Prayer, Revival, and Societal Transformations
At Christian Union’s Cities Conference in Manhattan in 2018, George Otis, Jr. talked about the first Great Awakenings in the United States and the ensuing socioeconomical impact that followed in various cities and communities that were “overwhelmed by the grace and presence of God.”
Riley ’22 Leads Communal Scripture Reading Initiative
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
Spring had finally arrived in Hanover, New Hampshire. On a warm May afternoon, amidst the golden sunshine, a group of students from CU Vox were spread out on blankets, reading the Bible out loud on the Dartmouth Green.
Pilar Is Christian Union’s Minister of Music
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
Linnette Pilar has a heart for worship and a prayerful passion for New York City.
Pilar, executive assistant to Christian Union Founder and CEO Matt Bennett, is a member of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, a six-time Grammy-winning group of singers who minister in their home church and around the world.
Students Organize Worship Meetings, Easter Celebration
By Kelly Parks, Staff Writer
As COVID-19 regulations slowly lifted for churches and campus events this spring, a group of students with Christian Union’s ministry at Cornell hosted an in-person Easter sunrise service at the John R. Mott Center with a limited number of attendees.
“I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.” – Psalm 86.12
Graduating students recently gathered at Franklin Field for the first time in 2 years to participate in Penn’s commencement ceremony. It was a bittersweet ending to our students’ undergraduate tenure. I am thankful for their resilience and grit during these past 15 months. The class of 2021 will be sorely missed! As we celebrate graduation and the end of another school year, please pray for:
Greetings from Providence! On May 2, Brown held commencement exercises celebrating this year’s graduating class. It’s always hard to say goodbye to the seniors we’ve come to know so well and love so much. This year was certainly no exception, but we praise the Lord that students were able to walk in person with family in attendance. These students have demonstrated remarkable perseverance, maturity beyond their years, and an abundance of grace over the last two years. We’re excited to see where the Lord leads them in the years to come and feel so grateful for the privilege we’ve been given to walk beside them during their time here on campus.
Dear CU Lumine Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
“...Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:10-11)
We are officially in the Summer A Semester and have restarted in-person and online Bible courses for students. We are studying the Gospel of John and the above passage is from John 2 after Jesus performs His first miracle at a wedding in Cana. This passage led to a fruitful discussion about Jesus bringing overwhelming joy to those who obey and follow Him. In the midst of so many changes and unknowns this past year, it was an encouraging and timely truth for the students to remind their own hearts of how Jesus seeks to bring and give eternal joy to His followers.
Greetings from Ithaca! While we will miss our seniors, we are so happy to know that they are moving on from Cornell mature in Christ, eager to put the glory of God on display in their various fields, and equipped to lead and make an impact for Jesus all over the world. Please pray for them as they transition away from life at Cornell to various careers and graduate schools. Pray that they would know that God has a perfect plan for them and pray that they will find solid Christian fellowship and local churches where they can continue to grow and use their gifts and talents for God’s glory.
How did it get to be the end of the academic year already? The seniors will graduate on June 13th and it will be a few short months until the class of 2025 arrives in Hanover. In a year unlike any other, there is much to praise God for. “Small but mighty” is how I think about the class of 2021. They have shown remarkable endurance, flexibility, leadership, and grace. I am excited to see how God will use them in their new communities, but we are also sad to see them go. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” - Philippians 4:4
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.” -Exodus 15:1–3
Moses said those words in Exodus 15 after experiencing the deliverance of the Lord from the Egyptians, as a song of praise to the God who sees, saves, and provides for his people. We are grateful for God’s continued provision for our students, whom He has sustained this spring, our student leaders, whom God has continued to give vision to, and our ministry fellows, who have continued to serve and lead faithfully through a challenging season. We are ultimately grateful for God’s decisive act of deliverance in history through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, where He reconciled us to himself by grace through faith and freed us from the power and penalty of sin. Hallelujah!
…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. - 1 Peter 2:2-3
In closing another school year, Christian Union remains committed to the spiritual development of students by creating opportunities to seek God through prayer and the study of Scripture. For this reason, eight Princeton students participated in a “Seeking God Lifestyle Seminar” because there is an earnest desire to grow in Christ, not just during the school year, but throughout the summer, and for that, we give thanks to God!
Warm greetings from Christian Union Caritas!
This Friday is the final day of classes for the Spring Quarter. We praise God that the students we serve have made it through this challenging year!
We are blessed by the opportunity to update you on our ministry at Yale. Through God’s extraordinary grace, we concluded this academic year with a senior banquet, a celebratory event honoring the work of God in the lives of our graduates. We sent them into the world with gifts: a Yale mug, a book on Christian discipleship, congratulatory cards signed by beloved peers, and the charge to shine like stars in the universe by holding fast to the word of truth (Philippians 2:14-16). Our new mentorship program, which connects graduates with CU alumni and Christian professionals, will provide vocational support and keep graduates centered on Jesus, our bright Morning Star (Revelation 22:16).
How can you best pray for Christian Union NY this month? Pray with us!
As we intercede for New York, and because you are a committed follower of Jesus, I want to let you know of a group that has formed to seek the Lord passionately for the welfare of NYC and for this nation to cry out to God, repent together, and return to the Lord. This inner core group is the Christian Union New York Cornerstone Partners.
Tim Keller: We Need a Gospel Perspective
In the past several years, the new racial justice movement has begun. But unlike the previous racial justice movements of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, whose actions and methodology were marked by Christian beliefs and “the ethics of love, forgiveness and reconciliation,” this new battle for justice is leaving the concept of forgiveness behind.
CU Gloria Law Leader Pursues Dual Degree
By Kelly Parks, Staff Writer
After serving in the Marines for seven years, Joel Malkin made a major career change and enrolled in the joint degree program at Harvard Law and Business Schools in 2020. One year into pursuing his Juris Doctorate and Masters of Business Administration, Malkin has been an active participant in Christian Union’s ministry at Harvard Law, CU Gloria Law.
James Madison Program Hosts Conversation on Censorship Concerns
An openness to differing viewpoints is increasingly becoming a missing component of higher education. Though university is meant to be a time of challenging assumptions, learning how to consider different perspectives and why they are valid, and ultimately becoming a more well-rounded individual who respects worldviews that are different from their own, these basic functions of education are eroding away.
Cornell Alumnus Is Thankful for Christian Union’s Impact
By Zachary Lee, Cornell ’20
Being involved with Christian Union for four years at Cornell taught me all about translation. No, I did not translate the Bible from ancient Greek or Hebrew (although that could be a Bible Course idea!), but rather through Christian Union, I learned what it meant to take the restorative and life-giving truths that had nurtured me in my Christian walk and contextualize them to people from other backgrounds without compromising the integrity of the message.
Donaldson ’23 Relies on Christ to Overcome Adversity
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
2020 didn’t go as planned for anyone. But for the class of ’23, it was uniquely disappointing. The pandemic cut into the long-anticipated college experience of making new friends and living in the dorms as first-year students, and for Gabby Donaldson, it meant missing a whole season of playing on the Harvard women’s basketball team.
Christian Union Associate Produces Timely Documentary
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
Once a month, Christian Union New York convenes local pastors for an intense, fourteen-hour time of prayer, fasting, Bible reading, and seeking the Lord. Christian Union Founder and CEO Matt Bennett leads the meetings, along with Dimas Salaberrios, a Christian Union ministry associate and a bold Christian leader in New York City.
