On a tangential note, I thought I'd share an observation and invite any comments from others who make it out to Lakewood regularly. Below is a seating chart for the lower bowl of the sanctuary.

Everyone has their own favorite seating area for anything they'll go to regularly. Church is no different. Plus, I've had a negative experience with one area seating in particular, so if anyone else can confirm or verify that this is a "built-in feature" or an "unusual exception," that'd be good to know.

The sections labelled A through E are those that I've frequented. The blue areas with better results, the red areas less so. It should be noted that I offer these observations as a 6'2, not-yet svelte conditioned person. As such, the leg room of the floor seating is a requirement for me. My first visit saw me seated somewhat out of the way, in the arena seating along the sides. My first Wednesday service was in a similar seat. When I discovered the ample leg room on the floor, I'm fairly certain that the clouds parted, the angels sung, and a light shined down on me. That said, I've noticed a few folks who maintain a regular seat along those areas. I'm sure the elevation of those seats is a benefit to those under 6'2.

Anyway, the closest section in the middle (A) is a natural for quality seating, but you'll likely suffer a bit for elbow room as there are few open seats. The back of the middle-front section is more common for me to situate myself since it maximizes leg-room, elbow-room, and has me seated close enough to not turn to the big screens to take in the detail of either the sermon or the worship service. (C) is where I started sitting once I discovered this wonderful, spacious plot of seating. At the time, it sort of suited my view that I was merely giving Lakewood a chance and to see if I felt comfortable here. A bit out of the way (as if the teacher would call on me if I sat any closer?), but close enough to feel like you're in the midst of a big congregation. Only drawback was that I noticed the big screens were distracting from me. Maybe it's just me, but that gets to be a distraction. I ended up sitting in this region last Wednesday and began regretting it once Aimee Beard took the stage for worship. It's just not the same and I don't know if that's just because I'm so easily distracted or what.

The negatives are the two red sections, (D) and (E). Each one has been a one-time thing for me, as I'm not prone to test a theory by missing out on part of a service for the sake of acoustical experimentation. But in (D), there was a rather substantial echo effect from the sound system. It was noticable in everything - the music and the speakers on stage. I'm real curious if that was a one-time thing because the time I sat there, I got a pretty darned good seat. I'm still not as big on viewing from side-stage, but if I know the acoustics are decent on most occassions, I might be willing to make a move up there once in a while.

(E) was a one-off deal for a different reason. It was one of those days where I walk in just as worship service starts and the sanctuary is already fairly packed. Biggest drawbacks were the distance (I was pretty much relegated to watching the big screens from start to finish), the seating along the front was for the hearing-disabled, so the signers were doing their thing, which is just one of those ADD-lite distractions that do me in, and it was also a late-to-fill section - which meant that all during worship, you're jostling with other late-arrivers, even though I'd thought I staked out a rather open territory of seating that would have me free from this. Let this much be said of the ushers ... they know their job! Acoustics were fine, but the situational variables make this rather unattractive seating for me.

One added peculiarity of mine is that worship service strikes me as vastly different on the floor level than it does along the arena seats. On the arena seats, there's less connection with the row in front of you and the row behind you. All the dancing and singing and whatnot just seems a bit more isolated. Granted, I'm a big fan of music in general and have taken in my share of rock concerts. There, the mob effect of being mixed in with a big crowd celebrating the music is something special. The floor level strikes me as more toward that effect. Yet, I realize worship service is supposed to be more of a horizontal worship than anything else, it's also one of the best views to take in of Lakewood's full effect in locating the commonality of the congregation. Dunno ... maybe it's just me, though.

There's always the occassional oddity that goes beyond our own quirks and preferences. I recall angling for a seat up near the (A) area and had to wake up an older, somewhat dishevelled-looking black man who'd fallen asleep in his seat, slouched to the hilt, blocking the row from being traversed and also had his hands down his pants, ala Al Bundy. It might be one thing if I saw this guy settled into a seat somewhere more out of the way, but this was about 10-15 rows from the stage, right smack dab in the middle of the row. All during the worship service, he's still sitting there, looking like he wished he hadn't been woken up, hands down his pants. Next time I thought to glance his way, as I was getting ready to leave, he was all smiles with the folks who had settled in around him - even shaking hands with several people (which was really disconcerting given the Al Bundy reference). Apparently I missed something interesting inbetween. We can't account for everything, I suppose.

My favorite recollection, however, is realizing when I've gotten a seat nearby one woman who brings a tamborine to church for the worship service. Admittedly, this struck me as really strange the first couple of times I saw this. But after a while, I noticed she was keeping a pretty accurate beat throughout. It also has the added benefit of covering up a few of my somewhat less-than-graceful notes as I manage to sing along. As luck would have it, I found myself at a table in Koinonia with the woman some time back. Just a sweet woman who's been through a lot and leads a rather prayer-filled life as a result.

Anyways, if there's other thoughts on this that fellow Lakewooders care to add, feel free to do so. We all have our preferences