After years of attending a nondenominational church near her home in the Wells Branch neighborhood, Kim Alexander started making the 20-minute drive to Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church in East Austin. The reasons for the change were manifold: At Mount Zion, older women dressed in their colorful hats and suits and greeted her warmly each Sunday; she was not one of the only black people at the services; the rousing music, fellowship and the feeling of belonging to the church were amplified at Mount Zion.

"It feeds my soul, every time I come here," Alexander said after a lively 10 a.m. service on a recent Sunday morning. "It feels like God is meeting me here every time I come."