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With only 115 parking spaces and an average of 2,000 worshipers each week, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (MPPC), in the crowded San Francisco Bay area, has an obvious parking shortage. Things got even worse when neighbors petitioned for—and received—a parking ban on the streets around the church on Sundays. Members complained when people they invited to visit the church had to park several blocks away.

While MPPC's situation may be extreme, many churches face difficult parking challenges. Churches that actively reach out to their communities and invite new people every week should be aware that visitors may not stay if the parking lot is 80 percent full. Even casual church attendees may hesitate to park in a crowded lot and to walk into a packed sanctuary.

How many parking spaces will you need, and how many can you fit on your property? It depends on local ordinances, so always check to make sure your parking lot plans are in compliance.

For example, Bryce Carroll of Carroll Engineering in San Jose, California, cites his local ordinance that requires one parking space for every four seats in the sanctuary, and one additional parking space for each staff member. Typically, a church can fit 100 parking slots on an acre.

MPPC has 12 parking spots labeled as preschool-only parking, so every Sunday it uses portable signs to re-label those spots as "first-time guest" spaces. If a first-time visitor needs directions or help out of a car, a member of the church's welcoming committee stands ready and available at curbside. When staff members presented the idea of converting the dozen slots, they downplayed how members themselves had less parking, and stressed how invited guests would now have parking places when they visit.

Katharine Sherwin, the church's connection director, says keeping a positive presence in the community while working out parking and traffic problems helps the church. When the local school ran out of space for the school district's after-school program, MPPC volunteered to be the host. And when the annual art festival spills over the sidewalks in front of the church on Sunday, the congregation sees this as an opportunity to invite neighbors into the facility, rather than as an annoyance. Church leaders are also engaged in ongoing discussions with the city about more parking, including considerations for a parking garage that could solve problems for both area businesses and MPPC.

Church vehicles are a staple for group transportation. Many churches own or use 15-passenger vans for transporting people. Those who do so must take extra precautions. In 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration classified 15-passenger vans as dangerous. From 1990 to 2002, the NHTSA determined that 1,576 of these vans were involved in fatal crashes.

The problem with the vans is their high center of gravity and the related instability in emergency maneuvers. These vans are prone to fishtailing and rollovers. In addition, the vans were designed for carrying cargo, not passengers, so some safety features like a reinforced roof and safety glass are often lacking. The dangers are well documented, and federal law prohibits the sale of 15-passenger vans for the school-related transport of students high school-age and younger.

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