University Church left with pie on face

Amanda Papke

The Bible may mention a trial by fire, but it says nothing about a trial by pie.

Members of the University Church, 211 W. Broomfield Road, let students
throw pies at them Tuesday afternoon for outreach and humor.

In order to throw a peanut butter pie, a student either had to pay $1
or write down a problem they had with Christianity, which they called “For
A Buck Or A Bone.”

Scott Stark, 2001 CMU alumnus, and Otsego junior John Bosma were the members of the church who chose to eat pastry.

“The University Church takes spiritual questions seriously, but we wanted
to create a funny way to answer those questions,” Stark said. “It’s the first
time we’ve done this kind of event, but we’re glad we got people’s attention
and raised some questions.”

The event took place in front of the Bovee University Center and lasted
30 minutes, but most students who walked by declined to throw a pie. The
ones who did said they enjoyed themselves and had their questions answered
at the same time.

Hudsonville freshman Megan Vanderkooy said the idea was original.

“It’s neat to see how a church is willing to find out about students while
enjoying themselves,” she said. “Things like this are a good outreach.”

The University Church has programs for graduate and international students,
a fellowship entitled “Journey” and community service projects that take
place each semester. The church is located next to the Student Activity Center,
across from the Towers residence hall complex.

Students can call 772-0664 or go to the Web site www.univchurch.org for more information.