These are a few tactics they employ:

1. Making Several Attempts: On various days and at different times, process servers will make multiple attempts to serve legal documents.
   
   
2. Stakeout: One tactic is the “stakeout” in which the professional process server waits outside a target’s house, place of employment, or other known location.
   
   
3. Substituted Service: Leave the documents with another person at the residence or with a manager or supervisor at a business if personal service is not possible. Serving the documents on a housemate or other relative is an example of substituted service. If a particular person cannot be reached, one option for service is to post a notice in a newspaper.
   
   
4. Skip tracing: Process servers have special training to use a “skip tracing” technique to identify and catch individuals attempting to evade service.
   
   
5. Serving through a Relative or Friend: Under false pretenses, a relative or friend may volunteer to meet with an individual and administer legal documents.

Although it may be delicate, serving legal papers at a church or other place of worship in most states is usually acceptable. As long as they follow the correct protocols, process servers can serve papers on any site, including churches. However, there may be limits based on local legislation, such as in Florida on Sundays. Professional process servers are essential to the legal system because they use their expertise and methods to serve documents in a way that complies with the law and notifies the appropriate parties of pending legal actions. In the end, what matters most is finding a middle ground between religious freedom and the efficient and impartial administration of justice.