As abstract as it sounds, I've actually been propositioned to come to a rival church because of how nice of a basketball court they had.  Every Tuesday, my friends and I used to play at this church that had a fullcourt.   Its the best place to play for free in my town.  However, you still play at a price!  We had a kind of middle "halftime" where we all had to sit together, talk about God and how Jesus could affect our lives, and generally pray.  This was mandatory.  Whenever a church member would try to get me to come to their regular services, I would just say that I was already a member of my own church....without a basketball court.  Haha.  This wasn't a lie, at the time, but of course the only reason I was there was for that court.  About 20 other people, I know, felt exactly the same.

So anyway, there's my answer.  A church community will set up something special (with their priviledged donations) that the area is lacking to draw in visitors.  Many churchs down here, in the South, use sports as their avenue.

If you hang out long enough at a mass, you get a snack towards the end.

There is this HUGE baptist church out by me that drives a van around on Sunday mornings to pick kids up and take them to church.  They send out flyers to everyone to let them know this service is available to any lazy ass parents that want free babysitting on Sunday mornings.

Bingo

I've seen church signs with stuff like, "God is real no matter how you feel" and the guilt-provoking ones like "Jesus died for you - What have you done?".

One Church of Christ group that worked a college I went to used to invite people to a big picnic with barbecue and vollyball.  They used the tactic that's common at colleges, so I've read, of getting their hottest-looking young members to ask people of the other gender individually to come to the picnic (and I'm sure it was just an oversight that they didn't mention the integral Bible study). 

I knew soooo many guys who idiotically assumed that the hot Christian chick was asking them on a date, and they were actually surprised at the picnic when the vollyball stopped and the Bibles were whipped out.

This same group also used to recruit Asian (Bhuddist) exchange students by exploiting their fears after explaining to them in detail  about the devil and Hell.

Religious Institutions have to go to drastic measures now to get people to listen to a whole bunch of talking without any evidence to support it. I remember going for the Candy, Juice, and Donuts as a child. It's such a shame that they have to stoop so low for mindless followers...

Slimm,

Those church social groups...

I had moved to a mining town 600km from my home to teach. My calsses were nightmarish (I still wake up in a cold sweat after dreaming I am still teaching there) and I was separated from my friends by a 6-hour drive. I was close to breaking point.

 One of my fellow teachers (who had already been out there for a few years) was quite friendly and we started hanging out a bit. He invited me to go along a a barbeque with his friends. I soon discovered it was a church group. The people there were incredibly happy and friendly. They were exactly what I wanted to be a part of at that point in my life. I was almost prepared to give up my hard-fought individuality and freedom of thought to be one of them.

I'm pretty sure that's the way cults work. Find someone at a point of unhappiness and low-self esteem then show them how happy and loved they will be as part of your group.

A few months later I quit teaching, moved back to the city and re-trained for a new career. I am now happy and didn't need to hand over my brain to achieve it.

Here at my university there is a Christian group called "The Salt Company" every fall they have a BBQ but they do so with out mentioning usually even the name of the group let alone that they are christian (they are the most evangdical group on campus also the biggest nutters). I always thought it was so wrong for them to not even mention their name let alone not say its a christian group.

Last year their sign was a cube that asked you to come to a BBQ, in a talk bubble.  Man i do not like those guys

Are you from Philly? I know there used to be a temple there that did the same thing!

There is a church near me that has a GIANT Jesus statue coming out of a large pond. I mean this Jesus is four stories high. There is a sign out front in huge flashing letters that reminds us the statue guy wants us to go there. When I first saw it, I thought it might be a character from Godzilla. It was all very frightening but not as frightening as what was said inside.

There are a number of mega-churches where I live. They use signs on metro buses and tv spots to advertise:

- Their own rock band (They make "Stryper" look talented).

- An espresso stand inside the church

- They project an image of excitement, love and a family like atmosphere.  As always w/ christianity, it's a good lesson in Marketing 101.

Churches use the same attractions that their own (and most) religious ideologies (and successful marketing campaigns) use...an appeal to basic human needs.  

Maslow's heirarchy of needs:

- Self actualization: (Sense of purpose/fulfillment)

- Self esteem: (You are no longer a wicked & debased animal once you see things our way)

- Love: This gets them in the door far quicker than eternal torture and damnation.

- Safety: A way to avoid the aforementioned torture and damnation(Fear).  Every mythology in history has had its method(s) to avoid our own mortality.

- Physiological: Food, shelter, clothing.  Bring on the church potluck, the bake sale, soup kitchen, etc.

Many psychologists have added Beliefs/Spirituality to these basic human needs.

You can pretty much go right down the list and check off each of these.  It's no wonder that all of the despots of history have themselves also appealed to these needs to gain control of humans.  They either admire religion's success at using them (eg, Hitler), partner themselves w/ religious belief (The most common as Chiefs/Shamans, Kings/Priests have worked w/ one another for thousands of years) or have seen religious control as a competitor or adversary to their own appeals for control (eg, Stalin).

Most individual churches pretty much do the same things.

After all this talk of bar-b-que and doughnuts, it seems that xians buy converts with food.

Now I like bar-b-que as well as the next person, but I'd go without a meal before I'd sit through services to get it.