If your church friend group has no open chairs, it’s a club, not a family.

Closed groups rarely intend to be closed. They form around real friendship, the chairs fill, the jokes get old enough to need explaining, and from outside it becomes clear there is no space without anyone ever deciding that. A family is defined partly by its ability to add someone, and a group that cannot do it has become something smaller.

Look at your group from the doorway for a moment. Find the person standing at the edge and make room, actually, with an introduction and a seat. Notice whether that is easy, and be honest about the answer.