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Monday, October 29, 2018

All the posts October 22 -28

Last week certainly got off to a weird start. It's possible that these posts wouldn't have been written if it weren't for the kindness of strangers. Thanks, Canada.

The church we hoped to visit was only about two hours north of us, so we drove up on Sunday morning. It was a border town, and I (Mindy) hoped to walk into Canada and back using my recently-renewed passport. Dean's passport is expired; he'd stay on the US side of the border. That was the plan, anyway.

After parking at the church and discovering we had plenty of time for the two-block walk to the US/Canada border, we headed north. Several cars went through the checkpoint, but we were headed for the building to one side, figuring I'd go in while Dean waited outside on US soil.

We miscalculated.

As we approached the building, a friendly border guard approached. We told her what we had in mind, she showed us the pedestrian entrance to the building -- and said we'd already crossed the invisible line marking the border. Uh oh.

Inside, the guard checked my passport while he asked the purpose for our visit and how long we planned to stay. He seemed a bit confused by my answer (for the fun of it, about five minutes) until I clarified that I hadn't been to Canada for years and I wanted to use my new passport. He asked for Dean's driver's license, examined it, and sent us out through another door to cross a parking lot to the United States. The border guard in the US building wasn't as friendly; he had us wait several minutes before approving us to re-enter the country.

Whew.

So we visited a church and a bar just south of the border -- the furthest north, as far as we know, of either in Washington.  And since he wasn't detained in Canada, Dean was able to post a final scary sequel at Movie Churches.

The links:
The furthest north church in Washington

The last horror movie church sequel (for this year, anyway)

The furthest north bar in Washington (probably)

One more thing: did you know that even if you're not in the United States, you can buy our books? Here are those links should you want to check them out:

Not the Usual Christmas Skits

Cheers and Amen (our 50-state adventure)

The Bill the Warthog mysteries

I Spy Christmas (Dean wrote the three Christmas plays in this one)



Monday, October 22, 2018

All the posts: October 15 - 21

What kinds of posts do you like?

As we begin to wind down our church and bar visits -- after four years of different places every week, we're ready to commit to one church and one bar --we don't want to lose touch with you. What do you want to read about?

Okay, you think about that while I remind you what we've been doing this past week:

Has anybody else gotten to this point?

Scully and Mulder are at it again

This wasn't the bar we expected to find in Forks

Spoiler!

And don't forget: even though the pumpkins are still piled high, it's not too early to plan for Christmas  (sorry). Cheers and Amen is the perfect gift for your pastor or bartender! (And if you get tired of the same church Christmas plays every year, maybe slip a copy of Christmas Skits: Not the Usual into an appropriate trick or treat bag).

So tell us: what else do you want to read about?



Monday, October 15, 2018

All the posts: October 8 - 14 with bonus church photos (and a cat)

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church,
Cicely Roslyn, Washington
Back when we were on the year-long adventure that led to Cheers and Amen, we used to post pictures of churches we saw. When we stopped in Roslyn, Washington, for this week's bar visit, we also saw some churches that took our fancy. It was too late on Sunday for worship services, but we took pictures to share with you anyway.

And that leads to a little announcement! We've been secretly working on a project that might be useful to you. Back when Dean was a youth pastor, he was usually in charge of the Christmas programs at the churches where he worked. We compiled seven of those skits into a little book, and it's avaiable now in paperback and Kindle. Here's the special part: the paperback is only $5.00 and with that you get the Kindle version free! You can also copy the skits so you only need to buy one book for your whole cast.

Roslyn Presbyterian Church
The skits are short and easy to stage, but they're something new if you're used to the same children-in-bathrobes Christmas play every year. We hope you like this new book!

But you came for the links, didn't you? Here they are:

You were wondering about the furthest east church in Washington, weren't you?

It's part II of Horror Movie Churches Sequels!

Where is this bar anyway?


Monday, October 8, 2018

All the posts: October 1 - 7, 2018

It's October at last! Saturday was Dean's birthday, and he celebrated by sleeping until noon (he worked the night before, so he went to bed at 7:00 am) and then driving all afternoon. More about that on Wednesday; you're here to read about the posts you missed this past week, right?

Here they are:

The theme for this month at Movie Churches is revealed!

It's a road trip! It's a coffee house! It's a church!

The first of this month's movies that Mindy won't be watching

In which it's a good thing the sports bar we tried to visit wasn't open

How did you enjoy the first week of October? We have some adventures planned this month, and we'll start telling you about them on Wednesday!




Monday, October 1, 2018

All the posts: September 24 - 30, 2018

Wow, this week "all the posts" really means something! I don't remember the last time we had five posts in a week (possiby not since 2016). It's fitting that this was a big week,, though. We noticed that we wrote our first post at Dean and Mindy go to church four years ago last week.

We don't know why this week was so full of activity, but the month to come is shaping up for a few adventures. More about that later. For now, here are all the posts:

We're calling a birthday party in a comedy club "going to church" now, are we?

Just because we don't drink doesn't mean we can't write about it

This was unexpected on Netflix

Puppies! Puppies, puppies, puppies! (and cider, too)

This birthday party was maybe more what you were imagining?

I'm compiling statistics from the last four years of writing about movies, churches, and bars. What are you wondering about?