Getting Into Church
The physical path into church can affect how mentally prepared we are for worship. Traditionally the Narthex was a small entry space adjacent to a street with not much room to linger. Greeting was little more than a quick handshake or nod. Automobiles have dramatically changed the entry path for finding our way into worship. Now worshipers travel to church from a much wider geographical area and meeting fellow members outside of church can be less common.
Churches now prefer to have a much larger space as a transforming experience for worship preparation, relaxed circulation flow, and communal gathering before and after services. New entry paths have sometimes lost the spiritual feeling along the way.