No. I am completely serious. It is a great hospitality idea for many congregations to consider. I suspect it has more applications than you might think. As a starting point, I would suggest seven times when congregations ought to consider offering valet parking.
ONE. The obvious time is when a church does not have available parking. This is particularly true for in-town or downtown churches without sufficient off street and on street parking.
TWO. When there is a chance people--particularly guests--might have to park more than 400 feet away from the entrance to the building. Guests might be hesitant to allow their car to be valet parked the first time they visit a church. But, I also suspect word will get around that you offer this service.
THREE. To assist senior adults. This will be particularly helpful when a congregation has a large number of senior adults, many of whom want to park close to the building. It is often not possible to provide enough senior adult parking places close to the building. When you do not, they park in the guest spaces.
FOUR. To assist disabled or handicapped persons. Even when handicapped spaces are provided, they may not be as close to the building as they need to be. It could be the driver needs assistance getting a passenger in and out of the building, or the passenger has to wait at the door while the car is parked.
FIVE. An increasing number of churches have situations where one parent is bringing multiple children to church without assistance. This occurs when there is a one-parent household, when a spouse travels for work or military obligations on the weekend, when one spouse does not attend church, etc.
SIX. Bad weather days are a great time to offer valet parking. This can be when it is cold, windy, raining, snowing, or following a snow or ice storm when the parking lot and sidewalks have not yet been cleared. Since these times cannot always be predicted, it is a tougher challenge to staff these Sundays.
SEVEN. Special occasions when the parking lot is likely to be filled would be a great occasion to use valet parking. Its availability can be part of the publicity about the event. Typical events might be Christmas Eve, Easter, special musical or drama events, homecomings and anniversaries, weddings, and funerals.
I have recommended valet parking to many congregations. Few have seriously considered it. Often the dialogue is shut down by the thought of increased liability for the congregation, the possibility teenage boys might want to get into the act, and the feeling since there would not be enough volunteers to do it, that it is another cost to the church. Besides, how many people would really use it?
Well, two thoughts. First, a lot of restaurants, country clubs, hotels, shopping malls, and special venues have worked through the liability issue and find it to be an added value for which people will pay. I am not suggesting churches ought to charge. I am only suggesting the demand might be higher than is at first thought.
Second, there are congregations doing this. Like with so many topics, I do not keep a file on this because you are continually creating the files for me. I just went to www.Google.com and typed "church valet parking" to discover congregations using valet parking in some way. Among the congregations I discovered are these:
- Abundant Life Church, Grapevine, TX.
- Community Bible Church Mansfield, OH.
- First Assembly of God, North Little Rock, AR.
- Frederick Presbyterian Church, Frederick, MD.
- Old Stone Church, Cleveland, OH.
- Vista Grande Baptist Church, Colorado Springs, CO.
Special Note: For the sake of my own liability, let me say I am not endorsing any of these churches or their method/practice of valet parking. I am only providing leads for you to see examples of some congregations who are using valet parking. None of these have been clients of mine.
One more thing. In my Google search, I discovered that during 2006 the mayor of Washington, DC in responding to the double-parking problem in DC on Sunday mornings around churches suggested one solution might be valet parking.
That made me think of my youth in Baltimore, MD. One urban legend--and perhaps true--reason why the Baltimore Colts football team became the Indianapolis Colts is that too many churches were located around Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. It was impossible, due to parking problems, to get the fans in the stands in time for a 1:00 p.m. televised football game. As a result, the Colts lost millions of dollars every year in television revenues.
By the way, what do you think about valet parking? Do you have stories to share about it? Click on the "Comments" button below and leave a comment, or send me an e-mail at GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org. I look forward to hearing from you.
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