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Stay Engaged with Christian Union

Christian Union welcomes any and all Christians who have graduated from any of the universities at which the organization ministers to get involved with alumni programming, regardless of involvement with the ministry at the undergraduate level. Join the mission to develop and connect transformative Christian leaders!

 
Christian Union Boards

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Volunteer Time and Talents

Become a mentor, city welcomer, or volunteer for a board.

There are various ways to get involved with the mission beyond the leadership of an alumni board.

Volunteer as a mentor to encourage graduating seniors in their journey beyond the university.

Attend or help host a reunion event to get to know the ministry staff, see the ministry center, and reconnect with peers.

Welcome recent graduates into a new city.

Volunteer on a committee focused on specific alumni initiatives.
 

Contact alumni engagement to learn more and get involved.

 

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Stay Informed

Christian Union, in partnership with alumni and Cornerstone Partner volunteers, gathers and sends monthly email newsletters including prayer requests from each university faculty team. To sign up to receive these monthly updates, email prayer@christianunion.org and include which university ministry to subscribe to.

 

Likewise, the ministry wants to know the latest happenings in the lives of alumni and Cornerstone Partners worldwide. Please share news, events, trends, or new contact information with alumniengagement@christianunion.org. The content provided just might be featured in an upcoming newsletter!

 

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Give Back Financially

Sow into Christian Union’s University Ministries

 

Countless hours of faculty time and many financial resources are regularly poured into the ministry by generous financial partners. Some are alumni of the Christian Union’s ministry or these schools; others are not. All are giving in obedience to God’s call.

 

Your charitable gift of $25 or more will make you a Cornerstone Partner and help lay the foundation for revival and spiritual health in our nation. Please prayerfully consider becoming a Cornerstone Partner today.

Christian Union is Part of the Social Network

Introduce Friends to Christian Union

Christian Union is active on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube. 

If you are active on one or more of these sites, we'd ask you to follow ChristianUnion on Twitter, to  consider retweeting Christian Union occasionally, to connect via LinkedIn and/or to Like Christian Union and make posts about the ministry on Facebook and/or Google+. 

In order to broaden the reach and scope of the ministry, it is important to connect with as many like-minded people as possible. You can make a difference simply by liking, connecting, following, and posting news and information about Christian Union to your networks. It's a simple but effective way to advance the mission to see God glorified in the United States. Your effort can help expose a wider range of people, across the nation and around the world, to the vision and strategic efforts to change culture for God's glory. Your friends and family may be moved, God willing, to join in the work of the ministry.

Follow, Like, or Connect Now

     

We'd Like to Hear from You

If you have heard, experienced, or run across a story that you think would be of interest to Christian Union, or that our readers might find helpful, encouraging, or inspiring—please submit it below. 

This could be an idea for a story you'd like to see, an idea for an article we should share via our eNewsletter, or an idea for Christian Union: The Magazine. Appropriate submissions will be forwarded to the editor of Christian Union's magazine, blog, and to those in charge of Christian Union's various web properties for consideration.

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Transform Realty into Generous Giving

Giving a gift of real estate, such as a personal home, vacation home, undeveloped property, or a farm, can be a highly effective philanthropic and financial strategy. Each of the following gift arrangements has distinct tax benefits, which Christian Union would be happy to discuss with you:

• Your property can fund a trust that makes payments back to you or someone you name.
• You can choose to make an outright gift of real estate, which can be used for funding a ministry fellow or other purposes.
• If you are planning to sell your real estate, you can transfer ownership of an interest in the property to Christian Union. After the sale, the ministry receives its share of the proceeds.
• You can make a gift through a retained life estate arrangement, under which you give Christian Union your home, but retain the right to live there for the rest of your life. You also receive a current income tax deduction.
• The property that you contribute is removed from your taxable estate.

Steps for Gifting Real Estate >

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For Assistance

If you need assistance with any of these giving opportunities, call a financial partner representative at: 1-609-688-1700 Option 2 or email giving@christianunion.org.

Establish your legacy

Christian Union can help you explore ways to make a bequest that will assure your own legacy through a life-changing ministry. Making a gift from your estate begins with the following steps:

Understand Ways to Give

Name Christian Union as a beneficiary 

• Christian Union welcomes gifts of a remainder interest in an IRA or other qualified retirement plan (Keogh, tax-sheltered annuity, or qualified pension or profit-sharing plan). For some people, these can be the most highly taxed assets they own, since retirement plans assets can be subject to both estate and income taxes. Christian Union is a tax-exempt organization, so when you name the ministry as a beneficiary of your qualified retirement plan, these assets can pass to the ministry without being taxed. Similarly, when you name Christian Union as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy, the assets pass to the ministry tax free. Please contact your own Retirement Plan Administrator for a beneficiary designation form. The legal name for Christian Union is: "Christian Union Inc" and the tax ID number is: 22-3834440.

Make a gift through your will or living trust. 
Few legal instruments are more important to the people and causes you care about than your will. Before you meet with your attorney, we suggest that you become familiar with the ways you can make a bequest:

• A specific bequest directs a dollar amount or particular assets, such as securities, real estate, tangible personal property (works of art or rare books), to Christian Union.
• A residuary bequest directs all or a percentage of the remainder of your estate, after specific amounts bequeathed to other beneficiaries are distributed and estate-related expenses are paid, to Christian Union.
• A testamentary trust can be helpful for you and your family as well as for Christian Union. A lead trust saves estate taxes by providing annual payments to Christian Union in lieu of taxes; the remaining amount goes to your family or friends. A remainder trust provides payments to your surviving family members or friends for life or a set term, with the remainder going to Christian Union.

 

Think about your Christian Union Legacy

A gift to Christian Union may memorialize a friend or relative, or carry in perpetuity the name of the donor.
• An unrestricted bequest allows the ministry to determine how to use the funds based on its highest and most pressing needs. If you prefer to make an unrestricted bequest, we suggest the following sample language: "I give and bequeath to Christian Union Inc, a New Jersey not-for-profit corporation, the sum of ___________ Dollars {or all the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate} to be used for the general purposes of the Ministry in the discretion of its Board of Trustees."
• A restricted bequest directs assets to a specific fund or a particular purpose. If you are considering designating your bequest for a specific purpose we suggest that you speak to a development officer at Christian Union. The ministry will help ensure that your gift is used as you would like. Staff members are available to discuss what you want to accomplish through your gift and can provide sample language for you and your attorney to review.

Resources

Letter of Intent >
Sample Bequest Language > 

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For Assistance

If you need assistance with any of these giving opportunities, call a financial partner representative at: 1-609-688-1700 Option 2 or email giving@christianunion.org.

Imagine the United States transformed by the leadership and values of Christians of wholehearted devotion to the Lord.

Vision

Christian Union seeks a spiritually vibrant nation marked by Christian values permeating every corner of society.

Mission

Christian Union develops and connects transformative Christian leaders.

Strategy

Christian Union’s two main emphases on select universities and professionals in key cities reflect our concern to reach people groups that exert disproportionate cultural influence in the United States. 

Outcome

If US society was transformed by the leadership and values of Christians of wholehearted devotion to the Lord we might expect to see some of the following implications: 

• If large numbers of business executives valued Christian ideals above all else, it would mean the spread of ethical business practices, concern that workers be treated fairly, and integrity in leadership.
• In the field of education, if large numbers of university presidents, faculty, and administrators were committed to Jesus Christ, careers, internal politics, and ideology would take a back seat to the education of our children.
• If the US government contained high numbers of developed Christian leaders, we would expect laws and the execution of laws in our country to more fully reflect a Christian worldview.
• If large numbers of top media executives reflected Christian values, we would expect more programs valuing marriage, parenthood, generosity, respect, courage, self-sacrifice, and compassion.
• There is a global impact to consider as well in the thousands of foreign students who study at these key universities. Consider the potential impact if a future president of Pakistan, China, or Russia were reached for Christ and trained to be a godly leader for their home country.

At present, the nation's most influential universities export spiritual darkness into our culture through secularized leadership.

It will take prayer, effort and financial resources to reach these future leaders for Christ. Please prayerfully consider how you might partner with Christian Union to make a difference.

 

God
God is Triune—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each an uncreated person, one in essence, equal in power and glory.

The Scriptures
The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore wholly truthful in the original manuscripts and authoritative for faith and practice.

Creation
God created all things out of nothing, and He has created all people in His image, equal in worth. However, because of sin, all people are alienated from God and one another and justly deserve God’s eternal judgment.

Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the only and eternal Son of God and His perfect image, took on human flesh to save us, in order that we might be restored in relationship with God and one another, rightly worship, and love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, and be freed from the power of sin and the just judgment of God.

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully man. He lived a perfect and sinless life, loving others, teaching truth from God, and working miracles. He was crucified for us, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose from the dead with a glorified body. He ascended into heaven, and he now rules as Lord at the right hand of God the Father, where He intercedes for His people.

The Gospel
Because of the love of God and for the glory of God, Jesus died in the place of sinners in order to secure our salvation. All who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, repent of sin, believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and confess Him as Lord receive God’s free gift of restored relationship with Him and eternal life.

Our good works do not earn salvation, but by God’s grace through the Holy Spirit good works always accompany salvation and make it manifest, for the glory of God and Christ. God gives to all believers the Holy Spirit who indwells, sanctifies, instructs, gifts, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service, the unity of faith, and knowledge of the Son of God, through which we grow in the maturity and fullness of the image of Christ in us. The Spirit Himself is the down payment of our promised inheritance in Christ.

Jesus has commissioned His church to bring the gospel to all peoples, to make disciples of Him, and to celebrate baptism and communion until He returns. Jesus is coming back to earth personally, bodily, and gloriously to consummate His righteous rule. All who trust in Him will enjoy eternal, joyful fellowship with God and one another in resurrected and glorified bodies in a new heavens and new earth.

See also our Statement of Ethics

Christian Union

Matt Bennett

Founder and President, Christian Union
Cornell BS '88, Cornell MBA '89
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School MDiv '10

Matt Bennett is founder and president of Christian Union, a Christian leadership development organization with the mission to bring sweeping spiritual and cultural transformation to our nation and the world by developing and networking Christian leaders to make an impact for Christ. Christian Union focuses its activity on America's most selective and influential universities and on professionals in the nation's key cities.

A native of Houston, Texas, Matt earned BS and MBA degrees from Cornell University and holds a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He worked for Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) at Princeton University for 12 years, and developed the ministry into one of the largest in the history of the Ivy League. In 2002, he founded Christian Union. The ministry has been featured in The New York Times, PBS, NPR, Christianity Today, and World Magazine. Matt currently resides in New York City.

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Ken Fish

Independent Board Member
Graduate of Princeton University
Masters of Divinity, Fuller Seminary
MBA, UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management

Ken Fish has more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive with Fortune 500 corporations specializing in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, financial management and organizational transformation.

Throughout his life, Ken has worked with parachurch ministries, and in the 1980s he worked full-time for John Wimber for several years at Vineyard Ministries International (VMI). Among his duties at VMI, he worked on various aspects of the conferences that were a hallmark of the early Vineyard movement, including researching and ghost-writing for John Wimber. He has traveled extensively as a conference speaker, teaching on wide variety of topics ranging from leadership and spiritual formation, church growth and revival, biblical authority and exposition, to prophecy and healing and deliverance.

 

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Dian Naman

Independent Board Member
Alumna, Columbia University

Dian Naman is a wonderful woman of God and is a tremendous addition to the Board. She and her husband Vince first became acquainted with Christian Union through their children’s involvement. It started with Luke, a 2015 graduate of Dartmouth and an active participant in Christian Union activities, and then their youngest daughter Brianna, a 2017 graduate of Brown, who was also involved with Christian Union.

The Naman’s eldest daughters also attended Ivy League Schools but before Christian Union was fully formed and/or present at their respective universities. Natalia, the oldest, went to Princeton earning a BA in English, theater, and African-American Studies (2008). She also earned an MFA, Dramatic Writing from NYU in 2010. Julia attended Yale and graduated in 2012. Christian Union featured the all-Ivy family in CU: The Magazine in 2016.

While Vince is a proud Princetonian and is now a plastic surgeon, Dian attended Columbia University for nursing school and runs their medical clinic and spa, Chattahoochee Plastic Surgery. Dian and Vince have been generous advocates and financial supporters of CU over the years. They love the mission of Christian Union and enjoy the prayer and fasting initiatives from Day & Night. They have also hosted or been a key connector to CU events in Columbus, GA where they are pillars in their community.

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Winston Wu

Christian Union operates additional ministries to encourage renewal and revival, and equipped and networked Christian leaders.

The Christian Union Conference on Faith and Action

Nexus runs two parallel conferences, one for students from a select number of universities, and one for professionals. Each conference offers an inspiring weekend of dynamic worship and thought-provoking messages from world-class speakers. 


The 2017 Nexus student & professional conferences will be held in Stamford, Connecticut, April 7-9, 2017. 

Nexus for Students

Learn More & Register 

Nexus creates space for students from some of the world's leading universities to gather together and learn about Christian leadership and its potential for impact in culture today. Student attendees can look forward to:

Dynamic Worship || From gospel to contemporary to classic, draw closer to God with exciting worship, prayer, and music in diverse musical styles.

Engaging Speakers || Be encouraged from God's Word with talks by world-class speakers, pastors, and thought leaders.

Building Relationships || Get to know students from other campuses and develop a network of passionate Christians who desire to impact the world.

Nexus: Professional 

Learn More & Register

The Christian Union Conference for Professionals convenes 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. Attendees will interact with recent graduates as well as seasoned professionals.

As Christian leaders in a broken world, it is important that we are unified in our mission to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and engage to transform our culture. This weekend will encourage you and equip you to be a part of God's redemptive plan in your workplace.

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." - Isaiah 2:3

To watch videos or listen to audio recordings of the Nexus 2016 plenary sessions, or to download and listen to audio recordings of breakoutsessions, please visit the Nexus 2016 website. 

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Christian Union Day and Night

 

Sharing a Vision to Transform Dartmouth

The alumni board is an alumni-led organization which will inevitably play a vital role in the future of the ministry at Dartmouth College. The alumni board is committed to furthering the development of programs focused on alumni as it furthers the following objectives: advance the work at Dartmouth College, transition graduates well, develop Christian leaders and bring revival.

 

Andrew Shuffer '18

Board Member

Kenneth Kvistad '63

Board Member

Elaine Lunsford '17

Board Member

 

Contact Us:

AlumniEngagement@ChristianUnion.org.