Folks who complain about churches "not being what they used to be" or accuse congregations of "changing and becoming wordly, just to attract people" probably forgot that steeples and stained glass windows weren't part of the original churches' equation.
At least, believers fixated on "having old time church services, like we used to" seldom mention how pews, choirs, organs and dressing-up for church actually originated:
"Contrary to popular opinion, medieval Christians had no common practice of dressing up for church because nice clothes were only afforded by the wealthy.
"The growing prosperity of the middle class cultivated a craving for bigger and better houses, church buildings, and clothes. Denominations with a greater proportion of wealthy members (e.g. Episcopal, Unitarian) began selling pews to wealthy families to fund elaborate church building improvements.
"As the Victorian enculturation of the middle class progressed, fancier and more formal worship houses began to draw the influential people of society, so that the more populist congregations (e.g. Baptist, Methodist) had to work hard to try to keep up with improvements to their own facilities.
"Borrowing from the Episcopalians, Methodist and Baptists began to bring choirs and organs into their worship services." - source here
Funny, isn't it, how believers will fight any kind of Change to the last deacon standing, and argue themselves out the church door rejecting change, insisting upon "keeping things like they always have been."
Without once recognizing that steeples, pews and dressing-up for church are actually recent, modern changes incorporated to reflect and "keep up with the times."
