<p>CRYSTAL LAKE Ash Wednesday brought thousands of people across McHenry County to church services Wednesday, but many of them won't return again until Easter, and then again until Christmas.</p><p>Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Crystal Lake utilized text-messaging during its Ash Wednesday services to try and retain some of those visitors.</p><p>At the end of the service Father Jerome Koutnik told those with cell phones to text the word Saint Thomas to 84576 to receive information about upcoming services. Koutnik said it was in effort to turn "Creasters" (people who come to church only on Easter, Christmas and other religious holidays) into church regulars.</p><p>"We know we're going to see people on Ash Wednesday that we're not going to see again until either Easter or Christmas," Koutnik said. "We thought 'How can we network technologically?' to keep them active in the pursuit of this love of ours."</p><p><a href="http://www.nwherald.com/2013/02/13/cl-church-uses-text-messaging-to-retain-creasters/asn35yd/">Keep reading...</a></p>