Don't let parking determine the size of your church

Most church leaders can identify many reasons why their churches do not grow beyond a certain size, but one of the things they may not consider is that their parking is a major factor in determining how large a church can become. Church growth leaders suggest that a church should calculate that one parking space will provide for two worshipers. If a church has 50 off-street parking spaces that church will struggle to grow beyond about 100 worshipers. We also know that if a parking lot is 80% full, that lot is full. Guests especially will not spend a lot of time driving around a parking lot hoping to find a space. 

Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind is to add additional parking spaces. However, that may not be easily done. Many churches find themselves landlocked and unable to enlarge their parking lot. They may not be able to purchase additional land from surrounding neighbors. If that's the case for your church, there are still some things you can do.

You might want to offer valet parking. People can pull up right in front of your entrance, hand their keys to an attendant and enter the church. This could be a major help to senior citizens who may not want to walk long distances. Your guests would appreciate not having to drive around an unfamiliar parking lot to find a space. Certainly, in bad weather this could be a huge blessing to those attending your services.

You might be able to arrange for off-site parking and provide a shuttle service. Many churches already own a van that could be used for this purpose. A bank or other business that is not normally open on Sunday could be approached for permission for members of the congregation to park there on Sundays. 

Adding a second worship service would make your existing parking available to more people. Service times would have to scheduled so people would be able to leave the parking lot in time for those in the second service to park. One important thing to note is that you are not making 100% of your parking lot available to those in both service. Probably only about 80 percent of your parking spaces would be available for the second service people.

Another option is to offer a worship service off-site from your main campus.  There are a variety of ways to do this, and numerous books are available to provide a church with a step-by-step way to go adding a second worship service in another location. Doing this will certainly relieve the parking pressure of your current situation.

When churches consider how they might begin to grow, few consider how that growth will impact the church and how the parking might hinder that growth. Your parking limitations do not have to limit the size of your church. We've offered several ways to add additional parking that can accommodate the growth a church might experience.