A strange thing happened when I was in Daytona Beach. You'd expect a beach town to be asleep early Sunday morning, but streets surrounding the block that is home to both First Baptist Church and First United Methodist look much like the raceway—U.S. 1 on one side and parking lots, flagmen, and bumper-car traffic on the other.

I hadn't noticed the Methodist church at first. The assortment of buildings fringing the busier sides of the block were once fast food stands and souvenir shops. Now they house special ministries of the Baptist church, singles and such. On the back side of the block is the Methodist church, the same beige as the Baptist church with the same Spanish tile roof. At first I thought it was the Baptist's "old" sanctuary. But a weathered sign beside the door bore the Methodist name and service time: 11:00. With the Baptists at 9:45, I decided to take in both.

I'm here because First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach is where a new evangelism program was developed. A plan ...