St. John's Reformed Church pastor Pastor John Pistorius, left, and Burt Burnside pass out fliers Tuesday to promote National Back to Church Sunday at the church in Chicora. The program is intended to rally church congregations together and invite friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members to attend church.

Some Butler County churches will join more than 10,000 others Sunday in welcoming people back to church.

“It's just a day to say, 'Hey, come on out and join the fun, man. It's a great place,'” said Dwayne Burfield, senior pastor at Dutilh United Methodist Church.

National Back to Church Sunday is Sept. 16. The day is intended to rally church congregations together to invite friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members to attend church.

According to the National Back to Church Sunday website, 82 percent of the people who do not regularly attend church service would do so if they were invited.

“If 82 percent of the population that's not attending a church service on Sunday would come if they were invited, then it's our job to get out there and do that,” said John Pistorius, pastor at St. John's Reformed Church in Chicora.

St. John's Reformed Church in Chicora has about 45 regular attendees.

Harvest Community Church's Petrolia Campus pastor Fred Neal said it can be overwhelming to go to a smaller church without an invitation.

“If you've been away from church for awhile to come back into church, especially a church of 80 people, where everyone pretty much knows each other, it's kind of like showing up to someone else's family reunion,” said Neal.

The nondenominational church's Petrolia campus has about 80 members, while its Kittanning campus has about 600.

Harvest Community Church is promoting the day with mailings and encouraging members to invite others.“You might get something in the mail and that might help some people to come, but I think the personal invitations are much more powerful,” said NealDutilh United Methodist Church is using social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, to promote the event using Back to Church videos.“Laughter is good for the soul and I think people like to watch short video clips,” said Burfield. “I think people will take the time to watch a 2-minute video clip rather than a big sermon online.”Dutilh's Cranberry Campus has about 500 members, while its Mars campus has about 50 members.“I think some of the reasons why people have eliminated the church from their daily lives is because they've had a bad experience,” said Burfield. “Here at Dutilh, we don't think you'll find a bad experience. We think they'll find a church that accepts people for where they are in life and who they are.”Neal said he feels one of the reasons why people stop going to church is because they just haven't found the right church for them.“I think a lot of people are just in a church they are not finding relevant to their life as they get older,” Neal said.He said perhaps the style of worship or the way the word is preached at a church is not as pertinent to that individual's life as it once was.“I think as you get later into your 20s and when people start a family and have kids, they see value in some of those traditions and they begin to look for an opportunity to get back into the church,” he said.

Burt Burnside, who helps with media at St. John's Reformed Church, said it's important for the community to attend any church Sunday.“We don't care if it's this church. Yes, we would love to get people into this church, but any church — just get back in church,” Burnside said. “We need to get people in so they can get the word.”Burnside said it's important to have churches to help others in the community during times of need.“When you lose that sense of community, it opens the door for the question of, 'Who is going to take care of all these services the church used to?'” Burnside said.National Back to Church Sunday churches will have regular worship Sunday— nothing outside of their usual sermons and worship.“If we have guests, we want them to see what they are really going to experience the other 51 weeks out of the year,” said Burfield.Neal said Harvest Community will be putting its best foot forward to welcome any visitors, while sticking with its usual Sunday worship and messages.“We want them to see us for who we are so that if they come back, they get the same experience,” said Neal.St. John's Reformed Church also invites guests to attend its regularly scheduled third Sunday potluck fellowship dinner.Pistorius said it's important for people to attend church services to nourish their souls, just as it is important for people to eat every day.Pistorius said, “It's not the food we put in our mouth. It's not the water we drink. It's almighty God. It's the source of our life.”

Here are some of the Butler County churches participating in National Back to Church Sunday:• 8:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. services at Dutilh United Methodist's Cranberry Campus, 1270 Dutilh Road, Cranberry Township• 10 a.m. service at Harvest Community Church's Petrolia Campus, 118 North Fairview Main St., Petrolia• 10:15 a.m. service at St. Peter's Reformed Church, 320 E. Grandview Ave., Zelienople• 10:30 a.m. service at Dutilh United Methodist's Mars Campus, 525 Pittsburgh St., Mars.• 11 a.m. service at St. John's Reformed Church, 334 W. Slippery Rock St., Chicora• 11 a.m. services at Harrisville United Methodist Church, 309 S. Main St., HarrisvilleFor a full list of churches participating, visit backtochurch.com.

St. John's Reformed church pastor Pastor John Pistorius holds a little card to promote National Back to Church Sunday at the church in Chicora.

Campus Pastor Fred Neal prepares mailings at Harvest Community Church for National Back to Church Sunday