During the week of March 24-27, His House hosted CRAVE in front of Student Life, which acted as a Bible awareness event that ran continuously throughout the night — which included running past 12 a.m.
The event ended at 7 p.m on the 27th., but before it did, the open house moved to the Tstar for the remainder of the time due to another event being scheduled in the same area.
While the main attraction was the biblical reading, there were other activities taking place in the open house. Posters were on the walls, and anyone who attended or just walked by had an opportunity to take a free Bible.
Multiple translations of the Bible were also available.
Because this event was an open house, various tables were set up for attendees to listen to verses, study, hang out, or ask questions to the available volunteers. These volunteers also helped keep the readings on schedule. To make the continuous reading possible, each reader took half- hour shifts throughout the night and continued to do so throughout the day.
To help keep everything in order and on time, Troy Andreasen (Campus Minister and Head of His House), was present during the event’s run time. When asked about why he thought that event was important and why it was beneficial, he gave his thoughts on the topic.
“It is to build awareness of the Bible and so that people can stop by to hear what it says,” Troy said. “They also can ask questions, hang out, and build a community.”
Students around campus have their own opinion on the event. Owen Diefenbach, a sophomore Secondary Education Major with a focus on History, spoke on the matter.
“I view the Bible reading that takes place on campus as relatively harmless. If it is intended to share and or advertise beliefs and peak interest in religion, I take no issue, so long as it does not become aggressively insistent, no matter the belief. I would also hope that it is not exclusionary, though I have seen no evidence that it does exclude. In essence, college is a place in which
different ideas and beliefs can meet and converse. There is nothing stopping other religious or non-religious groups on campus from doing the same thing.”
Another student had a similar opinion. Sydney Dietzel, a freshman Fine Arts Major had this to say.
“I think CRAVE is a nice opportunity for students to come together to share faith and learn more about their religion! Although it definitely startled me since I didn’t realize what was going on at first with the loud talking and huge crowds.”
Overall, this event’s main goal was to spread awareness of the Bible and to create a community from it. For those who want to continue to participate in activities like this, His House is active every week.
