Moving on from Heathen Hall and stating it myself, I would also consider a restaurant that wanted me to check my grandchildren at the door as not being “family friendly.” And there are at least some churches that expect this.
A restaurant that welcomes the kids to sit with the parents but they also provide an additional dining room for kids with kid sized tables, food that the kids would enjoy, their sized silverware, cups with lids and fun entertainment and/or learning geared towards the kids.
:)
And what would be their motive -- because on principle the restaurant loves kids or a wise business decision to make more money? A church's mentality to provide everything for everybody often comes off that way as well.
Yes, I wonder if these folks are ever tempted to take advantage of the "kids eat free off their own menu" deals?
Or would they reject such on principle?
If by primitives you mean Primitive Baptists, I can only say that there has been no seating segregated by gender in any Primitive Baptist Church I've ever visited (which is quite a few, but mainly in Texas). But I would not be surprised to hear that some more isolated churches still practice this.
I was intrigued that Burroughs implied this was a bygone practice after the 19th century. This was, from what I have been told, still common in rural Baptist churches in East Texas in the early 1900s, but was breaking down by the 20s and 30s. I am aware of one black missionary Baptist church that continued the practice into the 1970s.
Reading further down it seems Pierce's primary objection was that once the division of seating was abolished, the unmarried males and females would be sitting side by side!