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SAUL GONZALEZ: Worship the way that's comfortable for you, that's the idea attracting a growing number to San Diego County's North Coast Church.
Here, simultaneous services, all with their own mood music and prayer leaders, range from rock and roll cool for Generation X and the baby-boomer crowd to old fashioned and hymn-filled for traditionalists to coffee-shop casual for people wanting informality and a cup of java with their prayers.
All of these worlds of worship are just steps from one another at this nondenominational evangelical church's home, a converted industrial park complex that feels like a religious street fair.
The inspiration for what this church is doing -- offering its congregation a boutique approach to worship -- comes from a place where freedom of choice and variety are celebrated: the American shopping mall. It's an example of retail thinking in the service of religious faith.
Reverend LARRY OSBORNE (Pastor, North Coast Church): I am very comfortable with a consumer mindset and use that as a tool to help reach people, as long as I'm not compromising the message.
GONZALEZ: Larry Osborne is North Coast's pastor and the man behind his church's a la carte approach to worship.
Rev. OSBORNE: People have very strong opinions about worship. I think God's tastes are much broader than most Christian tastes. But we have a tendency to think that God likes only what I like. And having all of these venues allows us to have worship of various styles with the same message.
GONZALEZ: Technology allows the congregation to share in that common conservative evangelical religious message. From the main chapel, called the sanctuary, Pastor Osborne's service is telecast to jumbo video screens in the other venues, turning many churches into one.
Saturday evening sermons are broadcast live to all the venues. However, Sunday morning worshipers outside the main chapel watch a tape playback of their pastor's previous night's message.
The church's technical director is Dennis Choy. He says worshipers are accustomed to interacting with their pastor on the big screen instead of in person.
DENNIS CHOY (Technical Director, North Coast Church): I think we are definitely in the media generation. People are accustomed to watching things on screens. That is okay. They cannot do everything on a screen, but there is a piece of it that people naturally can handle. It's like he's there to them.
GONZALEZ: The themed chapels were started three years ago when growing attendance made it impossible for parishioners to all fit under one roof in North Coast's original worship space.
Rev. OSBORNE: It really started with the idea of having an overflow room that was a reward. The first thing I thought of is, why don't we serve Starbucks coffee?
Here, simultaneous services, all with their own mood music and prayer leaders, range from rock and roll cool for Generation X and the baby-boomer crowd to old fashioned and hymn-filled for traditionalists to coffee-shop casual for people wanting informality and a cup of java with their prayers.
All of these worlds of worship are just steps from one another at this nondenominational evangelical church's home, a converted industrial park complex that feels like a religious street fair.
The inspiration for what this church is doing -- offering its congregation a boutique approach to worship -- comes from a place where freedom of choice and variety are celebrated: the American shopping mall. It's an example of retail thinking in the service of religious faith.
Reverend LARRY OSBORNE (Pastor, North Coast Church): I am very comfortable with a consumer mindset and use that as a tool to help reach people, as long as I'm not compromising the message.
GONZALEZ: Larry Osborne is North Coast's pastor and the man behind his church's a la carte approach to worship.
Rev. OSBORNE: People have very strong opinions about worship. I think God's tastes are much broader than most Christian tastes. But we have a tendency to think that God likes only what I like. And having all of these venues allows us to have worship of various styles with the same message.GONZALEZ: Technology allows the congregation to share in that common conservative evangelical religious message. From the main chapel, called the sanctuary, Pastor Osborne's service is telecast to jumbo video screens in the other venues, turning many churches into one.
Saturday evening sermons are broadcast live to all the venues. However, Sunday morning worshipers outside the main chapel watch a tape playback of their pastor's previous night's message.
The church's technical director is Dennis Choy. He says worshipers are accustomed to interacting with their pastor on the big screen instead of in person.
DENNIS CHOY (Technical Director, North Coast Church): I think we are definitely in the media generation. People are accustomed to watching things on screens. That is okay. They cannot do everything on a screen, but there is a piece of it that people naturally can handle. It's like he's there to them.GONZALEZ: The themed chapels were started three years ago when growing attendance made it impossible for parishioners to all fit under one roof in North Coast's original worship space.
Rev. OSBORNE: It really started with the idea of having an overflow room that was a reward. The first thing I thought of is, why don't we serve Starbucks coffee?
Ms. PERKINS: Yeah, under the same leadership.
KIM SONODA: We just find the variety is great. Because you can bring different family members. And if you got a mom or dad that are older, they want to be in "Traditions." You can break off, the kids going here, the parents there, and brother can go to "The Edge." And still meet up in the plaza.
Rev. OSBORNE: Well, I have a saying that leaders like it big, but most people like it small. Larger churches, left and right, are finding out that once they hit a certain size, we have to find ways to make ourselves feel smaller. It is just easier to connect. We are a real church then and not a big show.
