SEMINOLE — The day before Palm Sunday about 25 members of First United Methodist Church, Seminole, will spend a few hours inviting neighbors to visit the church the next Saturday, the day before Easter. As many as 1,200 area residents will enjoy Easter egg hunts, pony rides, inflatable games, entertainment and food sponsored by the church. And if the pattern of the last nine years holds true, several of those residents will become members of the church.

Seminole’s SpringFest has become “a big community event” since it began nine years ago, according to the Rev. John Denmark, the church’s pastor. Its goal is “to be good neighbors to our community and share Jesus Christ with them,” Denmark said. “The church has been here for 113 years, and people still think it’s a strange place.”

To break down the barriers between the community and church Seminole’s members decided to “open the place up” and invite unchurched people onto church grounds, Denmark said.

A team of 25 to 30 church members canvasses the neighborhood a week before the event. Denmark said they spend about two hours walking through the area passing out invitations.

The event is free of charge, except for the food, Denmark said. “We ask people to pay for the cost of the food. We don’t make any money on that. Everything else is donated by the United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women, youth, Sunday school, the preschool…”

In addition to games and entertainment, SpringFest also includes Veggie Tales movies, car exhibits, choruses from Seminole High School, displays by the local fire department and a visit by Miss Seminole. It is also a time for open interaction between church members and visitors.

The Easter egg hunt attracts many families and helps bridge the gap between the church and secular understanding of Easter. “It’s the best opportunity to reach the unchurched…and then invite them to Easter sunrise service and Easter services,” Denmark said.

Each year for the past nine years at least one or two families have accepted the invitation to worship, and many of those have stayed and become members of the church, according to Denmark. “Many become active in children’s ministry because they bring their children to church,” he said.

One family that had joined the church through SpringFest moved to North Carolina recently because of the father’s job. Denmark said the family e-mailed him a few weeks ago to tell him “they haven’t found a church like this one.”