Giving Thanks for Extraordinary Students
Sarah Camp
Director of Marketing and Communications
In May and June, Christian Union is celebrating the cherished members of the graduating Class of 2019 at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.
At end-of-year banquets held in their honor, students involved with Christian Union donned formal attire and enjoyed evenings of remembrance and celebration of their beloved seniors. As they dined, many seniors rose to share memories and thanksgiving for the way God has worked in their lives.
Seniors graduating from Harvard
{tweetme}They often directed their remarks to peers and ministry faculty who had made a difference in their life. “No other community on campus expressed this kind of love to me,” one student, who had recently been baptized, shared.{/tweetme}
At Yale, a senior pointed to ministry fellow Jane Hendrickson, and explained it was because of Jane that she rededicated her life to Christ. Another student spoke of the process of coming to faith in Jesus Christ in college.
At each university where Christian Union operates, bittersweet farewells are being said to the class of 2019. Many in the graduating cohort grew close over years of studying Scripture together, praying, fasting, traveling, living, and sharing the Gospel together. Seniors learned to seek God with energy, and they frequently spurred one another on to love Christ and to serve their university communities in His name.
The next step, graduate school or the marketplace, is now considered to be the opportunity God has graciously provided to use their education and skills for His glory and the blessing of others.
To help them prepare for the transition from college, the ministry led seniors through topical Bible courses examining vocation, finances, and stewardship. The ministry at Princeton concluded its lecture series for the academic year with a talk on vocation delivered, appropriately enough, by the author of Christian Union’s vocation curriculum.
Christian Union at Columbia hosts an end of year BBQ
Many of Christian Union's ministries took seniors off campus for retreats, giving them time to reflect together, and discuss and plan for challenges typical to post-college life, such as finding a church, adjusting to a new city, and bringing their faith into graduate programs or the marketplace.
Staff from Christian Union Cities ministries provided counsel on these transitional challenges. Those heading to New York and Washington, DC, will be warmly welcomed into the Cities ministry, tailored to their new stage of life, offering Christian speaker series, conferences, mentorship, community groups, networking opportunities, and more. The alumni engagement team was also visiting with soon-to-be-graduates to connect them to the growing Christian Union alumni body that spans ten campuses to date.
The Christian Union ministry fellows at each of these institutions have poured into the lives of these men and women; their hearts are full as they say farewell. Ministry fellow Laurel Copp explained, “We are sad to send them off, but encouraged by the work God has done in their lives."
