Nashville, USA - Pastor Don Martin's preaching duds are as unconventional as his church. "I wear a Western-style shirt, jeans, cowboy hat and boots, and we meet in an arena used for rodeo events," said Martin, founder of the Happy Trails Cowboy Church in Taylorsville, N.C. "The only time I take my hat off is when I'm praying."
It may seem unorthodox, but the church is among hundreds of so-called "affinity churches" the Southern Baptist Convention has set up around the country using niche-marketing tactics to attract the "unchurched" — people who often don't make it to the pews — and nontraditional churchgoers.
Church leaders who will be attending the convention's annual meeting here in Nashville on Tuesday and Wednesday say the churches maintain a strong biblical message but also make a wider variety of people feel more comfortable.
"They're considered affinity-based because they offer what people like, such as the cowboy lifestyle," said Richard Harris, vice president of church planting for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. "When they find somebody that has the same passion that they do, that attracts them."
Harris said the convention, which boasts a membership of more than 16.3 million, started 1,781 affinity-based churches last year and hopes to create even more this year.
There's a theme for nearly everyone. If you want to get in an early game of golf, then there's a golf church that meets before tee time. Other churches appeal to bluegrass enthusiasts and members of Generation X. But Harris said the most popular are the cowboy and biker churches.
At Happy Trails, Martin has 11 members and 41 attendees called "partners." The partners take part in the services at Happy Trails but don't have to give up membership in their home churches.
Martin said the church got its start serving a number of people who participated in activities such as rodeo circuits and couldn't make the regular Sunday services. He started a church that meets on Monday nights — and it's far from traditional.
Instead of pews, casually dressed attendees sit on bleachers on a dirt floor. There is no heating or air conditioning, and riders atop horses carry in flags during the service's call to worship.
Never mind the surroundings, Martin said the spiritual message is the same as any other traditional church and is well-liked by the nearly 80 worshippers he averages each week.
Gary Davis, pastor and founder of the Church in the Wind of Denver, a biker church, said he was prompted to start his congregation in 1996 after he was told by a traditional church that he couldn't wear his biker outfit to service. But he said it's not what you wear that matters.
"We don't care if you're wearing a suit or a T-shirt and jeans," said Davis, who rides a Harley-Davidson to church. "What we care about is the condition of the heart."
Other denominations are creating niche churches, but Harris said they don't start them as quickly as the Southern Baptists.
Craig Miller, director of new congregational development for the United Methodist Church, agrees the Baptists are moving faster largely because in that faith individuals can start churches. The Methodists have conferences to start congregations and added 200 last year.
"I think it's a challenge to do a new church start on your own," Miller said. "The advantage of a conference or denomination helping you is that you have the support and training that comes with that."
Even though the Southern Baptists are the nation's largest Protestant group, its leaders say their churches appear to be stagnating. The number of new member baptisms has declined over the past four years, prompting the denomination to set a goal of baptizing 1 million people a year in the United States.
Thom S. Rainer, dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said most denominations have seen a steady decline over the years mainly because of a national change in beliefs.
While the affinity-based churches are helping the Southern Baptists reach their goal, he said baptizing that many people will be tough.
"About 50 years ago Christianity was assumed by the vast majority of the population, but I don't call the U.S. a Christian nation anymore," Rainer said. "If anything, we're post-Christian. And that makes it tougher to evangelize."