Comments on: Pews (or lack thereof) in early Orthodox churches

By: OrthodoxHistory.org » Blog Archive » When to sit and when to stand

OrthodoxHistory.org » Blog Archive » When to sit and when to stand — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:43:00 +0000

[...] Last week, I spent about 2,000 words discussing the question of pews in early Greek churches in America. Based on my findings to date, it seems that pews became popular in Greek churches sometime in the 1920s, for reasons that aren’t yet clear. In Paul Manolis’ indispensible History of the Greek Church of America in Acts and Documents, he reprints a letter — in Greek — written by Archimandrite Kyrillos Papageorgiou to the Synod of the Greek Archdiocese. The date on the letter is February 14, 1925, and Manolis’ brief summary (in English) makes it clear that this letter dealt with the issue of pews. But, since it’s in Greek, I can’t read it. [...]

By: Peter-Trevor

Peter-Trevor — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:45:26 +0000

I suppose it would also be worth knowing (though probably difficult to find out) where the pews went when an Orthodox congregation did purchase an existing church. Did they remove them? Did the former congregation take them along? I don’t know what would have been normal practice back then when vacating a church. If cost was a significant enough issue, I could see them trying to save money by retaining the old pews, which would also mean the Orthodox parish had cost savings as a possible motivation for retaining the form from the old country. On the other hand, if they removed pews that were already there, it would suggest a more determined effort to keep the old ways.

By: Pews (or Lack Thereof) in Early Orthodox Churches

Pews (or Lack Thereof) in Early Orthodox Churches — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:16:51 +0000

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