National ‘Back to Church Sunday’ set for Sept. 16

“Back to Church Sunday,” part of a national movement of churches acrossAmerica, will be held at 9:30 a.m., Sept 16, at Tree of Life Community Church, 1215 Tom Ginnever in O’Fallon. 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. Back to Church Sunday was launched four years ago in response to a survey of 15,000 adults in the United States. Results showed a personal invitation from a family member would prompt 67 percent of Americans to visit a church, and 63 percent said an invitation from a friend or neighbor would cause them to attend a service.

“Lots of people in our city have some familiarity with church, but for whatever reason aren’t currently involved in one or haven’t been in years,” said the Rev. Sam Byers. “We’re encouraging them to take a second look at a vital aspect of a meaningful relationship with God – a local faith community – and see if they’re missing out on something.”

Since its inception, National Back to Church Sunday participants have invited more than 5 million family members, friends, and neighbors to their churches.

About 14,000 churches are expected to participate this year, inviting more than 2 million visitors.

The American Religious Identification Survey showed that 83 percent of American adults identify themselves as Christians. In contrast, another survey by the Barna Group indicated only about 20 percent of Americans attend church on any given Sunday. Back to Church Sunday’s goal is to invite or re-invite America to rediscover church.

Back to Church Sunday has an interactive Facebook page (www.facebook.com/backtochurch) and a roster of participating churches on the Back to Church Web site at www.BacktoChurch.com/find_a_church.

Tree of Life Community is a non-denominational church. For more information, go to www.treeoflife.cc or call 525-1569.