Middlecreek Christian Church welcomed the community to free music, worship, camping, food and fun this past weekend, delighting churchgoers and nonbelievers alike.

"This is our 16th year hosting the event," chairwoman Marcy Cetnar said. "We gather together with music, fellowship, games, crafts, food and have a good time."The event kicked off on Friday with performances from two bands, along with a movie. Attendees were welcome to camp on the church grounds overnight, and while the rain may have been pretty heavy, everyone reported having a pleasant time.Saturday began with a picnic lunch, followed by performances from acts like William Doney, Joey O, the Grace Notes Gospel Big Band and more."I thought it went really well. I love playing here, the people are always great, and we always get a great reception," Doney said after his set was complete.Doney and drummer Kevin Smith said that the Middlecreek FUSION weekend presented a great opportunity to promote fellowship and godliness in a unique manner."I think it provides a different environment, a different feel, so people can connect a little bit differently than walking into a church," Smith said.Even the church's Bible studies, held around a roaring campfire, catered to a looser, fun atmosphere than most would expect, and that seemed to be a key part of the weekend - weaving religious worship and appreciation into everyday activities.Sitting on the hill facing the stage behind the church, Karen Carolan relaxed and took in the beautiful weather and pleasant music, drawing inspiration from recreation."It's been great, very inspiring," Carolan said. "The fellowship has been really good for us, and we're enjoying it. They worked very hard with the programming, where everybody has something they can take away from the weekend. Yes, it's entertainment, but it's not just entertainment - the purpose is to help us with our Christianity and fellowship, to encourage us and remind us about God."Children had plenty of opportunities to enjoy crafts and activities, including bingo, crafts, a scavenger hunt, and more, along with special church youth sessions."We did a little activity about a week with God, and a week without God," said LisaAnn Young, who moderated the children's group for the day.Days of the week without God were renamed, such as "Thirstday" and "Fightday," and were corresponded to biblical passages to educate the children on how God made their lives better."As you can see, they preferred a week with God instead of a week without," Young said. "They liked the lessons, and they loved playing all weekend."Kids like Levi Carolan, 10, and Javion King, 9, had a great time with friends in the youth sessions, and on the giant ark in the back of the church."It's been good," said Carolan, who came to camp with his family for the weekend. "We've been going here for a while. I think my favorite things are the activities we did, like bingo and the other games."King, taking a break from exploring the ark, was thrilled to spend a weekend camping with family and friends."It's been fun. I'm staying here all weekend, but it's the first time I've been here awhile. I won this because I got bingo," King said, showing off his new Spider-Man bubble blower.Co-organizer Andy Lenig was pleased with the overall attendance, especially with how many nonmembers were present. More than 100 people showed up for the Friday event, and dozens of cars filled the parking lot on Saturday. But in the end, while inviting new members to Middlecreek is always a mission, Lenig said that the focus for FUSION was so much more."We don't really do any kind of hard sell, trying to get people to join the church," Lenig said. "The idea is to belong to the church at large. That's more important. Middlecreek is here for our community, everyone is always welcome, and our doors are always open."