others “this is where I belong, don’t mess with it or me.” This sense of having ‘my place’ allows us to have a comfort zone. The pastor can have a look over the sanctuary and within a few minuets be able to take a mental evaluation of who is there and who is not.
According to the superlative Unabridged Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word descends from the Late Middle English “puwe” (or “pywe” or “pewe”) and the Old French “puie.” Originally, the word referred to the raised standing-place where the preacher stood to deliver the sermon. Malory used the word in this sense in Arthur (1470): “He fonde a preest redy at the aulter, And on the ryght syde he sawe a pewe closyd with yron. ” Webster’s had a little more of and explanation From Middle English pewe , from Middle French puie from Latin podia , plural of podium (”‘parapet, podium’”), from Ancient Greek podion (”‘base’”), from pous (”‘foot’”).
What it does seem to have in common (this is unclear – what does the pronoun ‘it ‘refer to?) is that originally the word pew had something to do with the speaker speaking from a podium and being that they were all on the same level as the speaker, it made it hard to heard or to see the speaker as the viewers were standing.
The root words all centered on the speaker and making it more conducive to him and not the listener(s). In essences, the purpose of our present day pews is simply to make it more conducive for all the hearers to hear what the speaker is saying. Point of fact the main purpose of our pews is not, as you might suppose, to make the congregation comfortable, bur rather to make it possible for them to focus and concentrate upon the speaker. They may hear more what the Spirit has to say to us through him.
What does all this mean to you and to me? Just this: that our God has given us a pastor with a Word from Him. What is needed is for us to open our ears and really hear what the Spirit has to say to us through him. So the next time you’re sitting in a pew, any pew, just remember on whom our focus and attention belongs, and let us ask God to open our hearts and our minds to His Word. Let those who have ears hear what the Spirit says… Indeed let us be attentive to the voice of the Lord.
