New Life members advertise the Party at The Rock. New Life is hosting the parties every Wednesday in July.

James Dickson | AnnArbor.com

Except for late-night Rock painters, Ann Arbor’s George Washington Park may not seem like the place to be on a summer night.

But every Wednesday this July, the New Life Church - kitty corner from the Rock at the corner of Washtenaw and Hill - will play host to a series of parties meant to provide an alternative to boredom and to the college party scene.

The Party at The Rock, as the summer concert/hangout series is known, is in its second summer, organizer and New Life intern Dan Hazlett said. Nearly 100 young Ann Arborites, mostly University of Michigan affiliates, came out Wednesday in the sweltering heat.

The parties, substance-free affairs featuring live music, grilled dogs and burgers, and lawn games, are an outreach designed to take advantage of the summer lull, Hazlett said. Many of the people who come are incoming Michigan students in town for orientation.

If Ann Arbor has a fraternity row, it is the Washtenaw and Hill area that New Life calls home. The parties, which can draw up to 300 people when the weather cooperates, are meant to show off the church's alternative - but, its members argue, not inferior - social scene.

U-M sophomore Autumn Neuharth made her first contact with New Life at a Rock party during freshman orientation last summer. She joined the church that fall and has been a part of it since.

The daughter of missionaries, Neuharth wasn’t new to church life before coming to Ann Arbor from Oregon (and before that, Kyrgyzstan), but her heart wasn't all the way in it. Neuharth said she's found “true purpose” in fellowshipping with other students who are at the same point and asking the same spiritual questions she is.

The Party at the Rock isn't about the hard sell. New Life has found it more effective to make its pitch only to people who have shown a legitimate interest - and to offer people who are wavering plenty of "outs."

“Most of our membership comes from people who came in once to give us a try,” said Kevin Armstrong, a Bible study coach at New Life. The church's focus is less on converting non-believers, Armstrong said, and more on welcoming in people who want something more for themselves spiritually, but might not know exactly what.

“We’re not here to hook up with you or to get you drunk," Armstrong added. "Party at the Rock is all about showing people a good time. But if someone wants to talk more about spiritual matters, we can certainly do that too."

Beyond the remaining parties this month, Hazlett said another Party at The Rock is in the works for Welcome Week.

James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com.