A Palmerton area church will celebrate its 45th anniversary on Sunday.

Blue Mountain Community Church, 25 Oak St., will commemorate the special occasion with a 10:30 a.m. service.

Pastor Jen Eckhart said they are calling it Love and Longevity, and added that Rick and Nancy Collins, who started the church on Jan. 4, 1981, will be present.

Eckhart said the regular service will start with Rick and Nancy Collins, as well as Eckhart and her husband/fellow Blue Mountain Community Church pastor Clifford Eckhart, who will sing about 15 minutes worth of songs from many years ago.

“(It’s about) when you love one another, it helps you to stay,” Jen Eckhart said. “Rick and Nancy have been married, and next year will be their 50th anniversary.”

Eckhart said a catered luncheon will follow, at which time the congregation will have time to share their stories.

She said the church has an attendance of about 400 members between its pair of Sunday morning services that are held at 8:45 and 10:30 a.m.

Eckhart noted they livestream the 8:45 a.m. service on the church website, www.bmcc.cc., and their Facebook page.

“It’s growing really well; we just had nearly 1,000 people at our Christmas Eve service at Penn’s Peak,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of young people coming to church and getting involved, kind of solidifying their relationship with Jesus.”

Eckhart said she believes the church has many things going for it, including a Wednesday night service for teenagers grades 7-12 called Elevate (about 30 kids who attend), as well as a Tuesday night service known as Celebrate Recovery (about 80 people who attend) for anyone who struggles with hurt, habit or hang-up, essentially people who are struggling and searching for help in the world.

“Our mission is to help today’s generation come to know, love and serve Jesus,” Eckhart said. “We’re not looking for people to switch churches; we’re looking for people that don’t have any relationship with God, or who have never been to a church before.”

She added that the church’s messages are from the Bible, as they teach about God’s love, teach about having a relationship with God, teach a relationship with Christ and how He can make a difference and transform lives.

Eckhart said their tagline is Blue Mountain Community Church, Welcome Home.

She said the church was started by Rick and Nancy Collins on Jan. 4, 1981.

Over the years, Eckhart said they’ve added onto the building, and are a debt-free church.

“Many people have come in and out over the years, and we’re just blessed to even have been a part of their lives,” she said. “We do have events throughout the year where we invite the community to come in; we try to go out to the community as much as we can to share the light of Jesus.”