Two NASA astronauts on the International Space Station are members of the same Texan church and have joined services and prayer meetings online from their delayed stay deep in outer space.

Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Tracy Dyson, both attend the Providence Baptist Church in Pasadena, have even given the congregation a virtual tour of the space station while in space, the Church Times reported on Aug. 30.

Wilmore is an elder in the church, and had his original eight-day space mission unexpectedly extended by up to eight months due to technical glitches with the first flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule.

The church's pastor, Tommy Dahn, told the Church Times this week that Wilmore's faith supports him during the "unplanned" sojourn, and that "he ministers to us" by making support calls from the space station to the congregation.

About 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Johnson Space Center, their Houston-area church takes a moment during midweek Bible studies and Sunday evening services to pray for the two absent members, The Associated Press reported on Aug. 4.

There's no way on Earth for astronauts Wilmore and Dyson to appear at Providence Baptist Church as they orbit the planet.

Before the inaugural flight of the Starliner in June, Wilmore told reporters: "Our families have been a part of this from the beginning. . . As far as preparing them, they're prepared. We trust in sovereign God. Whatever the plan is, we're ready for it, whatever that might be."

The space capsule had helium leaks and thrusters that stopped working on the initial leg of its first crewed test flight to the ISS.

The fate of the two astronauts, Wilmore and Suni Williams, had remained uncertain for weeks until NASA announced at the weekend that a Space X capsule had offered them a lift back to Earth next February.

Dyson, who had always been scheduled for a six-month stay on the ISS, is expected to return to Earth in September.

Wilmore is a Navy test pilot who has previously been on long missions in space.

Dyson had always been prepared to spend six months on the ISS, and remains there until September.

The families of both astronauts are also part of the congregation.