Pastor's Blog: This Pew Is Taken!
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One of the worst sights a pastor can ever behold on a Sunday morning is looking out into the congregation and seeing a longtime church member approach a first-time guest and inform him that “you are in my pew.” I’m sad to say that I have had to endure that pain far too many times in my ministry and, as a result, have extended far more apologies to guests (and gentile reprimands to longtime members) than I thought I’d ever have to make. In some cases, I was able to convince the guest to give our church another shot. In other cases, I wasn’t. And in no church have I ever been fully able to dispel fully the tendency of regular attendees to insist on selecting “their pew.” It’s just been one of those things they don’t teach you in seminary that you have to figure out how to manage the best that you can.
So, I can’t believe I am at a place in my ministry where I am actually encouraging people to reserve a pew ahead of worship! But that’s what this season of COVID has required us to do. We’ve been forced to change long-standing practices and attitudes, all in an effort to manage the best that we could.
The truth of the matter is that we began at MBBC inviting reservations for in-person ministry activities, including worship, back in June, when we first resumed such gatherings. The reasoning behind that invitation was that in order to follow recommended COVID protocols on physical distancing, we needed only so many persons not from the same family sitting in the same pew, while only making available every other pew. We calculated that number to be around 150 in a 900-seat Sanctuary. So, the only way we could manage the situation was to request people to make reservations. Since that time, we’ve had around half the number of folk attending who have made reservations, but we’ve been able to handle the attendance, in large measure because of how many of the attendees have come from the same family, which has allowed us more flexibility. However, two developments loom on the horizon, which, while positive, bring with them their own challenges.
One development is that over the last several weeks we’ve seen more and more people comfortable with in-person participation. For the longest time folk weren’t at ease being in public places and therefore preferred to participate with us online. But in recent months as school resumed and restaurants and businesses reopened, many have decided to rejoin us in-person. As a result, we’ve seen our gathered worship numbers increase and our online numbers decrease. The change has been small but nonetheless significant enough to warrant our attention.
A second development is that, as we move into the holiday season, we anticipate seeing our capacity for gathered attendance more taxed because of the traditional opportunities that have been so much a part of our MBBC worship life – opportunities such as Hanging of the Green, our Sanctuary Choir Christmas program, Glorious, and Christmas Eve. Each adds to the season in its own special way and builds upon the rest as we move together toward Christmas Day. Consequently, we’re preparing to offer multiple times for many of them so that we can allow for as much participation as possible.
Now you see where the importance of making a reservation for your attendance at any (or all) of these gatherings comes into play. Combine the growing level of comfort with the attraction of the holiday worship offerings and you have the perfect recipe for not being able to accommodate every attendee.
How then can you help us? It’s actually a simple request. Please begin now to consider your holiday schedule and prepare to reserve your spot. Reservations for all special Advent services open this week. You can go to mbbc.org/register where you can indicate your plans to be with us as Advent approaches. As you do, we’ll know how best to make sure that we have enough (safe) space for everyone, whether it be through multiple times or spillover venues. And as with most everything we do now at MBBC, we’ll be streaming these special services.
Thank you for your willingness to help us plan for this most important season. I long for a return to when reserving a pew was something to discourage. But for now, it seems to be the best approach – one that will make certain that we find a way to allow as many as possible to celebrate the “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”
“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open…. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut” (Revelation 3:7-8).