Religious Engagement on the Rise at Yale
by Erin conner, writer & communications associate
Christian Union's leadership development ministry serving students at Yale University was recently featured in a Yale Daily News article written by Ada Perlman. In the article, Perman reported that, "according to a Yale Daily News’ survey distributed to the class of 2028, on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being “extremely religious,” 4 percent of the 535 respondents said 5, 12 percent responded 4 and 22 percent responded 3. Last year, University Chaplain Maytal Saltiel told the News that she has seen a considerable increase in interest in religious communities at Yale."
Sua Lee ’26, vice president of Christian Union, told the News that, "before the school year started, she and other leaders in the Christian Union went on a pre-term retreat to pray for the incoming class and plan events to make sure that anyone who wanted to find Christian community or was exploring faith had the opportunity to do so. As part of welcoming all first years, the Christian Union organized a “dorm drop” where they dropped off goodie bags to every first-year suite and invited them to their annual block party. Lee herself went to the block party during her first year and subsequently became involved with Christian Union."
“I saw what Christian Union was doing and I saw how passionate our students are about pursuing the Lord and making time for him despite our busy schedules at Yale,” said Lee. “I wanted to really serve in this way so that I could create more opportunities for people to meet him and that’s what I’m still doing now.”
Christian Union Lux's first weekly Leadership Lecture for Yale University students, fall 2024
This article in the News seems to illuminate a growing hunger for God and religious engagement that is occurring at Yale and other secular educational institutions in the US. At Yale, Christian Union's first Leadership Lecture Series event, which was held on the first Friday night of the 2024 academic year, left standing room only in Christian Union's ministry house near Yale's campus. Reports from Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard tell the same story–rooms packed with students from all class years wanting to seek the Lord's face in community with each other.
Let us not grow weary in praying for every student who is seeking God to find reconciliation with Him through Jesus Christ.
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