Assigned Seats in the Black Church

Know Where to Go to Save Your Soul

By Mark Wolfe — This image is from the FEMA Photo Library (obsolete as of 2019). An archived copy may be found at the Wayback Machine (note: link may be permanently dead, as not all photos were backed up in this way).If the FEMA link is permanently dead, the photo can be found at NARA Access to Archival Databases (only works if photo was taken between 1989 and October 2004), or at City-data.com., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8081676

Imagine walking up to a ticket booth outside a church, waiting in line to select your seat for the service you elected to attend. The more technologically advanced churches could allow seat selection online. You could show your e-ticket to an usher with a scan reader. While this sounds ridiculous, Black churches have an unwritten history of…