Drive-in church marks 50 years.

National Catholic Reporter, Nov 28, 2003

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. -- Ever get to church and wish you could just stay in the car? Here, you can. Now concluding its 50th year in what was once the Neptune Drive-In Theater, the Daytona Beach Drive-In Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) allows families to sit in their cars and worship beneath the Florida sky. "We worship just like anyone else does, we just do it outdoors," said Drive-In Christian's senior minister, the Rev. Larry Deitch.

Located across from the Atlantic Ocean on a highway dotted with hotels, condos and restaurants, the congregation attracts an average of 700 people every week. The minister delivers his message from a high balcony just below where the movie screen once hung. To hear the service, worshipers either park in the two or three rows of the drive-in that still have speakers or tune into the worship on low-power radio.

In keeping with Disciples of Christ tradition, Communion at the church is weekly. As churchgoers pull in, they receive a bulletin and a packaged Communion kit.