By Morgan Mizell

NATCHEZ — The congregation of Community Chapel Church is hosting its third Back to Church Sunday.

The Rev. Bo Swilley said church-goers occasionally get out of the habit of going to church, and he wants to invite people to come back.

“Sometimes people leave the church or get busy doing other things,” Swilley said. “They put the most important thing in their lives behind everything else.”

The idea is not specific to Community Chapel. In fact, it is a national movement.

The National Back to Church Sunday’s website says more than 29,000 churches in the United States have participated since the beginning of this program in 2009. There are more than 1,500 international churches that are listed as well.

“We place an emphasis on reaching outside of the walls of the church,” Swilley said. “We exist to extend love and hope to our community by taking the next step towards Christ together.”

The idea in our community is to have church members ask people they have not seen in church in a while to come back.

“We have not really done anything more than put the event on our sign in front of the church,” Swilley said. “We feel like people inviting people is better because there is a personal connection there that may make more of an impact than just advertising.”

Aside from regular Sunday School and church services, the day will include dinner on the grounds, games for all ages, space jumps for the kids, basketball and football for the kids, movies and bingo for the adults.

“Our theme this year is ‘Now’s the Time,’” Swilley said. “This whole service is about getting people back into the church and we want our church members to get out there and spread the word and invite their family, friends and neighbors to this special Sunday service.”

There is no charge for the day and all are welcome to attend. The events begin with the 10:30 service and other activities will begin afterwards.