Is this rude? Savings seats at church

No...that's crazy rude. We would never save more than 2 or 3 seats. 16 people aren't really sitting "together" anyway...

We got to church early one Easter and saved over 10 seats; all for elderly family members who normally don't get out. Don't care if people judged us; some of those members have passed on and that memory of us all sitting together is special. Someone even took a picture.

I go to church for the experience, not for the seats. So no, it wouldn't bother me one bit.

Especially if they aren't going to be on time

Saving that many seats doesn't bother me as much as those coming in late and disrupting the event. What bothers me even more than this is when I show up on time and am asked to move over so someone can have their friends sit with them. I don't mind making room if there is room available. But please don't expect me to squish my family together to the point where we can't even sit comfortably.

I think it's rude especially on a major holiday. If there is going to be that big of a group, plan it better. Show up early, make carpool arrangements. I also don't get why everyone must be in the same section when it's that many people. That probably comes from growing up in a church where big families were the norm. You show up late, sucks to be you. You're in the back sitting on folding chairs. People will move in on your saved seats.

Who said we didn't arrive close together? You're reading into my post what you want to read. Who said they arrived late?? Again, reading what you want. Since we didn't all live together, no, we can't arrive together. Some people traveled five minutes that Easter, some an hour. Two were in wheelchairs, one in a walker, all over 80, two over 90. I don't feel bad for saving seats on a busy holiday so my then 96 year old great aunt could sit with her brother and sisters.

but I've also moved seats so families could sit together. Because yes, church is about the experience for me, and part of that experience is worshiping with family I know have limited time left to be able to do so with me, whether it is my family or yours.

Saving that many seats is rude. I especially find it rude that the people arriving late are disruptive to the service or performance.
There was a very large family at our former church daycare and whenever we'd have a Christmas or Easter performance the mom would save about that many seats all on the front rows - like straight across the whole front. There would be aunts, uncles, cousins and all the grandparents right there all up front. It used to just infuriate me that other parents couldn't have a prime spot to watch their own kids. I think the day care finally said that people could only save 4 seats at a time.
I get saving a few seats for the person dropping you off, a husband / wife coming in after work, or something along those lines but SIXTEEN seats is just rude.

It depends. Saving 16 seats for people who come to church every Sunday? Fine by me.

Saving 16 seats for people who only show up on Christmas and Easter, thereby making the regulars stand, jerks.

I hate the fact that regulars have to arrive half hour to an hour early just to have seats. Especially because the church I'm going to tonight has cut down from three services to two on Sundays because the Mass is half empty. (All of this being said, I'm one of those jerks that never attends Mass but will be tonight. Had my BIL not died last week and my niece and sister weren't going to Mass, I wouldn't be, either.)

For my part, as annoying as it is... at least the seats are saved and they aren't trying to find 16 seats together once everyone else has arrived.

You don't make regulars out of Christmas-and-Easter visitors by fussing that they saved some seats for their family.

Additionally in my opinion it would not be in keeping with the Jesus who made himself nothing and was born in humility to fuss (outwardly or inwardly) that someone saved some seats for their family.

I just got home from church and it was overfull. We had music 45 minutes beforehand and by the time that began the church was almost full. Folks who arrived "on time" for the service and not the prelude had a hard time finding a seat. How beautiful that so many people had friends and family with them, and so many visited, that the church was overfull. The line for Santa was two hours long yesterday and I love that that many people also lined up to see Jesus. Yes, some people saved primo seats. What would we actually do about it without being inhospitable?

Last Easter some people came in late and crowded into the row with me and my kid, stuffed six people in where four would have sat comfortably. I was so uncomfortable that we stood in the back the whole service. I resented it.

And then God put his finger on it and told me it wasn't about me. It was about Him and those people came to see Him too. Maybe they weren't very mannerly about it, but it isn't my house and that isn't my concern. All these years God has worked on me about wanting to be first and have my way. That Easter was no different.

I am not trying to be holier than thou here - just sharing something that God said to me about this once when I was being pissy about seating in church.

Tonight I got to church - alone, sad and a little wobbly due to a recent death in the family, and I needed a warm greeting and a chance to see Jesus. You never know what is happening in someone's life or family. It's okay to let this one go in my opinion.

Beautifully said.

Saving 16 seats and then they were late, rude and inconsiderate.

Depending on event, will depend on who I save seats for. But we have a rule, if there is a reason to save seats, it must be pretty important. Therefore, the people we save for must be twenty minutes early. Yes! Twenty minutes. This means there is no reason for parking, or the long walk, because of parking, could not find us, or any other excuse. We have had to save seats, and turn away people only to have our family late. It is embarrassing. The family has learned through the years that this is best. So far so good. I haven't had to give a seat away.

Our ushers were looking for every square inch of space tonight - I think our overflow room even overflowed. At one point, we had to tell the ushers they couldn't give away the roped off pew that was saved for the acolytes (teenagers helping during the service) since the kids were rotating in and out of the pew as they were needed. I don't think 16 saved seats would have made it past these ushers.