The church I attend is located in a residential neighborhood, and is growing at an overwhelming pace, currently attracting about 1,000 people to 5 services each weekend. There is no parking lot per se, and everyone must park on the streets near neighboring homes.

I’m told that complaints have been received from the neighbors about cars blocking driveways on Saturday night and Sunday morning. In response, the church has not made threats nor gone to city officials to ask for exceptions to the rules. Instead, they have made announcements asking for cooperation in being respectful to the neighbors and are, I understand, preparing a video – no doubt humorous and straight to the point, if it is like other presentations the church has made – designed to encourage attenders to park properly and not violate the property rights of residents.

Anger and frustration at those who think they are above the law is justified, but it seems generalizations are not.

Gomez says only a third of Armitage Baptist’s congregation lives in Logan Square: its parishioners travel from as far away as Gary and Milwaukee and have enough parking problems already

So are they encouraging these local 1/3rd of thier church-goers to walk or take local transportation? Chicago transit, for all its budget problems, is pretty damn useful. I bet there are buses or els that go right by these churches.

The practical problem of parking, says the pastor, still must be solved.

Why not have their services later in the day or on Saturday nights? I mean, really, would it kill people to change their schedules to make Chicago a better place, with more culture and less polution? Isn’t that part of being part of the community?

Lucy Gomez says another option, one that the pastor supports, would let parishioners keep parking in one of the boulevards’ four central lanes and squeeze Sunday Parkways into the others.

Come on, people, aren’t these church goers demanding a lot- change the time, change the route, and oh yeah, we are still going to be assholes.