Despite concerns, PennforJesus proud to evangelize next week

Jesus Week, an annual Penn celebration that begins on Sunday, will look a little different this year.

The week-long event, organized by PennforJesus and now in its 13th year, will focus more on engaging non-Christians at Penn than it ever has before.

And while not everyone is entirely comfortable with this year's proposed evangelism efforts, PennforJesus says its main goal is to raise awareness, not to convert the campus.

"We are shifting to focus more on the campus impact goal of Jesus Week," PennforJesus director Michael Hu said.

Members of PennforJesus will offer to pray for people walking by the group's table on either Locust Walk or College Green. They will also approach people and offer to pray for them, something the group hasn't tried before, he said.

In past years, the main goal of the week was to unite members within the various Christian fellowship groups on campus.

This year, "we're trying to engage people in the exposure to Christianity through prayer, service, [and] dialogue," Hu said

However, the Penn Newman Center - a Catholic student organization - did not feel comfortable participating in the week this year.

"We decided not to participate in Jesus Week this year because we did not wish to partake in the evangelization efforts that had become newly central to the week," Liz DiIulio, president of the Newman Council, wrote in an e-mail.

The Newman Center withdrew from participating after receiving a preliminary e-mail from Hu in late January with suggestions for this year's event. In the e-mail, he wrote "What if . we made Jesus Week the focal point of a campaign to evangelize the campus!"

But Hu said Newman's withdrawal doesn't make sense, since the center has previously participated in what he called "evangelization events."

"I still very much believe that there is a misunderstanding," he said.

Hu said he defines evangelism as "seeking to engage with people on faith issues and topics and generating a dialogue" and that "it's not meant to be done in a forceful, manipulative, negative fashion."

Malka Fleischmann, a College sophomore and chairwoman of Programs in Religion, Interfaith and Spirituality Matters - a student interfaith group - said she admired the organizers' passion but feared that "some people may take issue with" their prayer offerings.

College senior Nicholas Barber agreed.

"I really think it will have the opposite effect of what they're trying to go for - it will scare people away. It's too forward," he said.

But Hu insisted that any negative reaction is simply "a misunderstanding of what we're trying to do."

"It's evangelism, but it's non-pressure evangelism," he said. "We're just trying to engage people in conversation, through talking, through praying, and through serving."

He admitted, though, that the group has a tough task ahead.

"We know people will mistake us for trying to impose, [but] . we're intentionally trying not to impose," he said.

Campus Crusade for Christ, Penn Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Grace Covenant Church, Renewal Church, and the Living Water Christian Fellowship will also take part in the week's festivities.

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