Dear One’s of St. Columba’s, 

I wanted to give you all an update on our parking lot and let you know about an experiential ministry we are going to start at St. C’s.  I say, experiential because I won’t be surprised if we have to re-think it as it goes.  As long as I have been here at St. Columba’s people have desired to live on our property.  Whether it be camping back in our woods or living in their cars in our parking lot.  St. Columba’s is on a busy street with a big parking lot and large property.  We are also set back off the road.  Our property is both very visible and feels protected. These people who come to us are always some of the most marginalized people in our community.  They often need a break and need kindness. And I believe Jesus again and again calls us to have compassion and love for the marginalized in our community. 

The issue is our parking lot is not a long term living solution.  This is not something we can support.  One of the major issues is if we need to trespass someone so that the police need to get involved we have to trespass everyone who is living on our property.  The police have said they cannot keep track of who is allowed and who is not allowed on our property.  My top two priorities is that we are able to offer kindness to all who come to our church, while our property continues to be a safe place for all to be, this includes our church members and those who visit our lot. 

There are a couple of churches in the Seattle area who do let cars live in their parking lot on a long term basis.  This is a huge undertaking.  (Whitney Devine use to volunteer for one, for more information go here.) If there were people in our community passionate about something like this I would be open to talking about it. One major issue would be that we do not have access to showers.  As it stands with our capacity as a church and with everyone’s safety in mind, we are going to start a short-term living parking lot ministry.  This means that when people arrive on our property we have a protocol.  We tell them, “this is not a long term living situation.  You are welcome to land here for a few days.”  We will offer them food from the food bank (we have a bag specifically for people who do not have access to kitchens), water, and ask what their plan is for their next designation.  We ask that they be in relationship with us and work to keep the parking lot clean.  Ideally, people would leave after 2-7 days.  The absolute limit before we trespass people is 25 days (edited from one month, after 30 days trespassers have tenant rights and must be legally evicted.) If they refuse to talk to us or are being disrespectful it could be earlier.  

There are a group of us in the congregation who are around the building quite a bit and are naturally in conversation the guests in our parking lot.  Ideally, we would always go in pairs when talking with our parking lot guests. Starting next week you will notice a white board in the narthex that has the arrival date of someone, their name, their car make and model, and current notes.  If you are interested in being a part of this ministry or have any questions about it please come talk to me.  I invite all to keep these people in your prayers.  

As I said at the start, this is something we have been doing informally for years and we are trying to put some boundaries around it.  In no way, are we inviting people or advertising that people come live in our parking lot, but inevitably people show up.  My desire is that any person who finds their way to our church would know we at St. Columba’s care about them, want to offer support to them, and that God's love and grace is available to all. 

With care and hope, 

Meghan