It all started four days after the 2016 presidential election, when Seattle’s Eric Liu gave his first “civic sermon.”

“Many of you feel not just shocked but betrayed. Not just sad but grief-stricken,” Eric said then, sounding like a pastor in church. “So we gather today in search of a spirit of fellowship and common purpose.”

It happened at the first Civic Saturday — an event that responded to that urge to be in a room together, and connect to a civic purpose that seemed strained, confused, or shattered. People reflected and shared ideas. And there’s been Civic Saturdays in Seattle every couple months or so since.

“I’ll admit initially, words like ‘sermon,’ and [the idea of] Civic Saturday as an ‘analogue to church’ — in Seattle, in particular, it’s really provocative to use language like that,” said Kristin Leong, a former teacher who’s now the community engagement producer at KUOW.

But after Kristin went to a Civic Saturday herself, the language made sense. Americans aren’t just motivated by the issues they care about, she said, but by the personal principles behind them.

“No other time in my life have I seen people wanting that, and wanting political leadership to align with their values,” Kristin said.

Kristin and a fellow Seattleite — Tamara Power-Drutis — just wrapped a week of training in Citizen University’s new training program, Civic Seminary. One goal of the program? To pass on the skills and practice from Seattle’s Civic Saturdays and see what develops. Tamara and Kristin joined eight other “seminarians” from around the country to learn about American civic rituals, reflect on the ethical foundations of their beliefs, and practice delivering their own “civic sermons.”

“There’s been variations of disbelief, of anger, of urgency with forced optimism, and through all that, there’s a weight that everyone seems to share of too many battles being fought on too many fronts,” said Tamara, who was most recently chief of staff at Amplifier, a nonprofit design lab for political movements.

“I need my patriotism to be rekindled in the way that that can only be done by having a variety of perspectives and a variety of ideas and people in a room finding what our common ground is.”

What’s next for Kristin and Tamara? They’re working on some ideas, and we’ll keep you posted. If Civic Seminary sounds like something you’d be into, stay tuned. Citizen University will be recruiting new seminarians beginning in the fall and you can sign up to get notified here. As for Seattle’s next Civic Saturday (they’re all over the country now!), that’ll happen on October 20 at the Fremont Abbey.

Not cool. You’d hope our city’s nightclubs would want to steer clear of bad news at the bar. But at Foundation Nightclub in Belltown, police did an undercover narcotics investigation, arrested 12 people, found everything from cocaine to date-rape drug GHB, and said the management knew. “The music community feels like an intimate network where we find happiness and safety,” reader Chloe Lloyd wrote to us. “We were all particularly shocked about the use and volume of GHB.” A lawyer for the club said many of the allegations are “absolutely false.” (KIRO)

We got big mamas. King County’s first-time moms are among the oldest in the country. The seventh oldest, to be exact — with 57 percent of ‘em baking their first little muffins while in their 30s or older. 🍼 This varies a lot around the country, and tracks pretty closely to women’s income and education level. For context: In El Paso County, Texas — where almost a quarter of people live under the poverty line — 85 percent of first-time moms are under 30. (The Seattle Times)

Your questions about homelessness. Ever wondered what percentage of our homeless neighbors had jobs before they lost their homes, or whether many people who are retired or aging end up living homeless? GeekWire and RealChange have answers to two more of the hundreds of questions about homelessness that you asked eight local media orgs to help you understand. “The short answer is yes,” Real Change’s Ashley Archibald wrote to the question about aging. “The long answer is dark.” We’ve answered one of your questions ourselves — is there an influx of homeless folks from other cities? — and will check back with the answer to another question soon. (GeekWire, Real Change)

Restaurants you can actually park at. Finally — a list of 20 foodie hot spots you can pull up to without circling the neighborhood for 15 minutes. 🎉 Admit it. If you drive, it matters. (Infatuation Seattle)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY

We’ll see you tomorrow. — The Evergrey