Sofa

Instead of chairs, let alone pulpits, why not lead services from sofas?

Consider:
everywhere nowadays on television, presenters sit on sofas - breakfast tv, chat shows - all have two or three sofas as the focal point surrounded by the audience. There will also be small tables for water etc.

A sofa is big enough to have presence in a large space, to be a focal point; but it is also informal, familiar and reassuring, because we all have them at home. A person who talks to you from a sofa seems like a friend, rather than a judge or other stern figure of authority [this is why clergy took to thrones, and why it is essential to get rid of them]. Sofas are not hierarchical. A large chair that seats only one isolates its occupant like a throne; a sofa, even if there is only one person on it, implies company and accessibility, the possibility of intimacy - there is always room for someone else to come and sit beside.

The sofa implies:

• generosity
• comfort
• informality
• openness
• companiability
• equality

God's throne in heaven is a sofa. How else could Jesus sit down at God's right hand?