A NYTimes piece on the Southern Baptist strategy in New York City

“If you give them something of value, that kind of sets it apart,” said Kelley Searcy, a missionary from Atlanta, in a Midtown office on a recent Thursday as she and six other missionaries stapled thousands of cereal bars to postcards advertising a series of church services on the theme of “Sex in the City.”

While laying the groundwork for the 2004 “New Hope New York” campaign, the Southern Baptists have already founded two new churches in Manhattan, but one has to look hard to find the Southern Baptist connection.

One called the Journey was founded a year and a half ago by Ms. Searcy and her husband, the Rev. Nelson Searcy. Its Sunday morning services nearly fill the Promenade Theater on the Upper West Side. Each service opens with a soft rock band playing Christian music, followed by other performances, skits and prerecorded video displays.

The theology, however, sticks closely to the Southern Baptist tradition. “For those who are Christians, you will have eternal life,” Mr. Searcy told the mostly 20-something crowd that filled the theater in a recent Sunday morning. “For those who are not, Jesus describes it as eternal punishment,” he continued, warning, “You don’t want to go there.”