New future in store for Religious Life Center

The COW party is hard to describe.

“We are not religious rush,” Mercer University’s Dean of Chapel Craig McMahan said, dismissing any similarities between the party and Greek recruitment.

There were a lot of freshman in the room though, and the hope is that these ministries can become like families and support systems for both new and old students.

The COW party — or Christian Organization Welcome party — at its core is a crash course in religious life on campus. A representative from each organization shares a little bit about their group, including when and where they meet. Then the microphone passes to the next person, until all of the campus ministries have been spoken for.

There is a message. There is music. There is fellowship.

The COW party has been happening in the RLC for “about 15 or 16 years,” Chris Fuller said. Fuller is the minister for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry and his organization meets in the Religious Life Center every Thursday night.

This cross-shaped structure is also where the All God’s Anointed People Evangelizing (AGAPE) group meets every Monday.

But in the future, the COW Party might not happen in the RLC. The building may not even be called the same name.

McMahan said that there are plans in place to repurpose the RLC. He didn’t specify what those plans entail but confirmed that there is a major change coming.

“We’re working with the administration, and they’ve been very cooperative in terms of trying to find us a place that’s going to be suitable (and) that will support the activities and ministries that we have,” McMahan said.

He said that he doesn’t know the time frame for the project.

“I think everybody wants to see religious life land in a good spot, and so, if you’re a family, and you have three bedrooms, and all of the sudden you have a third child, that’s a good thing. But somebody’s got to squeeze together a little bit. So we’re just looking at how to do that well in a way that provides some new work here on campus but also doesn’t in any way diminish the work of the campus ministries,” he said.

When asked what sort of program or work was coming to the facility, McMahan didn’t specify.

“It is my understanding that it will be a completely different kind of thing going on in here. And that, I really don’t have enough information to say what that is,” he said.

The Cluster reached out to Provost Scott Davis for comment about the project but has received no response.