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with contributions from Jan Jarboe Russell, Charles Colson, Lisa Collier Cool

When it's Sunday morning at the mall! A growing number of churches have found homes at strip malls either by renting movie theaters or by obtaining spaces that formerly sold shoes or other items.

"Everyone is so busy that churches can't afford to isolate themselves on hilltops .... Places of worship have to become a regular part of everyone's life, part of the marketplace. And in our culture, that means the mall," explains the Reverend John Chell, one of the founders of the Mall Area Religious Council (MARC) in Bloomington, Minnesota.

This interfaith group got its start in the enormous Mall of America, which includes an amusement park as well as many stores. "We, as religious people, wanted to be part of the mall rather than isolated from it," says Rev. Mr. Chell. "We wanted to examine what opportunities the mall presented for those of us who care about spiritual values. We knew it would be an energetic place, and wanted wanted to be part of it."

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