Korean Pastors Say L.A. Marathon Keeps Worshipers Away : Services: Clergy cite traffic controls, want event switched to another day. Race organizer opposes the suggestion.

Declaring that traffic controls during the Los Angeles Marathon make it difficult for hundreds of worshipers to attend church, Korean pastors have urged organizers of the annual sports extravaganza to hold it on another day.

Held on the first Sunday of March since its inception in 1986, the race drew more than 19,000 runners this year from around the world. An estimated 1.3 million spectators lined the 26.2-mile route.

Despite all the gaiety and goodwill, the pastors said street closures, detours and throngs of onlookers make it difficult for members of as many as 300 Korean American churches of various denominations to attend worship services on time, if at all. The course includes a leg through Koreatown. An estimated 400 city streets were closed for the race.

“Congregations are late or absent on that Sunday. That brings a serious inconvenience to our churches,” said the Rev. Chung Lee of Union Evangelical Church, located in the Pico-Union district near Downtown Los Angeles. He said Sunday is observed by the faithful as “the day of the Lord.”

The pastors, who include Presbyterians, Methodists and Episcopalians, said they speak for 200 to 300 Korean and ethnically mixed congregations and hope to enlist the support of non-Korean religious groups.

St. James Episcopal Church and Wilshire United Methodist Church, both with either non-Korean or ethnically mixed congregations on Wilshire Boulevard, said they share the concerns.

A petition urging a change in the day of the race has garnered an estimated 2,500 signatures, the Korean pastors said. They have also organized the “Change L.A. Marathon Day Committee” and said they plan to bring up the issue in a meeting with Los Angeles City Council members soon.

But the clergy, who met with marathon officials June 28, are getting little sympathy from the founder and president of the marathon, William Burke. Nor is everyone in the Korean community in agreement with the pastors.

Burke charged that the pastors are more exercised about their collection plates than the exercise of religion.

“We’re not talking about an issue here of denial of the practice of religion,” Burke said in an interview. “What we’re talking about here is an economic issue--it diminishes their collections. When you get down to it, I pray at home and I’m sure God hears me,” Burke said. “What we’re talking about is some ministers who want to make sure their collections maintain a certain level.”

Burke’s remark about the collection plate was sharply criticized by the Rev. Peter Kim, the pastor in charge of administration and public affairs at Young-Nak Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, the largest Korean American congregation in the United States.

The possible impact on offerings was “not even a thought for a moment that came into our minds,” Kim said. “We are just very much interested in our church members.” He urged Burke to apologize for his remark.

Meanwhile, a Koreatown civic leader said the pastors do not represent the thinking of a majority of Koreatown residents. If anything, he said, he is promoting greater participation in the race among Korean volunteers, entertainers and runners.

“I don’t want any disputes to happen between the Korean community and the L.A. Marathon,” said Yohng Sohk Choe, adviser to the Koreatown Association and secretary-general of the Koreatown Public Safety Association. “That might be a few pastors’ opinions, but it’s not the general opinion of the whole community.” He also said he believed only 50 to 60 Korean churches were actually affected by street closures.

Burke and his staff said that the marathon helps religious groups in fund-raising efforts. For six years, marathon officials said, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese has used the marathon to recruit men and women into the religious life.

Burke said officials try to take the needs of churches into account in traffic control decisions. But, he said, Sunday is the day when city traffic is at a minimum. He also noted that marathon races are held on Sundays in New York, San Francisco, London and Chicago. Boston holds the race on a Monday.