NATCHEZ — New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Natchez strives to be more than just a place to go for Sunday worship, the church’s pastor said.

“If we are going to bring in younger families, we’ve got to have something for them to do,” said Seth Duhs, pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church, 130 Homochitto St.

That was the pitch Duhs said he made to members of his growing congregation of approximately 65 members a year ago in proposing the church build a playground on a vacant spot behind the church.

“I presented that to the congregation, and it was unanimous,” Duhs said.

Since then the congregation has embraced the idea, raising approximately $60,000 to design, purchase and construct the playground on approximately a half-acre behind the church.

The playground was completed approximately two weeks ago, Duhs said, with swing sets, slides on a fortress, geometric climbing bars, benches and more.

Fresh sod was placed on the ground a couple of weeks ago, Duhs said.

Currently the congregation has approximately eight to 10 children, Duhs said, “which is about nine more than we had last year.”

Duhs said the church has expanded its nurseries into two and the nurseries and playground are safety certified.

The plan is more than about just growing church membership, Duhs said.

“We are really just trying to bring in young families and to build relationships,” Duhs said. “We want it to be more than just coming to church on a Sunday and worshiping, but really building family relationships in that community where we can have things for them to do now.”

Duhs likened the addition of the playground to the movie, “Field of Dreams.”

“‘Build it, and they will come,’” Duhs said. “We’re ready. We’ve built it, and we want everybody to come here and be a part of this church family.”

The playground, Duhs said, is open to the public.

“We just ask families to respect the new facilities,” Duhs said.

Also the playground will be used by a new public home school co-op launched by church members, including, Duhs’ wife, Roberta, along with Callie Godfrey and Tiffiany Kyzar.

Duhs said the church has grown since he arrived in 2016 when approximately 20 people would attend Sunday services to now having anywhere from 60 to 80 people attend Sunday services.

“The Lord has really blessed us,” Duhs said. “Almost tripling our growth in three years. It’s a very exciting time in the life of the church.”

A dedication ceremony for the new playground is planned for noon Sunday to dedicate the playground to the Lord, Duhs said.

“I have been extremely amazed and blown away at people’s support and generosity, not only with our congregation but within the community for this project,” Duhs said. “Its one of those situations where you look back and you think, where in the world did all this money come from? It came from the Lord.”

Duhs said the book of Deuteronomy cites people dedicating their houses to the Lord.

“We are doing the same thing with the playground,” Duhs said. “We are dedicating it to the Lord, because all of this has been possible because of Him.”

Duhs said the public is invited to join the celebration Sunday, starting with the worship services at 10:30 a.m., which ends approximately 11:30 a.m. Then people can go home, change clothes and come back for the park dedication, which will feature outdoor music, barbecue, hamburgers, hotdogs, face-painting and more all for free.