VAN NUYS : Church Buys Land to Increase Parking

Signaling its commitment to an area hit by urban decline, the large Church on the Way has purchased a nearby lot for $2.15 million to provide additional parking.

Senior Pastor Jack Hayford, who leads a congregation of 8,250 members living in and around the San Fernando Valley, said Wednesday that the purchase of the 2.4-acre lot on Sherman Way was mostly significant for the church’s ministry to the Valley urban core.

“There are any number of places where (the church) could be located instead of an area that is not so desirable for our nighttime events,” Hayford said.

“We have made a statement that we are committed to the urban center as well as to suburban areas,” said Hayford, a nationally known pastor whose church projects a budget of $10.4 million for the coming year.

With the purchase completed this week from owner Henry Lyon, the church will eventually gain only 150 new parking spaces. The church had been renting the land for $2,000 a month to park a maximum of 150 vehicles.

After demolishing an empty building on the property--once occupied by the California Department of Human Resources--Church on the Way will have a total of 300 parking spaces in a lighted, landscaped area more inviting to churchgoers, said Max Lile, the church’s executive director of finance and development.

“Whenever we’ve had a big event or a large service, some people have described our parking situation as a war zone,” Lile said. Most of the money for the purchase came from the church’s sale of a lot on the corner of Van Nuys Boulevard and Sherman Way earlier this year.

Church on the Way, formally the First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys, is one of two non-Catholic “super-churches” in the East Valley. The other is Grace Community Church of Sun Valley.

Six years ago, Hayford’s congregation bought the Van Nuys First Baptist Church complex three-quarters of a mile to the west on Sherman Way. About 5,000 people attend Sunday morning services at the two facilities, both of which house classrooms and various church departments.

Hayford, 60, is a much-sought speaker around the country to evangelical and Pentecostal Christians. Co-founder of a quarterly prayer gathering of Los Angeles pastors called “Love L.A.,” the minister also was the principle figure behind the San Fernando Valley Crusade last June featuring evangelist Luis Palau.

“Our belief is that Los Angeles is coming back,” Hayford said, referring to the city’s setbacks from urban rioting, fires and the Northridge earthquake. “We suffered as much as anyone from the quake, about a quarter million dollars worth, but we are committed to not retreating, not just limiting ourselves to cautious moves.”