By The Rev. Dr. Carl Grosse

The three churches near Holbrook and Hotel are struggling for parking space. Personally, I would like to avoid parking wars. It might not be very Christian for people from one church to deliberately and repeatedly park in another church’s clearly marked lot, but it’s even less Christian to start World War III over it. Let’s begin by making sure we ourselves are properly using our space. 

First, if you can walk from the parking lot on Holbrook, park there. DO NOT PARK BY THE MAIN OFFICE ENTRANCE IF YOU CAN WALK FROM THE LOT! The number of people we have who cannot walk from the lot is such that both sides of Gresham must be kept available for them (I have never parked on Gresham during Sunday morning. I also don’t park there on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings, or when we have funerals. Come on, you can do it!)

Second, if there’s no room in our lot, please consider using Gresham Middle School. The folks at Fountain City Church use school parking and are trying to leave spaces for us. The school also opened up the staff parking area across from Pruden (that’s where I park on Sunday morning). 

We hear the concerns and we’re looking at additional ways to help manage the parking. Whatever we implement, having Christlike behavior is of the utmost importance. In the long-term future, the three churches sharing this immediate neighborhood must find ways to be good neighbors and work together. Like the song says, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!”