Yesterday my wife, Polly, and I, along with our oldest daughter, attended a dance recital for two of our granddaughters at the former Defiance High School auditorium. We had a delightful time. That said, the auditorium and its steps were not ADA compliant. I found them difficult to navigate, almost falling several times.
Almost a thousand people attended the recital, put on by Defiance Dance Studio. We had to park a good distance away from the auditorium. By the time we arrived, all the nearby parking spaces were filled. We parked in the St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church parking lot. There was one parking space closer to the auditorium we could have parked in, but unfortunately, it was guarded, much like the Garden of Eden, by an angel with a flaming sword, warding off all who would dare to park in this holy space.
Not one person would park in this holy space. I told Polly, “pull in.” She did, as we both heartily laughed. As I pondered our atheistic parking, I thought, “ya know, the church might have our car towed if we park in the holy of holies.” Churches can be and are quite vindictive if their “space” is adulterated by unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines. So we moved, safe from God and his tow trucks.
Best I can tell, the church’s pastor, Dave Brobston, is not disabled.
My position has remained the same both today and during the twenty-five years I spent in the ministry: such reserved parking places are signs of privilege; that pastors are above the people they pastor. James 2:1-9 says:
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
Instead of being “the least of these,” pastors often expect preferential treatment (or, at the very least, don’t push back when their churches try to give them exalted status). I refused to let churches treat me any differently from anyone else. Instead of parking close to the church, I deliberately parked at the back end of the lot, giving preference to others. You know, as Jesus did. WWJD? Remember? A new trend in IFB churches is for pastors to have gaudy recliner-sized chairs on the platform for them to sit in. Again, perception matters. What do these chairs say to visitors? Well, Bruce, where did YOU sit when you were a pastor? Glad you asked. I typically sat on the front pew, except when preaching and leading the music. In the late 90s, I took matters one step further by preaching from the floor instead of the platform. I stopped wearing “uniforms,” hoping to show congregants I was one of them. One Sunday, my mother-in-law complained, “Bruce, if you keep doing this stuff, your people won’t think you’re special.” 🙂 Yep, that was my goal. (Bruce was always doing “stuff.”) 🙂
Perception matters, and from my seat in the atheist pew, this sign tells strangers and visitors that the pastor is special, worthy of elevated status. The fact that not one person attending the recital was willing to park in the reserved space tells me that the threat of financial punishment if you parked there was received. Left unsaid is what this sign says to people St. Paul might be trying to reach. I am in no way impugning the motives of the church and its pastor. What I am saying is perception matters; that if the goal is “reach” people with the gospel, how you present yourself matters.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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I guess it’s more important to have that special reserved parking place, so everyone can know their preacher is all that. The man, the one who counts the most?
Gerencser, Do you mean to tell me that this man of God with a reserved parking spot is forced by these liberal times to drive himself!!!??? That he no longer has a chauffeur??? What on earth have we come to in these sorry times! This kind of sacrilige is the direct result of homosexuals and the atheists who are their parents. There is a very good reason the Pope can’t drive, for God’s sake! He is a driven man, you fools…. The popemobile is bomb-blast proof and bullet-proof! But in America we force men of God to drive themselves! I have heard that some preachers even have second-hand cars. My oh my, how we have fallen.
In my day in the real church, the Baptist church, they laughed at us when my dad preached against sex. But you just look at what has happened now… Now we have a thousand people attending a scandal in a SCHOOL, no less! My dad warned against sexual activity for this very reason and yet the Gerencser family openly attends a dance recital? This is the problem with America now: My dad warned about where sex could lead but you would not listen. And you allow CHILDREN to do this ‘dancing’…. And it was probably televisied too on the evening news… SIGH!
That sign promoting preferred priority pastoral parking makes me laugh! Bruce, you rebel, I feel ya! I would have parked in that spot too! Note that you and your car were safe from holy smiting for purploining the preferred priority pastoral parking spot!
I recall at my childhood church the church staff (including Pastor) were marked as reserved for staff during the week, but during services were changed to handicapped. This is actually appropriate.
This reminds me of my Grandmother, visiting a local restaurant for their monthly “Purple Hat” club. The restaurant catered to motorcyclists, and had put “motorcycle only” in the handicapped spots. Being a stickler for following the law, she decided against parking there, even though it was an imposition to park further away. I don’t think the “Purple Hats” went back to that restaurant again (there were other problems), but then again I don’t think they cared.
Bruce, I have loved your writings for years but never commented until now. This piece had me laughing out loud on a day that I need that laugh so badly. Thank you.
I had another thought… Maybe parking is enforced by Paula White’s angels from Africa And South America. They couldn’t bring Trump victory, but they can impound your car.
And the prreacher MJ sayeth, If ye park in my, er, thy minister’s spot, may thy pistons cleave to the top of thy engine block!