A pew refers to the long permanent benches installed in churches and arranged for the seating of the congregation. Prior to the Protestant Reformation, churches were never furnished with permanent pews. Comprising a very important aspect of Protestantism, sermons required some kind of seating-arrangement for people to sit on and listen to the message delivered. With the emergence of Protestantism, more and more churches became furnished with pews. Nowadays, pews have become an essential part of churches, and it would be quite rare to find a church without them. The very ancient orthodox churches may be the only ones that do not have pews, yet; but that too, is a rarity. Initially, in many churches, the congregants personally installed the pews. These pews were reserved exclusively for the congregants who had planted them. They had to purchase these pews from the church itself, and the cost of the pews was, obviously, very high. The church tried to redeem its overheads or the expenditure incurred on the construction of the church by selling these pews. This left those who could not afford pews, standing during sermons. Today, every church has its rows of pews. Church pews are arranged in two or more rows. A column of space left in between the two rows permits space for walking and acts as an aisle, such as during wedding ceremonies. These pews are constructed out of wood and the congregation sits facing the altar. Sometimes pews have slots to hold bibles, hymnals and other clerical literature. Pews also have what is known as 'kneelers' in front of the seats, to help the worshippers kneel while praying. Kneelers have a board for the member to lean against.