His Way Inn: A new church in a hotel

Some of the most vibrant new churches are sprouting in immigrant neighborhoods. The movement, if successful, has the potential to reshape American faith communities.

"I know of 21 plants in the last six months," says the Rev. Ralph Kee, of the Conservative Baptists Association. Mr. Kee, who heads the Greater Boston Church Planting Collaborative, says perhaps a majority are being done by immigrants, from Puerto Ricans and Brazilians, to Haitians and Vietnamese.

Young pastors are also coming from such places as Illinois, Texas, and Arkansas. With one of the lowest rates of church attendance in the US, New England is considered ripe for evangelization.

Church plants come in many shapes and sizes, including traditional formats, postmodern experiments, house churches, "cell churches" that are planned to multiply continually, and a "purpose-driven model" based on Pastor Rick Warren's books.

Some aim for churches to grow as large as possible; others want to maintain small, intimate communities. But all are fired by the desire, in Mr. Deardorff's words, "to help people have a relationship with a living God and learn we can have a spiritual life filled by the Holy Spirit."