Christian rock group Switchfoot arrives on stage at a religious festival in Mount Union, Pa.,

THE NEW YORK TIMES / Nicole Bengiveno

Move over Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend.

Worship music at some evangelical churches is cranking up — driven by electric guitars.

Many churches have long provided services that appeal to their congregants’ musical interests: traditional, contemporary or blended. Now, some of them also have expanded into rock-style worship.

It’s not so loud that you need earplugs, but we’re talking the sounds of alternative pop rock, straight rock, pop punk and indie rock.

Near the pulpits, guitars glow under stage lights and their images flash onto large screens. It’s like something you’d see on worship cable channels.

Marty Blackwell, creative arts coordinator at Celebration Christian Fellowship in Clovis, Calif., says worship bands — with two lead guitarists, bass guitarist, keyboard/piano player, drummer and vocalists — work because it’s a style that worshippers enjoy.

“It’s, in a sense, breaking out of the old mode of thinking that in church there has to be an organ and look a certain way,” he says. “We try to put out there what the everyday person would hear on the radio.”

The churches expanding into rock-style worship aren’t all the same. Some say they don’t want to present just one genre. Rather, they want to present what the worship song calls for — their artistry.

For example, the worship team at NorthPointe Community Church in northwest Fresno, Calif., opened a recent service with Christian musical artist Lincoln Brewster’s hit song, “Today Is The Day.” Brewster is considered one of the industry’s most talented guitarists.

As the NorthPointe worship team performed the song, worship pastor Todd Anderson sang the lyrics, “I will stand up on your truth.” Then, he asked the congregation to repeat them. They did. And lead guitarist Steve Partain hit just the right notes so his guitar sounded as if it were “talking.”

“I try to hit the same octaves they’re singing,” Partain says. “We’re just praising God. I’ve had a blessed life. I feel it’s one way to give back.”

After the worship team performed a couple of songs, they took a short break for the church’s announcements. Soon, Brewster’s image flashed onto the sanctuary’s large screens — kicking up his heels while wailing on guitar.

Anderson says there’s strong interest in rock worship. About two dozen churches nearby in the San Joaquin Valley present this kind of service. And even more churches have contacted Anderson to help them make the transition.

Anderson traces rock-style worship to the 1970s, the “Jesus rock days,” when electric guitars became more acceptable in churches. And musical production groups, such as Maranatha! Music and the Vineyard Movement, kept the sound popular in the 1980s. Anderson arrived at the tail-end of that sound in the 1990s.

“I haven’t set out to do rock worship, but I’ve been fortunate to land in a church where my style of music, that I naturally listen to and play, is accepted,” he says.

At the NorthPointe service, congregant Mike Angelo, 71, says he appreciates the rock sound at church.

“Rock and religion — it’s good,” he says. “It brings the young people here. But when you get over 70, you can’t hear as well. Sometimes, you can’t understand the words.”

Another lead guitarist, Paul Carlson, says he prefers NorthPointe’s alternative pop rock style. But regardless of the style, he says he appreciates the common mission.

“I love it because it’s worshipping God,” he says.

At Celebration Christian Fellowship in Clovis, Calif., coordinator Blackwell oversees three worship groups that all feature guitar-driven music, but at varying levels.

And don’t think hymns are off limits to any group.

They’re performed, just with contemporary flair. For instance, Blackwell says he performs the song “Holy, Holy, Holy” on guitar with a smooth jazz feel and an electric-guitar lead.

“People respond to it,” he says.

Celebration Christian Fellowship also has branched out.

In the summer, it holds rock outreach concerts at the Starbucks patio area at Sierra Vista Mall in Clovis. The church pays for the coffee drinks of non-church members in attendance.

Whether at church or at Starbucks, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Joe Lavagnino, says the lyrics in Christian rock connect the Gospel message with people, particularly youth.

“It’s in the medium they’re used to when they turn on their radio or iPod,” he says.