"For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness."
— Ezekiel 34:11-1
We are so grateful for your prayers in this unusual season. Typically we would be beginning to have coffee with freshmen at Thayer Street restaurants and setting up shop at a table in Ratty or V-Dub, for our regular discipleship meetings with students.
What a year this has been, particularly for university students. When the pandemic started unfolding in March and Columbia University was forced to go virtual, we were all holding out that Fall 2020 would be the reset we needed. But instead of our students moving into John Jay, Schapiro or Ruggles or connecting with new freshmen during NSOP (New Student Orientation Program), we are mapping out what ministry can look like virtually.
Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians has been a great encouragement to our team and student leaders over the past few weeks. While restrictions due to the coronavirus threaten to limit our normal ministry activity at Cornell, we have been reminded to remain steadfast and to pray (1:2-3), stay in God’s Word (1:5-6), and walk in the power and joy of the Holy Spirit (1:5-6), so that the gospel of Christ will sound forth (1:8).
Greetings from Hanover and Christian Union Vox. We just finished our summer term (virtually) and have a two-week break before the start of the fall term and the beginning of another academic year. It would be an understatement to say this year will be different here in Hanover. Only half of the student body will be on campus this fall with both freshmen and juniors returning to Hanover. There will not be any fall sports, clubs have been curtailed, and large-scale gatherings are on hold. Campus life will look vastly different and the traffic on the Dartmouth green will be diminished. In spite of these challenges there is much to rejoice over and much work to be done. Please be praying for us in these specific ways:
Dear CU Gloria Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
It is a new season and the weather is getting cooler and cooler as the fall is beginning to engulf New England. First year students are all moved in on Harvard’s campus, which looks very different from the campus freshmen have been arriving to for years. The students are quarantining for their first week, and following that, they will be adhering to strict guidelines within the Harvard bubble. Needless to say, what these new students are facing is unique, and our prayers for them to find community, thrive, and adjust to this new reality are all the more important.
Dear CU Nova Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
I sit here today on the morning of the beginning of a year unlike any seen before on the Princeton campus. As you may have heard, the Princeton University administration decided to move to a fully remote model for classes this semester with no students on campus. And here on the final day of August, students begin their year at Princeton in a completely online format. Furthermore, as you have likely heard, Christian Union has gone through a vast financial transition where our ministry faculty has been reduced from eight full-time staff to three. Much has changed since our last interaction.
In a week and a half, Stanford students will begin an academic year unlike any of the 129 before it. Only a few undergraduates with special circumstances will reside on campus; the rest will be scattered across the country and globe. The Stanford community will push technology to its limits in a valiant attempt to substitute physical with virtual presence. Please pray that the time required for these measures will be short, and that God will bring relief from the sickness, disunity, and hardship of these days!
A semester unlike any other begins in just under a week. This year we will gather on Zoom instead of on Locust Walk. Student leaders at CU Martus have been preparing and praying for a God-honoring start to the semester. Thank you for your continued prayers for us!
It is with a heavy heart that I write to you this afternoon.
Facing difficult COVID-related financial shortfalls from donors unable to sustain their normal giving this upcoming year, CU made the difficult decision to lay off over 30 people across our organization last month. This has affected every campus where CU ministers, including Yale. Therefore, we are saying goodbye to Jane Hendrickson and Michael Racine right on the cusp of what was already shaping up to be a challenging semester for ministry. As I have expressed to our CU Lux community, these 2 servant-leaders have glorified God so well in their work. Jane, a 6-year veteran has been a highly-competent, faithful, loving, servant-hearted leader helping this ministry continue on true to its mission over many, many seasons. She has gone above and beyond to serve each of our individual students, the ministry at Yale, and the broader CU organization. Michael, with 3 years on our team, has brought academic excellence, theological depth, and a compassionate heart to our campus and organization. He as inculcated in others a real heart for seeking God with his well-measured and God-centered words in teaching and everyday conversation. Blessings to you, Michael, as you transition to another role in Christian Union.
Student Leaders Mobilize Online Initiative
BY EILEEN SCOTT, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Slack. Zoom. Pray. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the University of Pennsylvania moved classes online, members of Martus, Christian Union’s ministry on campus, swiftly leveraged digital and social media tools to create a sacred space for remaining close to God and each other.
Ministry Director Tucker Else reading Scripture with students weeks prior to the pandemic
Christian Union New York Virtual Salon
On August 26, 2020 Christian Union New York hosted a virtual salon on Perspectives on Homelessness with Ed Morgan.
Flourishing in Digital Babylon
by david kinnaman and mark matlock
In a previous era, we had some semblance of success with mass-producing disciples. We had big rallies and crusades and whiz-bang events, and many young people came forward to pledge their lives to Christ. But as the growing dropout rate starkly reveals, that approach alone doesn’t seem to work here and now as well as it did there and then.
In digital Babylon, faithful, resilient disciples are handcrafted one life at a time. Over the past ten years, we’ve observed five patterns of intentional behavior we can adopt to guide disciples in the making.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and , though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
— Psalm 46:1-3
Report Details ‘Pivotal Moment’ for Gen Z and Millennials
by tom campisi, managing editor
With its report, The Great Opportunity: The American Church in 2050, the Pinetops Foundation examines the fruitfulness, or lack thereof, when it comes to the engagement of today’s teens and young adults.
According to its 2018 report, approximately one million young people are leaving the church each year—but a “great opportunity” exists if we can reverse the current trends assigned to Generation Z and younger Millennials.
The Loneliness Epidemic among Young Adults
Dr. Sam Kim is a scholar at the Yale-Hasting Center, where he explores the crisis of professional burnout in academic medicine and health care. He is a recipient of the Lifelong Learning Fellowship at Yale Divinity School and Yale Medical School and worked as a research fellow in global health and social medicine at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School.
The co-founder of 180 Church in New York City, which started with students from Columbia University, Kim earned a doctorate in ethical leadership at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is a regular contributor to Christianity Today Exchange and the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.
You have previously written about a loneliness epidemic in society. Please elaborate on this in regards to today’s young adults.
A significant pattern related to the Cigna study of loneliness and social isolation is that Generation Z (ages 18-22) is now the loneliest generation in history. Although Gen Z is perhaps the generation that is most technologically connected, they scored the highest on the UCLA loneliness scale, an instrument that measures and assesses subjective feelings of loneliness by using a twenty-item questionnaire.
We are in Week 4 of the summer term, albeit virtually.
Hey friends,
I hope this update finds you well, especially amidst a summer that no-one could have expected. Thankfully, ministry at Harvard has continued to take place over the summer, primarily through the summer Bible study of the book of Proverbs. These words from Proverbs 7 remind us of the central importance of the Word of God in our lives. The exhortation here is that as we treasure God’s words in our heart, then we can truly live. God’s desire for us is that we experience the abundant life he has for us, one full of joy, peace and contentment in Christ. That is also our prayer for our students during this season, as many of them will be studying remotely, taking a gap-year, or coming back to a completely different campus.
