‘Back to Church Sunday’ is Sept. 12

    HOULTON – “Back To Church Sunday,” part of a national movement of churches across America, will be held at Military Street Baptist Church in Houlton, ME at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 12. Everyone is welcome to attend.
    National “Back To Church Sunday” (www.backtochurch .com) is an initiative that seeks to reach the “un-churched” and “de-churched” – people who once attended church, but don’t any more – and invite them to return for a special Sunday.
    “After the summer, it’s typical for most churches to re-launch their new church year the week after Labor Day.  When we recently learned that a majority of those not connected to any church would actually consider coming to a church if invited by someone, we wanted to make sure that everyone in our area knows they are invited and welcome!” said Pastor Randall Burns.
    During the first “Back To Church Sunday” in 2009, hundreds of churches across the country participated, with members inviting more than 700,000 of their friends and family.
    According to a survey of participants by Outreach, Inc., a Southern California church marketing company, churches that took part last year saw a 19 percent average increase in their weekend attendance.
    About 3,500+ churches are expected to participate this year, inviting more than 1.4 million visitors.
    In 2008, the American Religious Identification Survey showed that 83 percent of American adults identify themselves as Christians. In contrast, another survey that same year by the Barna Group indicated only about 20 percent of Americans attends church on any given Sunday. This suggests that almost 8 million people – 150,000 a week – are leaving churches each year.
    A study by LifeWay Research found that 67 percent of Americans say a personal invitation from a family member would be effective in getting them to visit a church. A personal invitation from a friend or neighbor would effectively reach 63 percent.
    “Back To Church Sunday” has an interactive Facebook page (www.facebook.com/backtochurch) and a blog (http://backtochurch.com/blog), and a roster of participating churches on the Back To Church website at http://backtochurch.com/roster.
    Military Street Baptist Church is an American Baptist Church located at 56 Military Street in Houlton. For more information, go to “www.houltonmsbc.org” or call 207-532-2783.