About
Honoring the Lord with Excellence
The nature and significance of Christian Union’s calling compels a culture of accountability. While our primary output or product as an organization is changed lives, we hold ourselves accountable for our diligence and progress.Metrics are a means to the end of ensuring that accountability which, in turn, flows from the desire to honor God with our best efforts. We aspire to be as organizationally robust as some of the best well-run for-profit firms. From score-carding mechanisms, to assessing year-over-year results, to post-event analyses, we seek to continuously improve our performance and effectiveness.
Christian Union is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Christian Union is audited annually by an external firm. You can view these audited financial statements. The ministry highly values the contributions of financial partners and carefully manages every gift. We will respond to financial partners promptly with questions and requests for additional information.
The Christian Union Difference
Four distinctives differentiate Christian Union. Each is a theme that runs through Christian Union's work in key cities and on strategic university campuses:
01 || A Lifestyle Marked by Seeking God
Christian Union promotes biblical Christianity's emphasis on frequent, fervent prayer; massive intake of Scripture; repentance; humility through fasting; perseverance; promptly obeying the Spirit; and extended times of gathering with believers.Learn more >
02 || Networked & Engaged Christian Leaders
Christian leaders must engage culture in order to transform it, and Christians of influence must be well networked in order to maximize their godly impact on society.Learn more >
03 || High-Caliber Faculty & Intellectual Rigor
This strategic focus requires curriculum and faculty suitable for men and women of exceptional intellectual caliber; proprietary Bible course and leadership training curriculum are combined with effective mentoring by ministry faculty of mature faith and advanced theological training.Learn more >
04 || Disciplined Approach & Organizational Excellence
Christian Union seeks to honor the Lord, expand the ministry, and serve donors' intentions by maintaining a disciplined ministry model and a culture of strict accountability evidenced by detailed metrics, extensive evaluations, and continuous improvements to maximize ministry impact.Learn more >
The Christian Union Difference
Christian Union tailors its ministry to people of high intellectual capacity whose knowledge of Scripture ranges from non-existent to well-developed. The ministry develops Bible courses, conferences, certifications, lectures, reading groups, and more, for our targeted audience. Christian Union ministry faculty are selected for their capacity to assess needs and to teach to this level.
The high-caliber materials and instruction Christian Union provides is tailored to its audience, not to produce seminarians but to ensure its offerings have suitable intellectual depth to be appealing and effective.
Protection of Human Life
In virtue of being created in the image of God, human life is sacred. We furthermore affirm that human life begins at conception. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.
Opposition to Racial Discrimination
In virtue of being created in the image of God, people of all ethnicities, nationalities, and races are of equal worth. Furthermore, the diversity of human cultures, languages, experiences, and individual makeup is intended by God and showcases his creativity and diversity. Jesus has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, uniting them in himself in a glorious display of God’s love and unity. Therefore Christians have the responsibility to oppose any form of ethnic, national, or racial discrimination.
Care for the Poor
In virtue of being created in the image of God, people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and statuses are of equal worth. Furthermore, God defends the cause of the fatherless, the widow, the alien, and the poor, and Christ rescued us when we were poor and helpless. Those who have been made new in Christ and who seek to serve God will likewise defend the cause of the oppressed and show compassion to the poor. Therefore Christians have the responsibility to aid the poor and needy.
Stewardship of the Environment
In virtue of the earth being created by God and graciously given to humanity as its habitat and physical means of sustenance for the purposes of human flourishing, Christians have the responsibility to steward the environment in a way that brings glory to God and shows love to others.
Justice and Integrity in Government
In virtue of God’s governance of world affairs, his desire for justice, and the Christian’s call to pray for government leaders for the sake of peaceful and just societies, Christians have the responsibility to seek integrity among government officials and that they would promote justice in broader society.
Financial Generosity
In virtue of God’s generosity and the biblical call to love God more than money, to be generous, and to steward resources wisely, Christians have the responsibility to avoid greed, consumerism, and materialism and to give generously and sacrificially for the sake of making disciples of Jesus Christ, relieving human suffering, and blessing others.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, became poor for our sake, that through his poverty we might become rich. These riches––physical, spiritual, relational, and otherwise––Christ gives to his church in part even now and in their fullness in the life to come. When we sow these riches bountifully, using the varied abundance God has given each of us to supply the needs of others, we will also reap bountifully. God will multiply our seed for sowing and increase the harvest of our righteousness, enriching us to be generous in every way. We therefore joyfully affirm God’s principle that we reap what we sow, for our joy and good and for his glory, and we thank God for this inexpressible gift!
However, God makes his grace and gifts abound to us not so that we may serve our remaining selfishness or greed, but so that we may abound in good works and increase the harvest of our righteousness. We also recognize that the Holy Spirit distributes the varied gifts and riches of God through Christ’s merit, not our own, and sovereignly, as he wills and not necessarily as we will. Furthermore, we will nevertheless face trouble in this world until our Lord comes again to renew it. The chief and only assured blessing among these riches is restored fellowship God, now and forever. We therefore deny any teaching that offers blessings of our choosing––health, wealth, or any other––as God’s assured promises in this life.
Affirmation of the Image of God in Male and Female
In virtue of all people being created uniquely, distinctly, and equally in the image of God as male and female and being called to live holy lives with respect to sexuality, Christians have the responsibility to affirm marriage, legally and morally as exclusively between one man and one woman as the only place for legitimate expression of God’s gift of sexuality. Christian ministers are obligated to teach and defend God’s truth in these matters. They have no recourse to allow other Christians or Christian ministers to hold views different than those stated above, without refuting them. Furthermore, all Christians have the responsibility to flee all manner of sexual immorality, including fornication, pornography, adultery, and homosexuality in their personal lives and romantic relationships.
See also our Statement of Faith
A Process of Drawing Close to God
Seeking the face of God is the process of drawing close to God, and therefore attracting His presence to your life and community. It is hard work to seek God's face, which takes time and effort like anything else worthy of pursuit in this life. Becoming a Christian is only the first step, and without diligently applying yourself, you will never draw close to the Lord or experience His presence and power in your life.
To live what we call a Seeking God Lifestyle is to truly invest yourself in seeking digilently to discover what He loves and values, and connecting with Him in order to have those same values permeate your own heart. It's about knowing the heart of God, identifying with Him and carrying out His purposes. As you seek Him, He responds to you and comes upon your life in power so that you may fulfill your destiny and you and your community will be blessed.
You should know that it is costly to seek the Lord wholeheartedly. Not only does it take a lot of time and effort, but it means making His plans and purposes the focus of your life. It's disruptive, almost always entails some degree of suffering, and puts Him as Lord of your life instead of yourself.
Seven principles are found to characterize the lives of biblical believers, early Christians, and Christians today of many other nations. Seeking God with the energy that God expects of you will result in periodic fillings of the Holy Spirit in your life which you need for joy, revelation and victory over sin.
1. Humility
The Christian should humble himself/herself profoundly, taking advantage of the help that fasting provides. He should fast regularly (the first-century Christians fasted twice a week), and should fast for longer periods of time for special occasions (examples in the Bible include periods as long as three days, ten days, 40 days, 70 days, and 120 days).2. Fervent and Frequent Prayer
Including Bible reading and memorization, a Christian should spend two or three set times per day in prayer, totaling 1.5 to three hours, either alone or with others. This is in addition to time spent lifting up prayers throughout the day or before meals.3. Massive Intake of Scripture
The amount of time a Christian should take in the Bible each day is explained in #2 above. Taking in the Scriptures includes reading the Bible, memorizing it, reciting it, meditating on it, listening to it, studying it, and listening to good sermons explaining it.4. Personal and Corporate Repentence of Sins
Christ must be LORD of everything in your life including your sex life, your recreational life (it can't be so time-consuming that it crowds out your prayer and Bible reading), and your finances.5. Obedience to God, Day by Day, Moment by Moment
Living a consistent righteous life over time draws God's presence.6. Perseverance in Seeking After God Day After Day, Month After Month.
There's no way you can seek God wholeheartedly for a whole year and not see significant changes, but seeking God is not something to be pursued just for a year, but as a way of life for the rest of your life.7. Gathering with Others
For your two or three set times per day praying and reading the Bible, join with other Christians as much as you can. Of the 14-21 times per week, try to join with others for many of those sessions. Additionally, set aside time for two week-long Christian conferences per year so that you stay strong in your devotion to Christ. Lastly, encourage and plead with others to join you in seeking the LORD.Does a Christian really need to do all of the activities mentioned above? That depends on your perspective in two ways.
Christian Union
Matt Bennett
Founder and President
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 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.
Follow Matt Bennett on Twitter: @MattWadeBennett.
Peter Ahlin
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer
Raised in Raleigh, Peter earned his BS in Mathematics/Economics and MBA degrees from Duke University. After graduate school, he worked for more than fifteen years in financial risk management, founding his firm's continental European office in Krakow, Poland, directing the global analytics practice, and later leading the group responsible for people and organizational development, recruiting, training, employee experience, and core HR functions. He also worked as strategic business advisor to for-profit and non-profit organizations, providing interest rate and currency risk management, analytics, business expansion, benefits optimization, and mission/purpose/values expertise.
Peter currently resides in North Carolina with his family.
Jason Walsh
Vice President, Christian Union Universities
Jason Walsh honorably served 10 years in the United States Marine Corps, 3 years in the 102nd Mounted Infantry Battalion with the Connecticut Army National Guard, and 4 years as a Firefighter/EMT for the City of Stamford Fire Department in Stamford, CT. At the Pentagon, Jason served as a Mission Planner, supporting the highest levels of U.S. leadership, including the resident, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and military generals across all branches. While deployed to Afghanistan, He was a Combat Aviation Operations Chief at Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, a Forward Operating Base (FOB) to combat insurgent activity in the Helmand Valley, which was a hotbed of terrorist activity and the most dangerous province in Afghanistan at the time. Jason served in and out of combat zones with multiple government agencies, including the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, the U.S. Army’s 20th Special Forces Group, and the British SAS.
Throughout nearly 20 years of service in military and local agencies combined, Jason’s leadership has been at the forefront! Jason graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Training, Parris Island, SC (Boot Camp), as the Platoon Honor Graduate, #1 out of 96 recruits. He was promoted to Sergeant within his first 4 years of Marine Corps service. He was selected from the top 1% of the Marine Corps globally for recruiting duty. Jason was also a .50 Cal Machine Gunner, becoming proficient in all U.S. Army Infantry weapons systems, criminal profiling, and interrogation. He was selected in the top 10 out of 2000 applicants to be a Firefighter/EMT. He was later selected as an instructor at the Stamford Regional Fire Training School after unanimously being voted platoon leader in his own firefighter recruit class. His service is recognized with numerous military medals and personal awards, including the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, 2 Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, 3 Marine Corps Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Jason is the Vice President of Christian Union Universities, based at Yale University. He is also an associate pastor at The Rock Church in Wallingford, CT. Jason’s passion for Jesus and service is deeply personal. Overcoming homelessness and personal hardship, he attributes his transformation to the love and healing power of Jesus Christ. He is committed to sharing this message and believes that Jesus has a unique plan and message for each individual that can transform their life.
Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Leadership and Ministries from Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs, CO, with additional education in Theology and Urban Missions from Alliance Theological Seminary in Manhattan, NY.
Quincy "Wolfgang" Watkins
Vice President, Spiritual Formation
Quincy earned a BS in Economics from Temple University and an MBA in Marketing and Organizational Development from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has held numerous executive-level, corporate positions and is a gifted business strategist. In addition, Quincy is a sought after preacher, lecturer, and prophetic minister with more than two decades of ministry experience. A bishop with One Accord Assemblies, he has overseen five congregations. Quincy joined Christian Union in 2008, bringing a dynamic blend of corporate and ministerial experience to his roles, including five years as a ministry fellow. As VP of Spiritual Formation, Quincy ministers to Christian Union faculty, staff, and students, helping develop and deepen lifestyles of seeking God wholeheartedly.Quincy's lifelong mission is to provide health and balance to the Body of Christ through holistic preaching, teaching, and deliverance. As a bi-vocational minister, he continues to serve as lead pastor of The Neighborhood Church in Darby, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware. A native of Chicago, Quincy is happily married to Fay.
Andy Woodard
Executive Director Christian Union New York Bio coming soon.
Christian Union
Matt Bennett
Founder and President, Christian Union
Cornell BS '88, Cornell MBA '89
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School MDiv '10
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.
Ed Morgan
Independent Board Memberbio coming soon
Dian Naman
Independent Board MemberAlumna, 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.
Winston Wu
An Effective Way to Meet an Urgent Need
Christian Union was founded in 2002 to develop and connect transformative Christian leaders. This video (4:00) explains the strategic importance of focusing considerable attention and effort on spiritual renewal at some of the nation's most influential universities.Christian Union focuses its energy on developing Christian leaders at the leading universities in America and select cities because of their extraordinary influence on our culture and society. For instance, out of the 3,039 four-year colleges and universities in the country, 68 percent of the most influential leaders in our nation come from the top one percent of schools. Graduates from these schools also have an extraordinary influence on the international scene.
Although some leading universities were founded on Christian conviction, they have become intensely secular. {tweetme}While students are academically bright, they know little about Jesus Christ. Fewer than 10 percent will experience any Christian ministry regularly during their student years.{/tweetme} Even with the help of local churches and national campus ministries, the proportion of Christian involvement and impact on these campuses has not changed in 50 years.
New approaches and energy are urgently needed.
A Strategic Approach
Christian Union takes a unique approach, employing highly qualified ministry faculty and producing an exceptional curriculum to develop Christian leaders. The ministry helps students and professionals discover the intellectual validity of Christian faith, the profound joy of seeking God wholeheartedly, and the practical skills to become significantly more impactful in their spheres of influence. Currently, Christian Union works with students at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard College, Harvard Law School, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale.The second part of Christian Union's strategy, beyond working at these key universities, is to develop networks of Christian leaders—alumni from Christian Union ministries and graduate students and professionals—in key cities, including New York City. The pages of history reveal that even small groups of committed, passionate Christian leaders have impacted their respective cultures in different eras.
If you are interested in strengthening Christian influence in the United States, please consider becoming a financial partner, praying, or connecting like-minded friends and colleagues to the ministry.
Learn More
Christian Union is:
Developing Leaders >
With Spiritual Depth >
In Strategic Places >
For Cultural Engagement >
Protection of Human Life
In virtue of being created in the image of God, human life is sacred. We furthermore affirm that human life begins at conception. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.
Opposition to Racial Discrimination
In virtue of being created in the image of God, people of all ethnicities, nationalities, and races are of equal worth. Furthermore, the diversity of human cultures, languages, experiences, and individual makeup is intended by God and showcases his creativity and diversity. Jesus has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, uniting them in himself in a glorious display of God’s love and unity. Therefore Christians have the responsibility to oppose any form of ethnic, national, or racial discrimination.
Care for the Poor
In virtue of being created in the image of God, people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and statuses are of equal worth. Furthermore, God defends the cause of the fatherless, the widow, the alien, and the poor, and Christ rescued us when we were poor and helpless. Those who have been made new in Christ and who seek to serve God will likewise defend the cause of the oppressed and show compassion to the poor. Therefore Christians have the responsibility to aid the poor and needy.
Stewardship of the Environment
In virtue of the earth being created by God and graciously given to humanity as its habitat and physical means of sustenance for the purposes of human flourishing, Christians have the responsibility to steward the environment in a way that brings glory to God and shows love to others.
Justice and Integrity in Government
In virtue of God’s governance of world affairs, his desire for justice, and the Christian’s call to pray for government leaders for the sake of peaceful and just societies, Christians have the responsibility to seek integrity among government officials and that they would promote justice in broader society.
Financial Generosity
In virtue of God’s generosity and the biblical call to love God more than money, to be generous, and to steward resources wisely, Christians have the responsibility to avoid greed, consumerism, and materialism and to give generously and sacrificially for the sake of making disciples of Jesus Christ, relieving human suffering, and blessing others.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, became poor for our sake, that through his poverty we might become rich. These riches––physical, spiritual, relational, and otherwise––Christ gives to his church in part even now and in their fullness in the life to come. When we sow these riches bountifully, using the varied abundance God has given each of us to supply the needs of others, we will also reap bountifully. God will multiply our seed for sowing and increase the harvest of our righteousness, enriching us to be generous in every way. We therefore joyfully affirm God’s principle that we reap what we sow, for our joy and good and for his glory, and we thank God for this inexpressible gift!
However, God makes his grace and gifts abound to us not so that we may serve our remaining selfishness or greed, but so that we may abound in good works and increase the harvest of our righteousness. We also recognize that the Holy Spirit distributes the varied gifts and riches of God through Christ’s merit, not our own, and sovereignly, as he wills and not necessarily as we will. Furthermore, we will nevertheless face trouble in this world until our Lord comes again to renew it. The chief and only assured blessing among these riches is restored fellowship God, now and forever. We therefore deny any teaching that offers blessings of our choosing––health, wealth, or any other––as God’s assured promises in this life.
Affirmation of the Image of God in Male and Female
In virtue of all people being created uniquely, distinctly, and equally in the image of God as male and female and being called to live holy lives with respect to sexuality, Christians have the responsibility to affirm marriage, legally and morally as exclusively between one man and one woman as the only place for legitimate expression of God’s gift of sexuality. Christian ministers are obligated to teach and defend God’s truth in these matters. They have no recourse to allow other Christians or Christian ministers to hold views different than those stated above, without refuting them. Furthermore, all Christians have the responsibility to flee all manner of sexual immorality, including fornication, pornography, adultery, and homosexuality in their personal lives and romantic relationships.
See also our Statement of Faith
