Rebecca Lentjes, a sophomore at NYU and a non-Catholic member of the Newman Club at the Catholic Center, isn’t sure if she’ll ever convert to Catholicism. Lentjes, from Alabama, GA, said that her Episcopalian family didn’t often attend church and that the conservative religious beliefs in her hometown turned her off.
When Lentjes got to NYU, she explored different faiths. She went to the Islamic Center and read books about Buddhism. She also attended the Catholic Center spaghetti dinner “for the free food” and soon after went to a picnic at Central Park. She said that she felt welcomed at those events, but she didn’t commit to the Catholic Center until she attended a retreat.
Lentjes participates in community service projects such as taking food to the homeless and putting on a Christmas party for poor children in the Lower East Side in Manhattan.
She said that although she doesn’t always agree with other members’ religious beliefs, she appreciates the company. “It’s nice to have a group of people with really good values that don’t want to get high or drunk every night,” she said. “I’ve already made these friends. I don’t want to quit because I’ve decided not to follow their religion.”
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