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But some are tucked into neighborhoods, where services are held inside houses. Their location can stir up complaints, ranging from noise levels, to overcrowded parking along residential streets, to unsightly paved yards that make the home less desirable for the next resident.

However, it's common and natural for a church to start off that way, said the Rev. Connie Miller, the senior pastor for Saint Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring.

"When Jesus was around, that's where the church met, in people's homes," she said.

It's also common for people to complain about them. Susan Scala-Demby, the manager of zoning for Montgomery County's Department of Permitting Services, said she frequently hears complaints about church services held in homes. In 2007, she had 16 complaints countywide and since January of this year, there have been six. As for the east county, this year she's had one complaint of a church in Hillandale and last year one on Santini Road.

"This is how churches start," she said. "They typically start in a very loose way, a group of people getting together, and then it grows from there. And they pretty typically start from homes."

Scala-Demby said there's a distinction between a religion-related gathering such as a Bible study group and a church service. When there is a regular, formal service held inside a house — no matter the number of people involved—the house is considered a church, she said.

"If they're actually having church services, then it doesn't matter. They're in church," she said.

According to county zoning laws, a church can be anywhere in the county, Scala-Demby said. However, when a house is used as a church, it needs an occupancy permit, she said.

Getting one is not an easy process.

An occupancy permit requires a building permit, said Hemal Mustafa, the manager for commercial buildings in the DPS' building construction division. The rules that apply to a building permit are the same as if it were a commercial building, he said.

Mustafa said the church would have to apply with the National Fire Protection Association's fire code, the state's accessibility standards, an international mechanical code and national electrical code, among others.

"It's a challenging job if somebody wants to try and take a single-family house and wants to convert it to a church," he said.

And it can be costly. According to Scala-Demby, applying for a commercial building permit costs $825 and the use-of-occupancy permit can cost anywhere from $400 to $900, she said.

But without the permit, any church service held in a house is illegal, Mustafa said. However, Scala-Demby said the only way her department would know about a church holding services in a house is by a complaint.

Carlos Rodriguez is a member of the church Poder y Gloria de Jehova. Rodriguez said the church held services in the pastor's house at 10229 Green Forest Drive in Hillandale until a year ago. He said there were never any problems with neighbors and they received all the correct permitting to have church there.

"Everything we have is legal," he said in Spanish.

Rodriguez said the church found a building on Buck Lodge Road in Prince George's County about a year ago and has since moved. However, the pastor's front yard in Hillandale is still paved to keep two of the churches' vans.

Paved yards is one of the main reasons residents complain, second only to church members parking on residential streets that weren't designed to accommodate them, according to Dan Wilhelm, a Colesville resident who served on a task force to amend zoning for churches about five years ago.

But Rodriguez said his church never had any complaints about parking and added anyone can park on a public street.

A correctly permitted church must have one parking space for every four occupants using the building, Mustafa said. Wilhelm said his task force unsuccessfully tried to lower the ratio to three to one.

Members of the East County Citizens Advisory Board said another concern is what happens when churches move out of the house, leaving behind a gutted house and paved front yard.

Board member John Thomas, who highlighted the issue in a July 2 board meeting, said he thinks the county should review the zoning laws that permit churches in neighborhoods.

"Ultimately, I don't think they should be there," he said.

Scala-Demby said she doesn't foresee the zoning rules being re-evaluated anytime soon.

Through all of this mess, the main key missing is communication between the church and the community, Wilhelm said.

"Religious institutions should be an asset to the community, not a thorn in people's sides," he said.