All the posts: December 9 - 15

You're busy. Christmas Eve is a week away, you're not done with what you planned to finish by today, and events (and people) need more than you have. Or am I the only one?

That's why today's post is very short. Just some links that you can read now or later. I hope they're encouraging (or at least amusing), and that you're able to rest, even today. May you have quiet moments of peace with enough light to go on with. God bless you.

The links!

Missionary slideshow! (honestly, one of my favorite things)

Our other favorite church called Living Hope (the other one is in Vermont)

Doesn't most of the world have Christmas without snow?

Pies (and pietinis) before plays

All the posts: November 25 through December 1

About four years ago, we started sharing posts about churches (both real and reel) at Dean and Mindy go to church. Almost three years ago, we walked into a bar and wrote about it for the first time. I suspect this month, December, will be pretty nostalgic as we anticipate completing our church and bar journey at the end of the year. (Dean will keep watching and writing about movie churches, though! He already has most of his 2019 viewing planned).

In the meantime, we're coasting into Advent, looking forward to Christmas, and celebrating the year's adventures. Over the past week, we celebrated Thanksgiving one more time, miscommunicated about the bar we were going to visit, and watched an end to Robin Hood's story. Check them out:

Grateful Lutherans

I don't think this will end well

Which bar did we mean to visit?

All the posts: November 18-24

As the only member of the household who really looks forward to eating turkey, this week has been a culinary delight. As I eat my final turkey sandwich today, I'm thankful for the week past.

Our whole family ate Thanksgiving dinner together. Dean and I found another West Seattle bar we'll be glad to revisit. And I never have to watch the latest Robin Hood film again.

How about you? What are you thankful for as November winds down?

This church's name is only a little baffling

What's up with Robin's hoodie, and where does Marion get her velvet and lace?

Robin really tries to be good

Was it magic or chemistry?

PS Be on the lookout for a sale on our books during the month of December! We'll let you know about it here as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

All the posts: November 11 - 17, 2018

Last week we had an experience we've never had before (and we hear it's pretty rare).

My brother and sister-in-law live on an island; we'd hoped to visit them when we visited Washington in 2016, but there just wasn't enough time for the drive to the ferry and the ferry ride, let alone the time we wanted to spend with them. So we put the visit off.

As soon as we moved to Seattle, we started making plans to visit them, and last week it finally happened. Hilary (my sister-in-law) sent us tickets so we could walk onto the ferry. We managed to board moments before the boat left (thankfully, several minutes late), and settled into seats by a window. Once we were underway, Dean noticed something out in the water, just far enough away that we couln't see it plainly. He thought it might be a seal or a sea lion.

We were pretty excited until the boat started slowing down and someone (the pilot? the captain?) announced that they'd noticed an orca off the port side (that was the left...or the opposite side of where we were sitting). People began lining the windows. I hurried to the deck to see and try to take pictures while Dean graciously stayed with our bags.

People were pointing and exclaiming. Families were taking selfies as the orca surfaced behind them. I took pictures, then remembered Dean hadn't had a chance to look yet, so I headed in to stay with our stuff. He went to the windows and watched for awhile, then came back. It made for a pretty exciting Saturday afternoon -- and technically, that was part of our trip to church the next day, right?

But you came for the links, not a long-winded story about a ferryboat slowdown, right? Here they are:

In this case, "island time" was 10:00 am

A Robin Hood who thankfully stopped trying to speak with an English accent (with a nod to one who does it naturally)

An extremely short bar post with lots of pictures

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!

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?

All the Posts: September 17 - 23, 2018

Yesterday, I was checking out the weather for several places we used to live and looking back at pictures from two years ago, when we were in Wisconsin. I guess a lot of you are still enjoying summer, aren't you? Around here, the "12" flag is flying from the Starbucks headquarters, so I guess it's been fall for a few weeks already.

Still, all the lifestyle blogs are full of posts about decorating your front porch for fall.  Words like "hygge" (it's a Danish word that essentially means cozy, as far as I can tell. I blame Ikea) are sprinkled throughout, and I guess people are excited about the return of pumpkin spice and football. Even though fall started officially on Saturday, we're excited because we have tickets to an A's game this week. Summer hasn't quite ended, even around here.

Naturally, then, the blogs this past week were also a bit of a mix of summer and fall, too. We went to a church that aims to be a warm, homy place, and we went to a preview night that turned out to be perfect for the last summer bar post. And the movie church? Well, you decide. We're still talking about it.

One name, five locations. Sounds like home

Theology, NPR, and Netflix

We went to Detroit, too. Our experience wasn't like this

All the posts: 9/2 - 9/9/2018

This post will be a little rushed because I need to catch a bus in about 45 minutes. Can I get this done and get to work on time, photos, links, and all? We'll soon see. And since I'm in a hurry, do you mind providing some of the commentary?

Introducing Netflix month. We discussed using "and chill" in the title, but wonder if it's just too suggestive for Movie Churches. Your thoughts?

We check out a big church with a good reputation. Is that reptutation deserved? You decide.

The debate over "netflix and chill" continues. And this movie doesn't help at all. What do you think these people could have done differently?

This bar was exactly what it ought to be, and the A's won, and we saw a warthog. Should we have sung when asked?

It's a manic Monday here, but thanks to public transit, I think I'll make it to work on time. How's your week starting?

All the Posts: August 6 - 12

I haven't gotten adjusted yet to this "get up early and go to work" schedule yet, but seeing the sun rise over the recycling center in the morning is a daily encouragement. We had a number of other encouragements this week, too: visiting a church that meets in a rather surprising place, going to the movies and finding a church, revisiting a favorite film of our youth, and being surprised by the third of our neighborhood bars.

What, you want links? Here you go!

Calvary Chapel of West Seattle

A church in an action film? (In theaters now!)

What was that about a holy hand grenade?

This bar had a surprising population

Have a good week. May your days be swift, productive, and blessed until we meet again.

All the posts: July 23 - 29, 2018

It's still summer! We roused ourselves from porch-sitting and other energy-sapping summer activities (like going to work) for a few small adventures this week. We're even getting our movie posters hung up (well, some of them, anyway).

We even managed to visit one church two times, and while I was reading some Father Brown mysteries, Dean watched a related movie. While we didn't make it to a new bar this week, we revisited our memories of a bar we visited two years ago in Boston. Perhaps you've heard of it?

This week I'll be starting a new job (woohoo!) and maybe we'll get some family photos up on the wall. In the meantime, read these posts (and if you haven't already, we'd love you to review Cheers and Amen, the book about our year of visiting a bar and a church in every state, on Amazon. Thank you for considering it!)

We visit a church going through changes

It's a mysterious movie clergyman who's oddly familiar

We always knew we'd end up here

Have a good week, dear readers!