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May 01, 2006
Commuting....Impact on Church, etc.
Steve McCoy has been posting a lot of interesting stuff on the suburbs, urban living, etc. But I found this posting interesting, regarding the flight from the cities and even the suburbs, to farther out places in search of affordable housing. Makes me wonder what impact this is going to have on the church? Then the other day I read this article, The Long and Grinding Road: The rat race is turning into a marathon. Inside the lives of 'extreme commuters'.
As more and more people commute farther and farther to work so they can live in places that are affordable, I think it is going to have a devastating impact on certain aspects of the church community. This is already an issue in Los Angeles, and it is an issue in our church community because our church is sort of off the beaten path...not in a suburb, but up on a hill off the 405. Traffic city!
How does it affect us in the church:
1. For example, it affects me as the college director. My wife and I live in Pasadena, CA. I commute from Pasadena to Los Angeles (near Encino). That's only a little over 20 miles, but that is 20 plus miles in LA traffic...210 to the 134 to the 101 to the 405 south. Hour to an hour and a half in traffic. Plus as the college director I spend a majority of my time out of the office with students in Westwood, near USC, near LMU, etc. So on top of commuting to and from work, I probably spend at least another 2-3 hours driving around to meet students, volunteers, etc. That's not everyday. But that's on a pretty long and busy day.
2. For example, it affects people who volunteer. I have students who go to school full-time, who work part-time to make money, need to study, etc, etc, and they volunteer in the college ministry. But sometimes it is hard to get up to church. A student can live in Westwood (UCLA), which is only like 5 miles from the church, but during rush hour that commute can sometimes be about 45 minutes.
3. For example, Saturday night events at our church are greatly impacted because we are off the 405. And no one wants to be on the 405 on Saturday, especially going south.
Cost of Living. Affordable Housing. Traffic. Commuting. Etc. These are all interesting factors that are impacting church communities and will continue to do so. Especially since we as Christians often seek churches outside of our communities we live in and head into other communities that have churches that we want to be a part of. And in Los Angeles, it is very difficult to live anywhere in this city. So often, church staff often have to commute into work since they cannot afford to live in the neighborhoods that their churches are in.
Just my ramblings, but I'm wondering what long-term impact this is going to have. And if gas prices keep rising...well, who knows what is going to happen.
Posted by rhett at May 1, 2006 09:33 AM
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Comments
I really enjoyed reading this post. I myself travel 44 miles 1-way to my job. While I have only been making the commute for 2 years, I am eager to find a job in my own community so I can be more involved and effective in the lives of my co-workers.
In some ways I think the stratification of our culture's lives has caused people to crave forms of community so much more. In ways I think this gives the church opportunities to effectively outreach and minister to the area directly around where the body is located. But as you said, this can be especially difficlut in suburban Los Angles where the church staff and or members do not even live in the community around the church.
Posted by: Kimberly at May 2, 2006 06:36 AM
Rhett,
I read that same article in Newsweek and I think one of the things the church needs to do is start thinking about going out instead of calling people to a place. What if instead of trying to get bigger, big churches tried to get people to stay in their communities and make a positive impact on churches there? I wonder if it might be more beneficial to have more locations instead of being tied to one? And I think that you should be paid enough to live within 10 miles of the church... but that's just me - didn't know you were in Pasadena!
Posted by: Don at May 2, 2006 06:24 PM
Hi Rhett,
I have a similar commute around the Beltway here in DC (maybe only second to LA as far as bad commutes). It is a nightmare. We go to church in DC about 7 miles from home. It gives me cause to think about what community is and how the church fits in to the community. Our church (Washington Community Fellowship) on Capitol Hill is "a church for all peoples" and takes the stance of being a community, i.e., local church. The irony of it is that at least 50% of the church lives outside of the District, let alone Capitol Hill. I think that I personally--and perhaps the church as a whole--needs to rethink the role of the church in the community. Are we really adding anything by driving 5, 10, 15 miles to go to church? Maybe we should try to be more local. If affordable housing is in the suburbs or exurbs, maybe we should be going to church there. How much impact are we having on each others lives when we only see each other once a week?
Hope you are doing well.
Jake
Posted by: Jake Posey at May 8, 2006 07:59 AM
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