A stranger making the wrong turn might suspect they had arrived in the back lot of Magic Toyota, except that the sign identifies the Edmonds Unitarian-Universalist Church.

But on any random Sunday there might be a dozen or more Toyota Prius cars in the parking lot.  It's not a requirement of membership.  But if a Hummer pulled up to the back door, a few jaws would drop.

The Sustainability Committee is one of the more active groups in the church and up until this month the Prius probably was the poster child.  

And you wouldn't be surprised seeing a bumper sticker reading: "It would be a perfect world if schools had enough money and the military had to hold bake sales to buy a bomber." Or a shorter version, which might be, "'Bring It On!' Is Not a Foreign Policy."

Well, the Toyotas still dominate the parking lot. And you might be surprised to learn that there are no exploded tires hanging from the kiddies' jungle jim.  

Nobody had accelerated from zero to 40 mph between here and the kitchen door.  But neither are Prius owners (including this one) claiming they drive the most reliable passenger car on the road.

It's probably safe to say we have been humbled, but not bowed.  And the lot is still filled disproportionably with Toyota products.

I don't know why this is so.  We have a lot in common with other Edmonds churches in sharing our effort, money and facilities to feed or house the homeless, for one example.  But we have clearly been giving more than our share of transportation dollars to one Japanese manufacturer.  And now we wonder if they did us wrong.

After six years behind the wheel, Your Correspondent and his wife have only one disagreement regarding the Prius.  Who gets to drive it?  

I've had only one terrifying accident, when an unseen angle iron which apparently fell off a truck at an I-5 underpass, subsequently blew out two of my tires, and those of two other following cars.

Recent evidence suggests that the first Prius models sold in this country were also the safest.  

Now the latest converts, whether they be Unitarian, Baptist or Lutherans, will begin lining up at the repair bays at local dealerships to right some recent manufacturing wrongs.

And members of the EUUC Sustainability Committee may also ask the mechanics to afix a new bumper sticker reading, "My other car is a bicycle."