Fellowship Church, a new evangelical congregation in South Miami, celebrated its grand opening Sunday with a live rock band, free coffee, Cuban pastries and $5 gas cards for newcomers.
Congregants entered a newly renovated sanctuary with an elaborate sound system, three giant TV screens beaming lyrics of contemporary Christian songs and headsets broadcasting a live Spanish translation.
The only thing missing was the pastor.
The Rev. Ed Young, who addressed his Miami flock through TV screens showing a recorded sermon from the previous night, was preaching in Grapevine, Texas, at Fellowship Church's main campus.
The Miami church marks Young's newest satellite campus -- a congregation that has its own band, campus coordinator, Bible study groups and ministries but connects with the head pastor via high-definition video and only occasionally in person.
Fellowship Church is one of just a handful of mega-churches around the country to expand across state lines. Others include an Oklahoma church with satellite campuses in Arizona, Texas and Tennessee and a South Carolina church with seven campuses, including one in Georgia.
''You never say never in God's economy,'' said Young, who was scheduled to fly to Miami and preach at the Sunday evening service.
The church -- which has 20,000 members and four campuses around Dallas/Fort Worth -- decided to open a Florida branch after a shrinking Baptist congregation in South Miami asked to merge with Fellowship, Young said. When asked how he would split his time among five campuses, Young laughed and replied: ``That's a great question. I'm open to suggestions.''
Few of the 300 worshipers at Fellowship's Miami campus seemed to mind when the sermon was delivered through high-definition video and life-sized screens rather than a live pastor. People chuckled when Young made jokes, interjected with 'amens' and even answered questions when Young asked his Texas congregation about a Bible verse.
''He has what?'' Young asked on the recording.
''Promised!'' people in the crowd responded.
Young, 45, who was dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt and had stylishly highlighted blond hair, spoke about God's unconditionallove, occasionally dropping in slang like ''freaky,'' ''off the chain'' and ``sweet.''
Luisa Rodriguez, 20, a nursing student at Miami Dade College, said she was skeptical at first about joining a congregation whose senior pastor lives in Texas. But after hearing Young preach, she was hooked, she said.
''At first I thought it would be awkward because it was a satellite church, but it wasn't at all'' she said. ``You don't even notice that he's up on a screen.''
Carlos Alayon, 44, said he preferred listening to a live preacher but joined Fellowship because his four children, a 12-year-old son and 14-year-old triplets, seemed engaged by the combination of TV and live music.
''I'm a little more traditional,'' said Alayon, a therapist. ``But you get used to it.''
Satellite churches have grown exponentially in the last three or four years as evangelical pastors embrace such technology as live satellite feeds, webcasts and TiVo in an effort to expand their reach, said John Vaughan, publisher of Church Growth Today, a newsletter that tracks the nation's largest churches.
While some scholars and Christian leaders have criticized the approach, likening satellite churches to big chains like Starbucks and Wal-Mart, Vaughan said those who decry the ''Wal-Martization of the church'' are missing the point.
''This is more like CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York,'' he said, comparing the movement to the popular crime-scene investigation television series. ``It doesn't matter what state he's in, [a preacher] can help carry the magnitude, the focus of that church. It is transferable.''
About a quarter of the nation's approximately 1,200 mega-churches -- congregations with 2,000 or more members -- have satellite campuses, said Warren Bird, co-author of The Multi-Site Church Revolution: Being One Church in Many Locations.
The trend has taken root in some of South Florida's largest congregations. Christ Fellowship in West Palm Beach ministers to 20,000 congregants on its three campuses. Calvary Chapel draws some 22,000 to its weekend services in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation and Boca Raton. Pastor Bob Coy said he launched satellite campuses to make Calvary Chapel more accessible to congregants who commuted to services.
''We had people who would drive 30 to 40 minutes only to watch the service on a screen in an overflow room,'' said Coy, whose church recently began using TiVo to record Coy's sermons and rebroadcast them at the satellite locations.
Maintaining a congregation in a separate state may be a bit trickier.
Young said he plans on occasion to preach his Sunday morning sermon in Grapevine, then fly to Miami for the 7 p.m. service. Fellowship Church in Miami also has its own campus coordinator to oversee its ministries.
Eventually, Young expects to spend three to four months a year in South Florida.
His goal is to reach people who don't normally attend church.
''I wanted to go somewhere where it's not the belt buckle of the Bible belt,'' he said.
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