By Michael Wacht

BUSHNELL — Members of St. Catherine United Methodist Church here battled brush, bees and a buildup of dirt and even launched some balloons to make their church more visible and appealing to visitors.

The recent flurry of activity at the 134-year-old church was inspired by the denomination’s "Igniting Ministry" media campaign, according to the Rev. Haig Medzarentz, the church’s pastor.

Daris Dew, chairwoman of the church’s pastor/parish relations committee and local church Igniting Ministry coordinator, said she expected it to be a challenge to motivate the approximately 45 members of the church to get involved in the campaign. Instead, members were willing to "rally around" to make the campaign a success.

"There is a lot of camaraderie among the people who attend church here, but we’ve never done this kind of project before," she said. "We were finding our own way to go about the Igniting Ministry campaign."

The church lacks the audiovisual equipment to show the training videos included in the planning package, so Dew made posters listing the key aspects of the campaign, including activities and "getting the facilities ready for company," she said. She listed what the church was already doing, then invited members to share ideas on how to improve each area.

Those posters were posted in the sanctuary to serve as a constant reminder of the church’s priorities and future plans, according to Medzarentz.

"One of the top priorities was making the church more visible from highway 301," Dew said. "People drive by everyday and don’t even know we’re there."

On the first of two workdays, members cleaned out years of overgrowth on the church grounds and accidentally disturbed a nest of yellow jackets that swarmed out of the ground. One member also dislodged a young squirrel from its nest. On the second workday, members washed the inside and outside of the one-room church.

To help members focus on inviting people to church, Dew said they created their own version of the FRAN Plan. FRAN stands for friends, relatives, associates and neighbors and is a program that encourages people to pray for and invite at least one person from each category.

Dew said her own experience trying to help a visitor find the Lord’s Prayer in the hymnal during a worship service inspired her to create a card to help unchurched people feel more comfortable during worship. The card includes the words to the Affirmation of Faith, Doxology, the Lord’s Prayer and a closing hymn the church sings, which is not in the hymnal.

The church’s homecoming celebration Oct. 14 provided the first test of the church’s new focus, according to Dew. "Homecoming has changed," she said. "…We don’t have a big returning family, so our focus was on the guests."

As part of the celebration members released 25 helium balloons imprinted with the "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors" slogan and an invitation to worship. The church had 15 visitors that Sunday.

Dew said she was pleased to see people following the Circle of 10 rule, talking to any stranger within 10 feet, and suspending normal social time after church to visit with the visitors.