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CU New York Forum with Dr. Michael Brown

Christian Union New York invited Christian Union Alumni, CU New York participants, and friends of Christian Union to join us on March 17, 2022 at 7:30pm for a virtual forum with Dr. Michael Brown.

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June 22 - June 23, 2018, New York City 



The CU Cities Conference 2018 convened graduate students and diverse professionals, from recent graduates to seasoned pros, from across industries, to explore compelling ideas about faith and its relevance to every facet of our lives. Graduates of Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennslyvania, Princeton and Yale explored their role in becoming Christian leaders. Click here to watch the videos and click here to listen to the audio from the conference. 
Katie Lentz, CU New York young professional: “The most impactful thing about this conference was the coming together of a network of people striving towards the same goal. It was so encouraging to gather with Christians from this city and other cities with the same Christ-centered personal mission in the workplace.”
Photo Gallery
Click on one of the pictures below to access the photo gallery from the CU Cities Conference.

Forums and Salons Develop Thoughtful Christian Engagement in Wide-Ranging Topics Throughout Year

cuny-speaker-series

Forums on Christian Leadership

Forums occur quarterly, in venues suitable for 100-150 participants. Topics address broad themes of Christian leadership, and keynote speakers will include inspiring Christians who are leaders in their respective fields. These events are excellent networking opportunities among Christian professionals who are growing in their vision, strategy and effectiveness to change New York City and Washington, DC culture for Christ.

Recent forum speakers include:

  • Dr. Robert Louis Wilken, Professor Emeritus of the University of Virginia (pictured, above)
  • Dr. Os Guinness, Author and Social Critic
  • Mako Fujimura, Artist and Director
  • Abbie Killeen, Producer Babette's Feast 
  • Cherie Harder, President The Trinity Forum
  • Dr. David R. Young, Founder and Chairman of Oxford Analytica
  • Dr. Anthony Bradley, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at The King's College in New York City
  • Matthew Bishop, US Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief for The Economist
  • Fernando Cabrera, NYC Council Member and senior pastor of New Life Outreach International

Salons

Salons provide an intimate gathering for around 20 Christian leaders at a time to develop strong ties, and interact on a more narrowly defined topic that strengthens either the intellectual or supernatural dimensions of your Christian faith. Expert speakers will go in-depth, but the setting affords participants opportunities for question and answer, and interaction with the speaker, as well as one another. If you are interested in hosting a salon, please contact: cunewyork@christianunion.org.

Upcoming salons are announced in Christian Union New York Events.

  • Jeff Smith, President Generosity NY
  • Jay Jakub, Director of Eternal Research at Mars Catalyst
  • Paul Horrocks, President Rocksurance Solutions
  • Ken Fish, Founder Kingdom Fire Ministries
  • Dr. Seth Ward, Music Director at Central Presbyterian Church in Manhattan
  • Michael Rowntree, Senior Pastor of Wellspring Church in Fort Worth, Texas
  • Joseph Loconte, PhD, Associate Professor of History, The King's College, New York City
  • Dr. Gordon Isaac, Berkshire Associate Professor at Gordon-Conwell Seminary
  • Prof. Paul Lim, Associate Professor of the History of Christianity, Vanderbilt University, Divinity School


Past Events

Click here to view past events and correlating video and audio recordings. 

Questions

For more information on Christian Union New York please email cunewyork@christianunion.org and for more information on Christian Union.

Christian Union New York highlight thoughtful leaders in various fields speaking on leading and engaging the world with faith. These forums provide an opportunity for Christian leaders to discuss and debate the role and implications of faith in the public square.

Excellent Additions to Your Reading List

The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook 
by Niall Ferguson 

ferg

The 21st century has been hailed as the Age of Networks. However, in The Square and the Tower, Niall Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us, from the structure of the brain to the food chain, from the family tree to freemasonry. Throughout history, hierarchies housed in high towers have claimed to rule, but often real power has resided in the networks in the town square below. For it is networks that tend to innovate. And it is through networks that revolutionary ideas can contagiously spread. Just because conspiracy theorists like to fantasize about such networks doesn't mean they are not real. (Amazon)

 

The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction
by Justin Whitmel Earley

TheCommonRule

Twenty-first-century Christianity has experienced a much-needed renaissance in its theology of work, but it takes formational habits to work with the purpose we preach, and this ingredient is still largely missing from the conversation.  In the meantime our workplaces are being fragmented by the distractions of technology, uncontrollable busyness, and the question of whether we want a job driven by purpose or upward mobility. This book addresses the need to pair our theology on the meaning of work with the formational practice of spiritual work habits in order to bring order and purpose back to the workplace - and to our lives.

 

True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of Our Complex World
by David Skeel

TrueP

Although the twentieth century saw several landmark contributions to Christian apologetics, these Christian classics have lost some of their effectiveness in an era when America is more pluralistic than ever before and many Americans imagine that science has explained or will soon explain all of the mysteries of life.  Skeel, however, argues that Christianity actually offers better explanations than materialism or other perspectives for many of the most important puzzles of our existence - such as our idea-making capacity, our perceptions of beauty and suffering, and our repeated optimism that we can create a truly just social order and repeated failure to do so.


On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books
by Karen Swallow Prior

reading

Reading great literature well has the power to cultivate virtue. Great literature increases knowledge of and desire for the good life by showing readers what virtue looks like and where vice leads. It is not just what one reads but how one reads that cultivates virtue. Reading good literature well requires one to practice numerous virtues, such as patience, diligence, and prudence. And learning to judge wisely a character in a book, in turn, forms the reader's own character.

 

Prior takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good character and the good life.  (Amazon)

 

The Road to Character
by David Brooks

the road to character"Brooks focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me, which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges us, and himself, to rebalance the scales between our "résumé virtues"—achieving wealth, fame, and status—and our "eulogy virtues," those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness, focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed." (Amazon)



A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918

by Joseph Loconte

a hobbitt a wardrobe"The First World War laid waste to a continent and permanently altered the political and religious landscape of the West. For a generation of men and women, it brought the end of innocence—and the end of faith. Yet for J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to ignite their Christian imagination. Had there been no Great War, there would have been noHobbit, no Lord of the Rings, no Narnia, and perhaps no conversion to Christianity by C. S. Lewis." (Amazon)

The Professor and the President: Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the Nixon White House
by Stephen Hess

professor and president"Written by Stephen Hess, who served on the White House staff during both the Eisenhower and Nixon presidencies, this book is a uniquely personal account of what happened behind closed doors when conservative Richard Nixon made Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a liberal Ivy League professor, his top urban affairs adviser." (Brookings)




Ministers at War: Winston Churchill and His War Cabinet
by Jonathan Schneer

ministers war"Ministers at War tells the gripping story of how the man who certainly saved Britain and arguably saved western civilization managed his cabinet "team of rivals," a coalition of men who had spent most of their interrelated, pre-war political lives at daggers drawn." (First Things)





To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World
by James Davison Hunter

to change the world"The call to make the world a better place is inherent in the Christian belief and practice. But why have efforts to change the world by Christians so often failed or gone tragically awry? And how might Christians in the 21st century live in ways that have integrity with their traditions and are more truly transformative? 

Hunter argues that all too often current political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"-- an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life." (Amazon)

Leadership for the New York Ministry

Linda L. Huang, DDS, MD, FACS

linda huangA Columbia University School of Dental Medicine graduate and clinical professor, Linda is one of the most specialized dental and oral surgeons in the New York area. She owns her own highly successful practice, serves on medical missions, frequently offers prayers with and for her patients, and serves on the ministry team for CU NY’s Gospel of the Kingdom Conferences.

Chris Shortell
chris shortellChris is a graduate of Cornell University who has held various leadership roles in the U.S. and Asia in insurance and international trade while living in some of the most dynamic cities such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, and is the former Euler Hermes China CEO. He is now moving back to NYC to permanently re-join his wife, Joon, after a stint of overseas commuting in the wake of the global pandemic, and is passionate about mentoring young men.

Joon Shortell

joon shortellJoon is a graduate of the Parson School of Design with a concentration in Fashion Design, and was a clothing designer and boutique owner. Joon’s passion and zeal for Bible teaching, prayer, and a move of the Holy Spirit have her now using her time primarily serving the kingdom of Jesus globally and in NYC.

Pursuing Leadership Impact ... Together

We are called not only to a new and transformed life - but to be part of the redemptive process of "making all things new." 

Are you interested in:

  • Building a vibrant network of friends in a fast-paced, time-starved city?
  • Experiencing the richness of abiding friendship, cultural engagement and seeking the Lord's presence with a group of like-minded leaders in NYC?
  • Working with others to engage a complex and diverse city to make it a different and transformed place - a place that God intended it to be?

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Community Groups are small groups of Christian men or women pursuing leadership impact in three specific ways:

  1. Community: Building a network of abiding friendships with other leaders in NYC;
  2. Spiritual Cultivation: Developing an intellectually-satisfying and wholehearted pursuit of the God who made them;
  3. Engagement: Actively engaging and changing the culture around them.

These groups meet every other week with an active Bible study component and periodic projects designed by the group.

Projects range from reimagining a particular vocation in light of the gospel to involvement in a critical social issue in the city.

The intellectually curious and those longing to assimilate their faith in the culture we inhabit will find these groups stimulating and life-changing.

For more information, or to join a Community Group, please  cunewyork@christianunion.org or call Scott Crosby at (347) 682-5653.

Professional & Spiritual Readings to Enhance the Effectiveness of CU New York Mentors

Professional

1. The Importance of Networks

To Change the World, James Davison Hunter, Chapter 4 (especially pp 36-38)
Tips For Building Stronger Networks
How Leaders Create And Use Networks

2. Communication – Verbal and Written

Elements of Great Communication
Verbal Communication Skills
Written Communication Skills
Stories as Communication

3. Managing Up

• What It Means To "Manage Up"
   - Harvard Business Review
   - Wall Street Journal
Communications Involved In Managing Up
Managing Up In The Workplace

4. Problem Solving

Problem Solving Process
Nine Steps To Problem Solving
Building a problem-solving culture that lasts

5. Career Planning

Connecting To Other Key Leaders
Leaning In To Power

6. Mentor's Choice

 

Spiritual

1. Daily Devotions – the how and why
Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else. – Charles Spurgeon

Basics On Why Have Devotions
Avoiding God

2. Community
Questions can make hermits out of us, driving us into hiding. Yet the cave has no answers. Christ distributes courage through community; he dissipates doubts through fellowship. He never deposits all knowledge in one person but distributes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to many. When you interlock your understanding with mine, and we share our discoveries, when we mix, mingle, confess and pray, Christ speaks. – Max Lucado

Building Healthy Relationships
Redemptive Community 
Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

3. Stewardship
Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already. – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Principles Of Stewardship
Bible References
Law or Grace?

4. Integrating Faith & Work
The greatest tool God has given you to impact the world: your work. – Institute for Faith, Work and Economics

A Biblical View of Work 
Faithful Presence at Work 
Rediscovering The Biblical Doctrine Of Work
Calling and Presence 

5. Public Square
People fulfill their individual and collective destiny in the art, music, literature, commerce, law and scholarship they cultivate, the relationships they build, and in the institutions they develop...as they reflect the good of God and his designs for flourishing. – James Davison Hunter

The Kingdom Story
A Posture of Public Faith 
The Gospel of New Life 

6. Mentor's Choice



Get Involved

If you would like to participate as a mentor or mentee, please contact Christian Union New York Director Scott Crosby.

Calendar of Activities & Speakers

cunyc-events

Events scheduled in 2017 are provided here. You can also find Christian Union New York on Facebook.
 


July 

7.21.18 — Christian Union Summer Getaway. Registration for Summer 2018 is currently open. From July 21st-July 28th, professionals will come together for a week of water sports, teaching, and fellowship. Click here to learn more and to register.



June

6.22.18— CU Cities Conference 2018. Join us from Friday, June 22nd through Saturday, June 23rd. Formerly known as Nexus Professionals, this conference will bring together influential professionals from across many industries for a life-changing weekend of dynamic worship and compelling ideas about faith and its relevance to our entire lives. Location and registration will be announced soon. 



February 


2.20.18 —  Salon with Ken Fish. Ken is an honors graduate of Princeton University. He has also earned an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. Formerly a colleague of John Wimber, the late leader of the Vineyard Movement, Ken brings more than 30 years of academic study and practical experience in this discipline.

Join us on Tuesday, February 20th from 7-9pm. Location and topic will be announced soon.



February 

2.15.18 — Salon with Ken Fish. Ken is an honors graduate of Princeton University. He has also earned an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. Formerly a colleague of John Wimber, the late leader of the Vineyard Movement, Ken brings more than 30 years of academic study and practical experience in this discipline.

Join us from 7-9pm on Thursday, February 15th from 7-9pm. Location and topic will be announced soon.



February 


2.10.18 — Salon with Ken Fish. Ken is an honors graduate of Princeton University. He has also earned an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. Formerly a colleague of John Wimber, the late leader of the Vineyard Movement, Ken brings more than 30 years of academic study and practical experience in this discipline.

Join us from 7-9pm on Thursday, February 15th from 7-9pm. Location and topic will be announced soon.



February 


2.5.18 — Forum with Dr. Os Guinness. Space is limited, but admission is FREE please RSVP here.

Join us from 7-9pm on Monday, February 5th in the Union League Club at the Library Room. The address is 38 E. 37th Street (at Park Ave) in New York City. 

Os Guinness was born during WWII in China where both his parents and grandparents were medical missionaries. He was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford.

Os has written or edited thirty books on a wide range of themes, including , Time for Truth, The Call, Invitation to the Classics, Unspeakable, A Case for Civility, and A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future. Os divides his time between McLean, VA and Oxford, England and continues to write, speak and educate.

Dr. Guinness, author and social critic, will address the topic of "The Reformation at 500: The Forgotten Secret of American Freedom." In celebrating the Reformation most commentators have concentrated on the remarkable gifts to the church that it provided. We forget, however the impact the Reformation had on culture. In the context of the universal coherence and centrality of faith in all spheres, Os Guinness makes a case that this movement was also the single strongest set of ideas that made the modern world.



January

1.23.18 — Salon with Dr. Jay Jakub, Senior Director of External Research, Mars Catalyst. Dr. Jakub will speak on "Jubilee Economics: Transforming Buisness for God.

For the past fifty years, business leaders have believed their sole responsibility is to maximize profit for shareholders alone, and that for business to do ‘good’ for society or the environment, there must always be a costly tradeoff of profit, thereby limiting scale of impact. This obsessive focus on profit nearly sunk the global economy in 2008, while the many Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) emerging from business have shown limited results and are often more for reputational purposes than for transformation. From a Christian perspective, Jay Jakub offers a more complete form of capitalism called the ‘Economics of Mutuality,’ which focuses business on the needs of others (the means) rather than on maximizing shareholder value (the ends). 

Join us on Tuesday, January 23rd from 7-9pm. Due to the initmate nature of salons, space is extremely limited. Please RSVP through emailing Kate Gardner at Kate.Gardner@christianunion.org.



January

1.19.18 — Salon with Phyllis Crosby, CORE Real Estate, New York and Sam Lawson Johnston, Managing Director, Real Estate division, LJ Partnership; London, UK. Friday, January 19th, 2018, from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., the special guest speakers will explore the topic of "Does Space Matter: Faith and Real Estate." 

Do we have a theology of space - what space means for flourishing, for hospitality, for understanding our need for community, for forming family, for revitalizing neighborhoods and cities? Phyllis Crosby is a realtor in New York largely motivated by how we design and use space as people made in God’s image. Additionally, she has lived and worked extensively in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China addressing these same issues.

Sam Lawson Johnston is a commercial real estate investor and developer based in London and has recently completed a development in central Manchester devoted to building and leasing commercial space leading to flourishing in a community.

The event was held at Manhattan Christian Collaborative Center, Nayack College, 2 Washington Street, 17th Floor in New York City.

 


 

September

9.30.17 — Christian Union New York's Fall Young Professional Event 2017. Attendees enjoyed an evening on the water aboard Manhattan II to hear more about what resources Christian Union offers to young professionals in New York City. 

 


 

July

7.22.17 - 7.29.17 — Christian Union Summer Getaway. REGISTRATION IS CLOSED. Put summer 2018 on your calendar!

 


 

May

5.06.17 — Salon with Bob Doll, Chief Equity Strategist, Nuveen Asset Management, LLC., Faith and Work in Finance. 


 

April

4.05.17 — Salon with Dr. Christopher Hancock. The Very Rev'd Dr. Christopher Hancock, Chairman, Oxford House Research, will speak at the Union League Club on "Reading the World: Politics and the Science of Interpretation." 



4.07.17 - 4.09.17 — Nexus: Professional 2017. Join us for two days of exceptional plenary speakers and seminars on what it means to engage and transform culture as Christians in the marketplace. Vibrant worship and connections with others round out a memorable weekend in Samford, Connecticut.



February

2.07.17 — Forum with Dr. William Hurlbut. This month's forum takes on ethical considerations in biotechnology advances. Dr. Hurlbt will speak on "The Challenge and Opportunity of Gene Editing: Scientific and Ethical Considerations." Event is free but registration is required.


 

For more information, to ask questions, or to join the Christian Union New York mailing list please contact Christian Union New York Director Scott Crosby.

cu new york
Christian Union seeks a spiritually vibrant nation marked by Christian values permeating every corner of society. Christian Union New York works to bring revival to America, starting right here in the city.

In Jesus, Christian leaders can be made whole spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, and in their families. Beyond that, they can be strengthened and equipped with kingdom strategy and anointing to be used by God to transform those within their spheres of influence.

 
From the City to the Nation... and Beyond

A revived and kingdom-minded New York City can begin to turn the heart of the entire nation back to the Lord. To some, this might sound unlikely. But the Lord has done it before. A simple prayer meeting in Manhattan, started in 1857 by a businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier, grew and multiplied in supernatural ways, ultimately leading to what we now call the Third Great Awakening—a revival that spread across America and beyond.

This is why Christian Union New York exists. It serves, ministers to, equips, and connects influential leaders in business, government, finance, law, media, medicine, vocational ministry, and other key industries. The multiplicative power of connecting spiritually vibrant, high-level leaders in every sector of society in NYC can transform the city.

Through seeking God together and stepping out in bold faith, the city-wide and national impact of Spirit-filled key leaders working in tandem cannot be overstated.

CU New York is available to any Christian professional living in the area. God has called Christian Union to particularly target developing Christian leaders, so as to maximize the reach of those believers to impact culture. The ministry also offers a unique continuation of community for alumni of Christian Union's  university ministries.

Get Connected

More information regarding our NYC opportunities: