What do "Drive-In" movies and church have in common? Well, all over this country cars have been used to not only spend a Saturday night at the passion pit, but the following morning they could be the private resting place to be forgiven for whatever happened the night before. This practice started in the 40s and continues today. However, with drive-ins struggling to keep people driving though their doors to watch their flickering screens, as they fall one by one, it's becoming a rare happening. But, read on.
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Unknown photographer.
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However, never attending one of these white painted plywood screen churches, they do seem to offer several perks. If I did, I could wear shorts or jeans, no embarrassing singing...just lip-syncing, munching on snacks, or bringing your best friend
Fido along, snoozing if it was a late night before, no one coughing...blowing germs your way and a volume control on the window mounted speaker. Humm...
Life magazine was there to capture this uniquely American way of life with our cars even if some of the churches were specially built and not used for movies. As you get to the last image, you'll notice Robert Schuller perched on a concrete block refreshment stand at the Orange Drive-in So-Cal where he got his start. Does all of this seem, odd? Well, maybe. It seems as our streamlined life gets faster and faster, and some people take less time to devote to just sitting back in a brick and mortar church, maybe these churches, mostly of the past, will catch on again.
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Time to meet in the snack bar. Image via Like archives. |
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| Venice, Florida drive-in church. Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Image via Life archives. |
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| Venice, Florida drive-in church. Image via Life archives. |
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Robert Schuller started out on top of the Orange Drive-in snack bar, Garden Grove.
Started in 1955. Image via Life archives. |
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John,
ReplyDeleteThat picture of Schuller cant be '55. The cars are too new. There is a 914 in the front row!
Jay
Hi Jay, yep that image was in 1970 just before he moved to his new church, a drive-in and walk-in type that was designed by Richard Neutra and built in 1961. "Dr. Schuller, who believed this outdoor ministry experience helped inspire him to later build the all-glass Crystal Cathedral, often states, "It was there I fell in love with the sky!"
DeleteThanks Jay, I'll make the correction on the caption.
I love this John!
ReplyDeleteGreat find! Now where can I attend the services? ;+)
Take care
Mary Ellen