Music wafts out of the side entrance of Redeemer Presbyterian Church on Pulaski Street as the worship band prepares for Reformed University Fellowship’s Wednesday night service.

Reformed University Fellowship, known as “RUF” to most members, is a Presbyterian group “providing opportunities to learn what the Bible teaches and put it into practice in (students’) everyday lives,” according to the group’s Web site.

The service is supposed to start at 8 p.m., but it doesn’t really begin until about 8:15 p.m., said Bettina Von Ammon, a senior from Alpharetta.

“It’s really laid back here, which I like,” Von Ammon said. “We usually stand in the back and chat for a while. Once the guitarists start strumming, that’s our cue to sit down.”

Students slowly make their way from the back of the hall to the maroon chairs in the front as the six-student worship band begins the service with a few songs and a prayer.

Generally, the students sing a few songs, pray together and listen to Campus Minister Rob Edwards’ weekly message during the Wednesday night services, said Ben Coppedge, an intern at RUF and a University alumnus.

He said one of the main purposes of the weekly meetings is to build relationships, which accounts for the group’s laid-back attitude.

“Our organization is very relationship driven,” Coppedge said. “We don’t have as many programs and events as other groups do. We let the Gospel trickle down naturally and let people become ministers of the Gospel.”

But this doesn’t mean students don’t learn a lot about the Bible from the meetings, Von Ammon said.

“There’s a lot of lightheartedness and laughter here, but they don’t shy away from the messages that make students uneasy,” she said.

After the opening songs and prayer at Wednesday’s service, guest speaker and University alumnus Charles Garland discussed finding purpose in life by living one’s life for God.

“How do you find meaning in life under the sun?” Garland asked. “If God is not there, trying to find meaning in your life is going to be hard. Human beings were created … for more than just what’s under the sun. Once you live in a relationship with Jesus, then you enjoy what you do. Your work for God gives a mundane life dignity.”

When the speaker finishes, the students pray once more and then stick around to chat before heading home.

To find out more about Reformed University Fellowship, visit www.uga.ruf.org.