Christian Union: The Magazine
Flip through the online magazine above or scroll down to read a selection of the feature articles in the magazine.
A 35-Year Reflection from New York City
by dr. mac pier
When my wife Marya and I arrived in New York City in 1984 I used three adjectives to describe the city. The Big Apple was broke, violent, and under-churched in many communities. The front page of the October 30, 1975, Daily News read: “Ford to City: Drop Dead” after President Ford denied federal assistance to spare New York from bankruptcy.
In 1984, a decade of racial violence began when Bernard Goetz, a German, shot five unarmed African-American men on the subway. In 1994, the murder rate spiked at twenty-four hundred murders, or eight a day for a year. According to Jeffrey Burke, the NYPD chief forensic dentist, the city morgue simply ran out of room.
Jade Thompson ’21 Leads Outreach Team
by tom campisi, managing editor
For Jade Thompson, co-directing a Text-4-Toasties outreach for Christian Union at Columbia this fall was just one of the many ways she has been challenged to grow as a leader.
Thompson, an Economics and Sustainability major from Westchester, New York, called her involvement with Lumine, Christian Union’s ministry at Columbia, “the best part of my college experience.”
Students Warm Locust Walk with Cider Outreach
by eileen scott, contributing writer
Christian Union at the University of Pennsylvania put “campus kindness” into action this fall by giving away hot cider to students on their way to class on Locust Walk, a centrally located pathway. There were no strings attached to receive the hot beverage. Yet, if students chose to sip their drink and discuss faith, leaders were there to engage. The outreach was part of the ministry’s on-going campus kindness effort, which also includes book giveaways and welcoming bags for freshmen.
Christian Union Is Helping Moore ’20 to Thrive
by catherine elvy, staff writer
One year ago, T. Preston Moore ’20 returned to the faith of his youth after rededicating his life to Christ. The Atlanta-area native was a devout believer until his early teen years but “fell and fell and fell.” After experiencing intense spiritual hunger as a young man, “I went around looking everywhere,” he said. “Everything was vacant compared to Christ.” While a student at Harvard Law School, Moore had a radical encounter with Jesus Christ and came away awestruck by His grace and unmerited mercy. “I came back to faith in a huge way,” he said. “It was such a powerful experience.”
Carreon Is New Christian Union Ministry Fellow
by tom campisi, managing editor
Abigail Carreon has a passion to help some of the nation’s brightest young minds explore questions of faith and grow deeper in their walk with Jesus Christ.
A new ministry fellow at Stanford University with Caritas, Christian Union’s ministry on that campus, Carreon also serves as leader with the Veritas Forum at Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley. With Caritas, she leads Bible courses and mentors students with one-on-one discipleship and life coaching. In her role as Veritas Host, she focuses on organizing teams and supporting forums, discussions, and long-term projects.
Pascut Has a Passion for Mentoring
by catherine elvy, staff writer
Christian Union’s newest ministry fellow at Brown University likes to reflect upon how his name resonates with his divine calling.
Romanian-born Ben Pascut is quick to explain how the translation of his first name, Beniamin, involves the concept of advisory service to a king. “I really think it’s my destiny to form leaders and be an advisor to people in high places,” said Pascut, who joined Christian Union’s faculty at Brown in the summer.
Strong Roots Help Sharla Moody ’22 Find Her Place at Yale
by kayla bartsch, yale ’20
While the rural hills of southern Ohio may seem a world away from the ivory towers of Yale University, Sharla Moody ’22 bridges the two with thoughtfulness and grace.
When she came to campus as a first-year in 2018, Moody’s transition to college life was starker than that of most Yale undergraduates. Her hometown, Gallipolis, Ohio, is nestled on the northern banks of the Ohio River, facing the shores of West Virginia to the south. Gallipolis is something of a quintessential Appalachian town, home to picturesque river valley views, a charming Main Street, and about 3,500 residents.
However, having experienced a slow and steady decline in its population since the 1960s, Gallipolis faces the same trials as other Appalachian towns in contemporary American life. From this quiet, tight-knit community, Moody was thrown into a loud, heterogenous, and opulent campus.
Yet, even if unconventional, Moody’s path to Yale from small-town Ohio seems providential. In her junior year of high school, she read Hillbilly Elegy – a memoir written by J. D. Vance, a Yale Law school graduate from a small town in Ohio similar to Moody’s. The book, lauded for its raw depiction of the cultural and economic decay faced by the rural, white working class, became a near-instant best-seller.
Nova’s Upperclassmen Enjoy Mentoring Roles
by tom campisi, managing editor
Andrew Lin is committed to the biblical mandate of making disciples.
Lin is a member of Nova, Christian Union’s ministry at Princeton. The computer science major from Dallas, Texas, serves as a co-leader of Nova’s discipleship team, a group of upperclassmen who regularly meet with younger students to study the Bible, pray, and serve as mentors.
