On the separation of sexes at church

[Maria]

Is this practice exclusive to the True Orthodox?

From whence did this practice originate?

The article below is excellent.

https://johnbelovedhabib.wordpress.com/ ... /#more-393

[Handmaiden50]

Enjoyed the article, Maria!

To my knowledge (and as mentioned in the article) most conservative Anabaptist groups practice this. I have a long-time friend who is conservative Mennonite (where the women wear cape dresses and a head covering) and on visits to her home have attended their services a number of times. Women and children sit on the left side of the church, men on the right.

Here's how one group explains the reasoning:

http://www.beachyam.org/FAQs.htm

2.6 Why do men and women sit separately in church services?
While most Beachy Amish-Mennonite churches have separate seating, a few smaller churches allow couples to sit together, though singles remain on their sides. There are a couple reasons many Beachy and conservative Mennonite congregations retain separate seating.
1) Because God assigns different roles for men and women in church services (see 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, for example), it is appropriate to have them grouped together so that they can be together as each fulfills his or her roles, such as men being in the leadership role.
2) With mixed seating, there is an emphasis on families sitting together. But when we come together, we are a church family, and the family institution takes a secondary role to the eternal family of God. We ought to function as a church family, not a church of families. Matthew 12:47-50.

[Maria]

Enjoyed the article, Maria!

To my knowledge (and as mentioned in the article) most conservative Anabaptist groups practice this. I have a long-time friend who is conservative Mennonite (where the women wear cape dresses and a head covering) and on visits to her home have attended their services a number of times. Women and children sit on the left side of the church, men on the right.

Here's how one group explains the reasoning:

http://www.beachyam.org/FAQs.htm

2.6 Why do men and women sit separately in church services?
While most Beachy Amish-Mennonite churches have separate seating, a few smaller churches allow couples to sit together, though singles remain on their sides. There are a couple reasons many Beachy and conservative Mennonite congregations retain separate seating.
1) Because God assigns different roles for men and women in church services (see 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, for example), it is appropriate to have them grouped together so that they can be together as each fulfills his or her roles, such as men being in the leadership role.
2) With mixed seating, there is an emphasis on families sitting together. But when we come together, we are a church family, and the family institution takes a secondary role to the eternal family of God. We ought to function as a church family, not a church of families. Matthew 12:47-50.

Yes, we do this in my parish in Phoenix, Arizona.

[Luke]

Does the separation even include married couples?

[Maria]

Does the separation even include married couples?

Yes, and even the children.

When children are between the ages of seven to ten, girls will stand with their mothers while boys stand with their dads.

[Justice]

Sadly, this is a problem in some TOC's I won't name the jurisdiction, but within it it seems that this tradition has been forgotten. I didn't know that about the children, interesting fact.

[RaphaCam]

I believe my parish (in the Polish Orthodox Church) used to do that, it became obsolete, but men and women still split when going to communion, or cross veneration and antidoron. I heard the local Old Calendarist parish still does it, though, but, on the other hand, their women are unveiled.