September 2013
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Princeton, please email prayer@christian-union.org.Greetings Princeton Prayer Partners!
Freshman Campaign, Pre-Retreat and Bible Courses
Summer is officially over, and classes at Princeton University are underway. The start of the semester also kicked off the ministry's four-week outreach to freshmen. During the Freshman Campaign, a sizeable team of students and ministry fellows befriend many first-year students and invite them to enroll in the ministry's Bible courses.Before the semester even began we took returning upperclassmen involved in the leadership development ministry on a Pre-Retreat. The time was focused on helping these students reconnect with God and with each other, and also to reawaken their sense of mission as Christian leaders at Princeton. The students expressed deep appreciation for this special time with God and one another before the semester began; I think we all felt a renewed sense of mission for Princeton when we returned to campus and began "gathering" freshmen.
God's grace has been evident during the Freshman Campaign. Thus far, we have surpassed our goals for enrolling freshman men and women in weekly Bible course. With the pace of life at Princeton, students can quickly become overcommitted and overwhelmed, so now we are praying, and ask you to join us in praying, that those who have expressed interest will actually land in ministry fellows' living rooms with Bibles open.
For upperclassmen and freshmen alike, you can also join with us in praying that our theme from Philippians—advancing the Gospel through joyful imitation—would take root in students' hearts. Praise God for what he has already done and pray for His continual work on our behalf and for His glory.
Seeking God
As you may know, seeking God in prayer is a key emphasis of Christian Union's ministry. Prayer time with students is off to a great start this year. We are gathering at noon every weekday and using the book of Genesis to guide our time of prayer; allowing the story of our origins to shape how we understand our present world, and informing how we pray for Princeton. Pray that our students continue to pursue frequent and fervent prayer, especially as the semester progresses and the Princeton grind intensifies. Also, pray for great unity among the different campus ministries as together we embark on several inter-ministry prayer initiatives.
Campus Engagement
Here at Princeton, we have begun to engage the secular teaching of Scripture in the Religion Department. The main initiative that engages the secular approach to Scripture is Novum. We have taken the name Novum from the inscription on Princeton's seal, which reads "Novum et Vetus Testamentum," which means New and Old Testament. Focusing on the teaching of the New Testament, Novum exists to enrich and expand New Testament studies at Princeton by providing a perspective on biblical scholarship that not only seeks to answer tough questions, but also provides a larger framework for understanding the New Testament as historically reliable and theologically consistent and coherent. In so doing, we hope to equip students to engage faculty and fellow students with the truth of Scripture from an academic perspective.
Novum is not an official part of Princeton's curriculum, but is modeled after Princeton's course structure, which includes lectures and precepts. A precept is a weekly small group breakout session that discusses the topics covered in the lectures. Novum functions as an unofficial precept for New Testament studies at Princeton. Thus far for Novum, 22 students are involved in two weekly precepts. These precepts include a 30-minute lecture from a staff member and a thirty-minute discussion among students. Topics covered include Development of the New Testament Canon, Hermeneutics and the Historical Jesus, and Gnostic Gospels vs. Canonical Gospels. Our hope is that Novum becomes the best and most talked about precept on campus. Please pray toward this end. Engaging the Religion Department in this manner has yielded much fruit already. We have begun to see tangible change, including special meetings between students and professors and a course being taught differently, including a change in the syllabus.
Also, Elaine Pagels, a world-renown New Testament scholar at Princeton, has agreed to a public conversation with N. T. Wright on the historical Jesus and the resurrection. The conversation with take place on Monday, November 18. Pray that many would come out to consider the most important questions: Who is Jesus and what does his resurrection mean for the world?
Thank you for joining with us in prayer!
July 2013 >
