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September 3, 2020
Dear CU Libertas Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,

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.

September 3, 2020
Dear CU Lumine Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,

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.

September 3, 2020
Dear CU Vita Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,

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).

September 3, 2020
Dear CU Vox Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,

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:

September 3, 2020
Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

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.

September 3, 2020

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.

September 3, 2020
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,

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!

September 3, 2020
Dear CU Martus Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,

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!

September 3, 2020
Dear CU Lux Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,

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.

July 30, 2020
Thank you for your continued prayers for CU Lumine (Columbia University) and for New York City. Columbia University has released plans to re-open for the fall semester in a limited capacity. Incoming freshman and sophomore students will be returning to the campus. There are still a lot of unknowns regarding what ministry and student life will look like. This is truly a trying season and as a ministry, we have greatly depended on the Lord for His wisdom and guidance. We are confident that God will continue to reveal His good purposes. As a staff, we know one-on-one discipleship will be crucial for the students that are returning to campus.

July 30, 2020
Hello from Hanover and Christian Union Vox at Dartmouth College.

We are in Week 4 of the summer term, albeit virtually.

July 30, 2020
1 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; 2 keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; 3 bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:1-3

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.

July 30, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,


This past month I have been reading the book of Proverbs in the mornings. God has been using the wisdom of this book to strengthen and encourage me in this time. The central conviction of the book of Proverbs is that the thing we need most is the fear of the Lord. Elsewhere in Scripture we see commands to fear God, but also characters who embodied, albeit imperfectly, this fear of God—people like Daniel and Esther who feared God and followed him in the midst of crisis and at great personal costs.

July 30, 2020

Grace and peace from Palo Alto!


Usually, during the summer weeks, we pivot a bit from our regular Bible courses to do something different. This summer several CU students—including some incoming freshmen—are meeting on Tuesday nights via Zoom to read through and discuss the book of Genesis. Recently while covering chapter 18, we read about Abraham’s persistent intercession on behalf of Sodom before God:

July 30, 2020
We would love to pray for you, as I imagine you are struggling with some of the same issues that we are struggling with here in Philadelphia: uncertainty about what the next 6 months will look like, how to parent well when our kids are getting stir-crazy, how to be a good husband when I’m getting stir crazy, etc.

July 30, 2020

The One Who Is, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loyalty and faithfulness, maintaining loyalty for a thousand generations, bearing iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will not leave them unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on their children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation. —Exodus 34:6–7


This spring and summer, many Americans have been made increasingly aware of the reality that, whether we like it or not, the iniquity of past generations does weigh on us. To be sure, there's much more we have yet to attend to—both in terms of disarming the spiritual and cultural forces that militate against true racial reconciliation, and in terms of the many other sins that have been allowed to fester for too long. And yet, we thank our God, who is, and was, and is to come, for His unfailing covenant loyalty and faithfulness.

June 25, 2020
Thank you for your continued prayers for the work on this campus and for New York City. As many of you have been witnessing the racial tensions and protests across the nation and NYC, we are being confronted with so many issues that have plagued our nation. We, along with Christians everywhere, are seeking God’s face in repentance. Our confidence is in the Lord who is still on the throne. The ministry faculty have been spending one-on-one time with many students, guiding them to Christ and the hope we find in Him. This is truly a trying season and, as a ministry, we have greatly depended on the Lord for His wisdom and guidance. We are confident that God will continue to reveal His good purposes.

June 25, 2020
Dear Prayer Partners,

It is finally summer here in Hanover. The spring term concluded on June 10th and commencement took place (virtually) on the 14th.

June 25, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,


Thank you, as always, for your prayers for our ministry! With the summer having begun, our staff will be spending the next two months completing intensive training, praying and planning for the coming school year, and taking some much-needed vacation time. We are looking forward to the year ahead and the many things we expect God will do in us and in the lives of students.

June 25, 2020

Greetings from Palo Alto!


My wife, Kate, and I have a habit of listening through books of the Bible, one chapter per night, as part of our evening routine. A few nights ago we came across one of the most astonishing parts in Joshua: