The month of May represents the hope of warmer weather, the smell of budding flowers, and a season of newness for many people. If you’re a 3L HLS student, you’re thinking it’s the end of a 3 year-long chapter, and the beginning of the rest of your life. So much has gone into the last three years of law school — so much sacrifice, all the labor and investment into preparing for the life that is now staring back at you squarely. In just a few days, over 500 students will graduate with their degrees from Harvard Law School. Hundreds of young men and women will strive to make their mark and leave a legacy on and in the world in which they will strive to lead. There among them are those who hold a unique understanding of their law degrees as secondary to something of greater value — their call to honor God with their lives.
Dear Friends and Partners of Christian Union at Penn,
With classes complete at the University of Pennsylvania, our students are either preparing for graduation festivities or heading to homes and internships around the world. It has been a great year for CU@Penn, as we've seen students continue to grow in faith and leadership on campus and in the community. Our staff is also transitioning, from Bible course preparation and discipleship meetings to professional development and planning for next fall. Would you please join us in praying for the following?
My wife and I recently hosted a dinner party around a discussion of the book, The Wind in the Willows. Like many enduring children’s books, this one from Kenneth Grahame operates on several levels - engaging for children with talking animals, humorous mishaps, and obvious good guys and bad guys; and stimulating for adults with its themes of deep community, perseverance, and morality. As we discussed these aspects, our conversation slowly wound toward our own community of faith - do we see these same issues extant in our relationships and church? It was a rich time of reflection on the praxis of our faith - are we swimming in the stream, or just dipping our toes in the water? It’s awfully easy to just do the latter.
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We will post clips from our speakers, pictures from our events, and announce upcoming events. Through our email list, we send event information, prayer requests, and share information for you to connect with our ministry in New York City. If you have any questions about CU New York, please reach out to us at cunewyork@christianunion.org. Instagram: @cucities
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We hope to see YOU at our next event!
Greetings,
We’re in the final few weeks of what has been, a very productive semester. Earlier in April, we had Vince Vitale, a minister with RZIM, visit campus to make a compelling case for Christianity as a worldview. Vince showed how the Christian faith answers some of life's biggest questions surrounding origin, purpose, morality and destiny. We had both Christians and unbelievers in attendance, and Vince skillfully interacted with students, answering their concerns about Christianity. We received encouraging feedback from students about the event. One student in our ministry, currently wrestling heavily with doubt, remarked that the discussions over Vince's book and his event on campus helped make Christianity seem more believable.
We also have selected new student leaders for the upcoming academic year. We strongly believe that we have a new group of student leaders that are faithfully walking with Christ and are excited to serve Jesus and all of Columbia's campus. We thank God for the service of our leaders currently transitioning out of leadership, many of whom are seniors, getting ready to engage a new season of life after graduation.
Here’s how you can pray for us:
- Pray for students as they enter into the final stretch of the semester, and as they prepare for final exams
- Pray for our senior students as they near graduation and are feeling a wide range of emotions about what comes next
- Pray for our new student leaders as they prepare to lead next year
- Pray for staff as we prepare for the fall semester
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Bryant Parsons
Ministry Fellow
Christian Union at Columbia
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Columbia, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
We are coming up on the end of our Spring semester here at Cornell, and there are several important things which are happening in the last weeks of the school year. The seniors are getting ready for their next stage of life, and others are getting into serious study mode as they prepare for finals. We are also preparing for our Grill Me for Grilled Cheese outreach event, as well as our Senior Banquet.
We’ve been referencing the topic of revival frequently in our study of Nehemiah at HLS lately. Or, should I say, perhaps, I feel like the topic has been speaking to me lately. And it’s appropriate, too, because one of Christian Unions’ missions is to be part of ushering revival into our country through fervent Spirit-led prayer and the study of God’s Word. Then the question came up during one of my mentoring sessions with one of my students, “How does revival happen?”
Greetings from Cambridge,
There are few asks that better capture our challenge to become more like Jesus than the prayer that we would begin to mirror his faithfulness. The word faithful (πιστός) is rich in meaning and embodies obedience, reliability —and for our spiritual purposes— covenant relationship. Most helpfully, this exhortation reminds us that we are mere servants who possess the agency to complete assignments, but often have little control over outcomes. Yelp. "...and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (e.g. unbelief) will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." [1 Cor. 10:13]
Dear Friends and Partners of Christian Union at Penn,
Our students are in count-down mode: 7 days remaining of classes, 14 days until final exams, and 28 days until graduation. As the semester comes to a close, we are so thankful for the wonderful year we have had with our students. We’ve seen God’s sovereign grace bring new spiritual life, we’ve had the joy of baptizing new believers, and we’ve seen God’s grace poured out in countless ways. Thank you for your prayers for these students and our amazing staff. Would you continue to pray for:
In a world fixated on the immediate and material we don’t often find ourselves part of conversations about transcendence. “Transcendent” is not a theological term, yet it certainly has theological relevance in its meaning of “supernatural”, “surpassing”, and “overarching”. In the just concluded Easter season the idea of transcendence is highlighted as we celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection. The resurrection in particular highlights God’s redemption of both our souls and, indeed, all things to the hope of glory and completeness in the new heavens and new earth.
Please join our Christian Union at Brown community in praying for the following:
and all His ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Greetings,
We continue to give God praise for his work on Columbia’s campus through Christian Union. By His grace, we continue to minister faithfully in every way that He has called us. This semester,our major outreach initiative has been the book giveaway and discussions around Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale’s Jesus Among Secular Gods. The outreach culminates in Vince Vitale coming to speak at our Illumina. These book discussions have been aimed primarily at skeptics of the Christian faith. We held our first discussion a few weeks ago on the topic of Scientism. Non-Christians were in attendance, including a Buddhist student. Pray that these discussions would lead ultimately to conversions, and that Christians who attend may be strengthened in their faith.
- This semester, we have been doing a Mocha Mondays coffee giveaway. At this point, we have established a regular presence on campus giving away coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. Pray that this would lead to relationships and a chance to present the gospel.
- We had a showing of the documentary Liberated: A New Sexual Revolution, with a panel following that including students and staff discussing the dangers of the hook-up culture. Pray that the fruit of this would continue to show itself as students think through these important topics.
- The new Bible course with men in Greek life has been consistently going well and has led to some very fruitful discussions. Pray for the continued growth of students in their spiritual lives as we continue to disciple them.
- There are a number of events that need to come together for the end of the semester. Pray for student volunteers, especially as they try to navigate their busy schedules.
Ministry Director
Christian Union at Cornell
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Cornell, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
Maybe, you’ve read some of the great leadership books by Jim Collins (Good to Great, Great by Choice) or books by Simon Sinek (Start with Why) or Joseph Grenny (Crucial Conversations)? I highly recommend another book about leadership, written way before any others - Nehemiah.
Greetings from Cambridge,
For nearly eleven-years students have led HCFA with a prevailing desire to glorify God. For this we are profoundly thankful. Their measured determination to humble themselves (a truly foreign concept amongst us humans!) has resulted in effectual leadership that has steadied the ship whatever the conditions.
Dear Friends and Partners of Christian Union at Penn,
Spring is dangerously close in the deep South of the Ivy League. Philadelphia enjoyed 2 days near 70 degrees this past week, and with that warmth came a reminder that the Gospel brings new life (as compared to the existentialist eternal Winter). Praise God for his gracious gift of hope!
At a recent event on the church in today’s cultural context, the speaker mentioned culture having “surface” structures and “deep” structures. Passing trends and changes in laws happen at the surface level while shifts in values and ways of understanding identity take place in the deep structures of culture. These latter changes happen over decades and are of a type that truly changeculture.
Nathaniel Encounters God’s Diversity
Nathaniel tells his personal story, coming from a largely like-minded culture to the opposite in New York. He recognizes how adaptable and diverse Christianity can be through his CU at Columbia Bible Course.
The spring semester is underway here at Brown University. Students have already made it through their first round of midterms as they work hard to prepare for the ones to come. I wanted to take a moment to highlight one story that has encouraged me during these beginning weeks of the semester.
