The root beer keg was flowing at University Reformed Church’s fall welcome party after Sparticipation Saturday.
More than 50 student leaders returned to campus a week early to begin chalking sidewalks, posting fliers and following up on students who expressed interest in the church, also known as URC, 4930 S. Hagadorn Road, during their Academic Orientation Program.
URC is just one of the religious organizations near campus that is focused on getting the word out to new students looking for a place to worship.
“We focus all of our energy – staff and students – on recruiting freshmen and transfer students,” URC campus director Jon Saunders said. “We definitely spend a lot of time on that.”
URC gathered about 400 names of Protestant students during the orientation programs, he said.
They aim to get those students involved in URC’s residence hall Bible studies, as well as Spartan Christian Fellowship, an on-campus Christian group comprised of many URC members, he said.
St. John’s Student Parish, 327 M.A.C Ave., sent out 1,754 welcome DVDs in early August to students who said they were interested in the parish at orientation, said Keith Tharp, the parish’s director of administration.
The parish is planning a new student welcome picnic for September and an overnight trip in October, Tharp said.
Since about 28 percent of MSU’s student population is Catholic, the parish is always growing, Tharp said.
For MSU’s Jewish students, Chabad House of Greater Lansing/MSU, 540 Elizabeth St., is hosting a meet and greet barbecue tonight.
Rabbi Hendel Weingarten said they are using a lot of word-of-mouth advertising and also are passing out fliers to spread the word.
“We’re just meeting the people that are out there,” he said.
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