Make sure you know where parking is NOT allowed.
Dear COAH,
Last week, after church, someone came to see me in my office with a furious look on his face. I asked him to calm down and tell me what was going on. I listened to his complaint. He told me that he was the manager of the plaza at 511 McNicoll Avenue and that he was under tremendous pressure from the landlord and the tenants because of the illegal parking by the Young Nak Church members. He said driving on Sunday (his day off) from where he lives (Keswick) to sort out the complaints was annoying.
The manager asked me to devise a permanent solution to prevent the church members from parking on his property again. He showed me his phone and said he had sent a formal request to the church in 2019 (before the pandemic). I was uneasy about how to respond to the expression "coming up with a permanent solution." How can we devise a permanent solution, especially when some congregation members disregard these concerns? Have we not brought the matter to our members repeatedly all these years?
As I listened to the property manager's complaint, two questions nagged at me the most from what he said.
·If you care enough to dress well for church, why can't you respect others who have to run their businesses?
·Why do people come up with flimsy excuses like "Oh, I didn't know I was not supposed to park here" when they knew exactly what they were doing?
I repeatedly apologized on behalf of the church members and showed him the two-minute video that we had just shown to our congregation last Sunday, explaining that the church had secured two additional parking lots to mitigate the parking problem. He thanked us for our efforts and asked that we do our best to eliminate all parking issues from now on.
Brothers and sisters, if we are supposed to go into the world and be light and salt. Well then, we must take illegal parking seriously.
We should avoid any kind of complaints and criticism from our neighbors! This matter must be resolved at once. From now on, please use parking lots 2 and 3. I know it is a bit inconvenient to walk, but it is much better than giving unbelievers a horrible impression. Let me remind you again. Parking next door at 500 McNicoll Avenue or across the church at 511 McNicoll Avenue is strictly forbidden. Thank you! Remember, our community relations are at stake. Your actions, even seemingly small ones like parking, have a significant impact on our community.
Blessings,
Pastor Minho Song
