From Chattanooga-If you think pews are uncomfortable, just be thankful there is at least something to sit on. Until the Middle Ages, churchgoers had to stand for the service. This practice had a theological background, according to a history by St. Nicholas Church in Connecticut. Faith is intended to be an active practice and Christians are taught to stand in the presence of their master, rather than sit like an audience.
The few people who had seats brought their own, though the tradition of lengthy services was not common, according to an 1844 argument by John Coke Fowler about abolishing pews.
The feudal system of the time bled into the religious landscape. Wealthy people who paid for church buildings were given prominent places in the church to sit and passes those seats down to their children, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
More here-
https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/life/faith/story/2020/jan/10/why-do-we-sit-pews/512667/
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