|
This is part 5 of Jim Coggins’ series, The State of the Local Church.
IN THE 1920s and 1930s, a series of technological innovations had profound
effects on the church. Radio and movies pulled people away from church events.
But by far the greatest impact was made by the increasing availability of the
automobile.
While the automobile gave people in rural areas the capability of driving to
church, it gave people in urban areas the opportunity to skip church and travel
to other places on Sunday morning, including the beach.
We began this series with the example of a church which seated 270 and had 25
parking stalls. Such a church is viable only on the assumption that most of the
congregation lives nearby and will walk to church.
Mayor Richard Stewart of Coquitlam, a member of All Saints Catholic Church, told
BCCN the community of Maillardville grew up around two Catholic churches.
“The generation before me may have chosen a home based on where the church was,” because they wanted to be able to walk to church. But that is no longer the
case.
Similarly, 40 years ago, a majority of children walked to school. Now, due to “perceptions of safety” and a hurried lifestyle, a majority are driven to school – by parents who worry that their children don’t get enough exercise.
Overpowering convenience
“We are using cars more to get to places we used to walk to,” Stewart said. “The car has become a convenience that is overpowering.” The church cannot escape the impact of the car and the decline of a walking
culture, any more than local schools can.
The most basic impact of the automobile on the local church is that any church
which has few parking stalls and relies on people walking to church will
probably close.
This is partly because, with the general decline in attendance, the pool of
church attenders within walking distance of a church is not enough to make a
local church viable.
But it is also because the car has made it possible for attenders to choose from
a variety of churches. This has led to the rise of the ‘destination church’ or ‘com-muter church’ – the large church with multiple staff and multiple programs.
But some people also choose to travel a considerable distance to attend a small
church where they feel more at home.
“Choosing a church is very different from 100 years ago,” said Gary Nicolosi, when it was expected that everybody who lived within a certain geographical boundary
would go to the local parish church.
Values and needs
Nicolosi, congregational development officer for the Anglican Diocese of British
Columbia, added that people now “choose a church based on their values and needs.”
Even “most Anglicans pass two or three other Anglican churches on their way to church,” and “every neighbourhood church is now a regional church . . . with a significant
number of people who come from somewhere else . . . Nobody goes to a
neighbourhood church except elderly people who find comfort in having the
church nearby.”
The power of the automobile means not only that people can choose from more
churches, but also that they are less loyal to a church even after they have
chosen it.
“Membership is not fixed today,” said Nicolosi. People move on as their values develop and their needs change.
Whether or not that is a good thing, it is a reality. “Pastors have to accept that people will come and go.”
Cars can bring problems churches might not otherwise encounter – such as complaints from neighbours about church attenders parking in front of
their houses.
Continue article >>
|
Financial implications
The reliance on the car also has significant financial implications. If there is
an average of two or three people per car, a church that seats 250 people needs
at least 100 parking stalls. A church needs twice as much land as it would for
just a building. This is not only more expensive, but in crowded urban
landscapes it is hard for a church to even find a large enough piece of land.
Other alternatives are not much better. Churches moving out to suburban areas in
search of parking are accused of abandoning the city. Staying put is not easy,
either.
Municipal governments can complicate matters by requiring churches to have a
certain number of parking spaces before they can expand. There have even been
cases where municipalities continue the practice of not taxing church
buildings, but make moves to tax church parking lots.
Willingdon Church in Burnaby has less than 300 parking spaces for a congregation
that can number over 5,000. The church’s parking spaces are reserved for visitors, seniors and people with
disabilities.
Everyone else is encouraged to park at the nearby BCIT and Moscrop School.
Senior pastor John Neufeld said the schools have been “great partners.” Willingdon makes its facilities available to BCIT.
Public transit option
Churches in the heart of downtown Vancouver draw from a constituency which will
take public transit to church, because that is how people there get around.
However, as mayor Stewart of Coquitlam and mayor Peter Fassbender of Langley
City pointed out, there is a major difference between urban Vancouver and their
more suburban municipalities.
Public transit is the best option in Vancouver where buses run frequently; but
the suburbs don’t have the transit systems to allow churches to get away from their reliance on
cars or their need for parking lots.
Can Roxburgh is senior leader of Southside Community Church, which operates as
five smaller churches in various locations.
Given the need for churches with the personal touch and the need to reduce
impacts on the environment, he sees hope for a resurgence of neighbourhood
churches – since there are increasing numbers of people who desire “a lifestyle where walking is good.”
It might happen, but it certainly won’t happen overnight. Fassbender, who attends Christian Life Assembly, said it
might be possible in the long run to design “resilient neighbourhoods” which have all the necessary services within walking distance; but it will take
a massive education program to “teach people to get out of their cars.”
January 2010
|
