Occasionally I have heard some folks complain about the reordering of the church. Thankfully we havent had the 'pew wars' that other congregations have suffered. 95% of the membership have been behind the plans to reorder the church and many of the elderly parishioners are really excited. But we have had one or two negative comments this summer from non-church people now the building work is in full swing. I do find it hard to get my head around the idea of a pew being a fundamental to someone's faith. Surely what is of greater dignity is the person, made in the image of God, sat on the pew (or chair).
Interestingly enough most churches go through somekind of major reordering every few centuries. These buildings would fall apart is work like this is not done to this. In fact, as the underfloor heating is put in this week the builders have found that a small number of beams supporting the foundation are rotten. The base of the pulpit was completely rotten. (I knew there was a reason I dont use it!) So in our reordering we are able to do things which will ensure that this place of worship survives the next millennium and doesnt collapse into the harbour.
