More than 100 people huddled under a white tent in Palmerton's Memorial Park Saturday to pray away the afternoon's downpour.

The Blue Mountain Community Church celebrated its 35-year anniversary by inviting residents and church members to join in a free fun day in the park."We were going to have a picnic in the pastor's yard but then we decided to involve the community just to bring people together," said Jennifer Eckhart, assistant pastor."It's a beautiful park," she said.Eckhart said the event was a way to let people in the area know about the church and what it has to offer to the community."Everyone is welcome. Our goal today was to serve at least 1,200 people," she said.The activities, balloons, music and 150 pounds of donated pulled-pork barbecue were all free to those who attended the celebration."Last year we did something similar at the Lehighton Amphitheater. This is easily two or three times as big." she said.Eckhart said church members were excited to help host the afternoon in the park for the community."At our last planning meeting we had over 40 people," she said. "It took over 100 people to pitch in to make this happen today."Jane Kuntz has been a member of the Blue Mountain Community Church for over two years and worked as a volunteer serving lunch to the crowd alongside fellow members Kristy Fedor and Deena Gower. The team served barbecue donated by Lehigh Valley Meats and 750 hot dogs fresh off the grills, along with dozens of Zimmerman's Iced Tea to a line long enough to wrap around the tent."We're amazed by the donations," she said."It's a great event. It lets people know what the church has to offer. Sometimes people get the stereotypical picture of us. But we just wanted to let people see we're just regular people who love God," she said."It's not a religion, it's a way of life. If we do something that is pleasing to the Lord, that's the point."Brooke Parker's father, Seth, brought his 2-year-old daughter and family from their Saylorsburg residence for the day in the park."It's a great event. We are members of the church and they are really an outreach kind of church," he said.Blue Mountain Community Church's Pastor Rick Collins said he was pleased by the turnout as folks shuffled under the makeshift pavilion during the rolls of thunder."We started the church in January 1981 in Bowmanstown before moving to our Palmerton location," he said. Collins stressed the importance of community engagement to the church."We're an outreach church so we like to go out into the area and let people know what kind of resources we have for them," Collins said.He said the church congregation consists of all ages and races with a main focus on families."We have a lot of love in our congregation and when we have a chance to go out and celebrate God's love, that's what we do," he said.The church is a sponsor of the annual Palmerton 5K."We've had the biggest team for three years," he said. "We are big into the community."