A lone white tent sprung up on College Green yesterday in honor of Holy Week, the week before Easter.
Inside, carpets and blankets line the floor, inspiring messages cover the walls and Christian music plays quietly from speakers.
“The Prayer Tent is for anyone who wants to come in and pray or talk about their beliefs,” said College sophomore Paul Terwilliger, who is a member of Penn Cru, a Christian club on campus.
The tent is an initiative put together by Penn for Jesus, an umbrella organization of different Christian groups on campus, in the hopes of inspiring prayer among students.
One corner of the tent is closed off for anyone who wants to engage in a private moment of prayer with God.
Terwilliger insisted the tent is not exclusive to Christian communities. “Anyone is allowed in,” he said.
While the Prayer Tent is open to members of all faiths, “the people I’ve seen have mostly been Christian,” Wharton and College junior Cindy Wei said.
The tent will be open 24 hours a day until Saturday. Penn for Jesus members take shifts around the clock so the tent will always be occupied.
“The Prayer Tent is a place where we can stop and realize that there’s so much more than just school,” College freshman Thalia Stanberry, a member of Penn Cru and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Action, said.
“The fact that Penn is a place where faith is encouraged and where a prayer tent can even exist is really special,” said College junior Octavia Bray, a member of the Grace Covenant Church on campus.
“When I take off my shoes and enter the Prayer Tent,” Wei said, “I feel like it’s actually holy ground.”
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