Is that true also for the Orthodox churches like the Coptic church? I don’t think so but I could be wrong on that. I’m pretty sure it would have to be different because they follow a different schedule.
But that’s part of the problem: you have to ask. It’s much better to have a complete, basic Bible in the pews for people to browse at their leisure.
What’s more, the complete lectionary is rarely available in the pews. IME you typically see only selected excerpts from the lectionary.
But the pews aren’t where people are sitting at their leisure. The pews are where people are sitting for the service, and so they contain the readings that will be used for the service.
Radial: No pews back in the day. People stood in the nave. As they still do in many Orthodox church buildings.
I have to admit, I wondered about the scene of the wedding in Mamma Mia! It’s the Greek Islands, not Texas. But I’ve never been there.
(FWIW, the last time I attended a ‘uniting church’ service in Melbourne, there were no bibles in the building other than the one used by the minister).
The churches I’ve attended (all United Methodist) only had a few bibles in the pews. Most people brought their own bible. Many of the bibles in the pews were those left there by congregants, since people tended to sit in the same place every service. The scriptures read during a service would be printed in the program in any case.
Of course, these days everyone who wants to can have multiple bibles on their phone.
I’m Lutheran, and the Lutheran churches I’ve been to all have bibles in every pew. A stark difference from the Roman Catholic churches I attended as a kid growing up where they only had booklets in each pew. They are called Missalettes and they have only excerpts from the RCL, revised common lectionary. No bibles.
That’s why when I changed churches and started going to Lutheran churches, I’d joke, “Oh! So this is what a Bible looks like!”