Many churches in the area have planned community days and festivals, inviting everyone, including non-members, in their communities to eat and enjoy a day of family fun.

Two churches have planned Community Days in the coming week, the Greater Faith Apostolic Church in Ironton, and the South Point Nazarene Church.

“We have had community events before,” said Pastor Charles Lane of the South Point Nazarene Church. “It gives us an opportunity to meet people we have never met before.”

When the church was built 50 years ago, there were very few homes in the community.

“Now, it is packed with homes,” he said.

The church is reaching out to the community to join them in a Community Fall Festival on Sunday, Oct. 7 from 1-4 p.m.

The event will have food, door prizes, music, health screenings, inflatables, crafts, face painting, games, hayrides and a dunking booth. Everything is free.

“We’re having a lot of games, a cakewalk and hayrides,” Lane said. “It’s really for everybody and we just want to give our church a little exposure in the community. We have something for everybody to enjoy — adults as well as children and teens.”

The morning of the festival, gospel singer Ann Downing, who has appeared on the Gaither Homecoming series, will be at the morning worship service that begins at 10:30 a.m.

Also, the church is planning its annual “Trunk or Treat” event when members dress up, decorate their cars and line them up on a church lot. Car trunks will be open and filled with candy for children on the same night as Trick or Treat in South Point.

“We have a large lot for future expansion for our church and we just pull our cars up and open the trunks,” Lane said. “We have lights and music and set up hay bales and pumpkins and people dress up in costumes.”

The church is located at 409 Ninth St., South Point. For more information, call (740) 377-9843.

Also, this Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., the Greater Faith Apostolic Church in Ironton will have Community Day with food, inflatables, games, live music, corn hole, face painting and puppet shows.

“It’s a community outreach,” said Betty Cox, church member. “This is the first community outreach we’ve had. Our main goal is we’re hoping to get people to come back to church. Everything is free.”

There will be free snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn and several church members are making homemade chili for the community to try. Community members will be the judges of whose chili is the best.

The church is located at 1305 South Sixth St. at the corner of Sixth and Spruce streets, and welcomes everyone for a day of fellowship and fun.

For more information, contact Gene Brown at (740) 643-2650.