Scott and Michelle Knollenberg of Plainfield, Ill., can spend their Sundays letting national chains cater to their every need - physical, material - and now, spiritual.
Sunday's highlight is the church service prepared by Naperville pastor Dave Ferguson and his national staff, which will be virtually identical in music, sermon, videos and skits at 10 locations throughout the country.
The Knollenbergs are members of Community Christian Church, which has Chicago-area sites in Naperville, Shorewood, Romeoville and Montgomery. Nationally, the network started by Ferguson and his brother Jon also has churches in Denver, Detroit, New York and Bakersfield, Calif.
In the business world, they call this kind of thing franchising. In evangelicalism, it's known as the multisite church, and it is a growing trend with a similar aim: providing consistent quality and service wherever you go.
1,000 multisite churches
Dave Ferguson, co-founder and lead pastor of Community Christian, said his church was one of about 10 nationally taking a multisite approach in 1998. Upward of 1,000 churches have now embraced the movement.
Jim Hilmer, a Florida marketing consultant and former executive for Blockbuster and the Leo Burnett ad agency, is impressed by the trend.
"I think it's very inventive for the church world," he said. "Most churches are pretty staid and tradition-bound."
Alan Wolfe, Boston College sociologist and author of "The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith," isn't surprised that these spreading megachurches are adapting facets of American culture to their advantage.
"When it comes to using cutting-edge technology, American evangelicals have always been pretty good at that," he said. "They were really pioneers in the use of radio, for example. That runs against the image some people have of evangelicals being backward and out of touch."
The Knollenbergs say these contemporary, nondenominational churches are anything but backward. In fact, the Naperville church's foyer is a coffee shop, designed with the help of sociologist and author Ray Oldenburg ("The Great Good Place"). Oldenburg's notion that humans require a "third place" for gathering as a community beyond home and work has been credited by Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz as one of the factors contributing to the success of the coffee giant's shops.
Community Christian has so grabbed the couple's hearts that Scott Knollenberg turned down a promotion, his "dream job," in 2002 because it required moving away from the church to Peoria,Ill. He quit his position a couple of weeks ago to take a 60 percent pay cut and work for Community Christian full time.
"We're not content with having a nice congregation," he said. "It's all about, 'How can we help other people find their way back to God?'
"Faith is a "journey"
The Knollenbergs don't fit the stereotype of the judgmental fundamentalist. They're in their early 30s and would flip to a different TV channel if they came across a televangelist.
They speak of their faith as a "journey" instead of a conversion. Growing up, church attendance "was more of a task you had to do every week," Michelle said. "We both learned more about the Bible and Jesus in the short amount of time we've been here than in all the years of growing up in church."
Community Christian and Willow Creek Community Church are geared to spiritual seekers in their weekend services. They put a priority on delivering a highly professional presentation to audiences that have grown up with 16-screen cineplexes, big-budget musicals and elaborate concerts.
So when Willow Creek hired Colorado megachurch pastor Jim Tomberlin to spearhead its expansion to satellite campuses, he knew the far-flung locations couldn't skimp on the reputation that the South Barrington, Ill., church has developed.
"When Starbucks opens up a Starbucks," Tomberlin said. "People expect it to be Starbucks, not a mom-and-pop coffee shop.
"There's a lot of meaning in the Willow brand."
Willow Creek has opened locations in Wheaton, McHenry County and the North Shore. All began with 300 people, and all now draw more than 1,000 each weekend. About 20,000 attend in South Barrington.
The church is filling positions for a facility it will open next year in or near downtown Chicago.
"We've done surveys in the past, and when you ask people what the ideal church size is, they'll say about 200," Tomberlin said. "But when you ask them what they want from a church, they describe a church of 2,000 - great preaching, great youth and children's programs, a pastor who's available to them.
"There's a sense that small is more intimate, and it's true," he added. "I believe these (satellites) allow us to do both."
The services that the Knollenbergs attend emerge from video and phone conferences that the church staff has every Tuesday.
Each staff has 10 days to tweak the service to fit the needs and context of its parishioners.