A white trailer bearing the logo of North Star United Methodist Church, pulls up to a Liberty elementary school early one Sunday morning.
Several men roll large storage boxes down the trailer ramp and into the building.
Each week core groups of new congregations converge on rented facilities and transform a school cafeteria, a gym, theater or auditorium into a worship setting, often with the precision of professional stagehands. After setting up, they worship, break down, pack up and do it all again the next week. Estimates are that each year 3,000 to 5,000 or more new congregations are started each year. Some find temporary homes in religious facilities, but experts say the majority use rented space in other buildings. And they could rent anywhere from an average of four to five years to eight or 10 years.