Intellectual Engagement
Truth and Tolerance
Veritas Forum Features Volf, Dean of Students
By Zachary Lee, Cornell ’20
In March, the Veritas Forum at Cornell University posed the question Can Truth and Tolerance Co-Exist?
Dr. Miroslav Volf, director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, and Dr. Vijay Pendakur, Dean of Students at Cornell, addressed that imposing inquiry, while Dr. Ludmilla Aristilde, an associate professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, facilitated the discussion.
Dr. Miroslav Volf, director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture (right), and Vijay Pendakur, Cornell Dean of Students, tackled the question of whether truth and tolerance can co-exist.
Texts-4-Toasties at Harvard
Harvard Students Deliver Answers to Tough Questions
by catherine elvy, staff writer
In the midst of the potent stresses of final exams, students involved with Christian Union’s ministry at Harvard College stepped forward to deliver nutrition and encouragement to their classmates.
About 30 students from the ministry helped serve 150-plus hot sandwiches as part of a Texts-4-Toasties event. The undergrads formed the backbone of an effort by The Harvard Ichthus to gather student believers to grill and distribute hot sandwiches to classmates texting spiritual queries in exchange for late-night fare.
Before final exams, the Ichthus encouraged Crimson students across campus to submit questions about Christianity in exchange for replies plus sandwiches made from cheese, Nutella, or marshmallow fluff.The campus publication offers a Christian perspective on issues, literature, and culture.
The Emergence of a Leader
Tokarz ’20 Is President of Choose Life at Yale
by catherine elvy, staff writer
A Yale College upperclassman looks back with awe as he describes his early encounters with campus peers who challenged him to weigh the depth of his commitment to the pro-life movement.
Since those pivotal exchanges during his freshman year, Dan Tokarz has championed the pro-life cause at Yale and beyond. As president of Choose Life at Yale (chooselifeatyale.org), Tokarz ’20 actively encourages students to take practical steps to reflect their dedication to pro-life efforts, especially within their campus and home communities. “There is value in the human person that’s worth protecting at every stage,” said Tokarz.
Christian Unity at Columbia
Ministries Enjoy Thanksgiving Meal
by tom campisi, managing editor
Three juniors with Christian Union at Columbia led a team that prepared and served a Thanksgiving meal in the fall semester, uniting several campus ministries for a memorable celebration.
The dinner, held on November 16 at Wein Hall, was organized by Shazzarda Davis, Barnard ’21, Anne-Marie Tehn-Addy, Columbia ’21, and Callum Kiser, Columbia ’21.
A New England Homecoming
Harvard Law Ministry Director Has a Passion for Revival
by catherine elvy, staff writer
Since his seminary days of two decades ago, Justin Yim has been fervently praying for revival to ignite across New England. Now, the longtime pastor will have a chance to mentor law students and encourage them to seek God fervently via his new position with Christian Union. This fall, Yim stepped into the role of the ministry director for the organization’s ministry at Harvard Law School.
“I always had a heart for New England,” said Yim, who grew up in New York City and attended seminary in Massachusetts. “When this opportunity came up with Christian Union, my wife and I felt a pang in our hearts. God has always been faithful, and we felt like it was time.”
A Theology of Making
by makoto fujimura
In my studio, I make art. The term “Theology of Making” (the title of my upcoming book) amplifies how this human act is connected to the divine presence. Simply put, when we make, God “shows up.” Therefore, before I begin a discourse on what God has done to make even our broken shards of life invaluable essences of the new creation, let me began by describing the creative process that an artist knows well, and how God the artist reveals a vision beyond the “fixing” of our lives, a type of theology.
The Case for Kindness
Christian Union Caritas Distributes Care Packages
by tom campisi, managing editor
Caritas, Christian Union’s ministry to students at Stanford University, pumped life into “Dead Week” in early December. 
Dead Week is a time of intense studying and reduced social and extracurricular activity preceding final examinations. In an effort to help reduce stress and bless fellow classmates, Christian Union Caritas delivered care packages to the dorm rooms of approximately 150 students. The packages contained candy, hot chocolate, stuffed animals, information about Christian Union, and a copy of Lee Strobel’s short book, The Case for Christmas.
All Things New
by cheryl ennis self
Grace and peace to you, from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is truly an honor to introduce myself as one whom God has recently called to serve at Christian Union in the role of Vice President of Development. My name is Cheryl Ennis Self, and for the past 26 years, I have had the privilege of working for three Christian organizations. Most recently, I served for 16 years at World Vision, a global Christian organization that ministers to the poorest of the poor in nearly 100 countries.
In that capacity, I visited and worked in 36 countries, mostly in remote parts of developing nations. While the living conditions were dire, I did meet believers in all parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas who learned to place their trust and hope in Jesus Christ. Those villagers were supported by local churches and by their long-term relationships with World Vision’s Christian staff who lived in their communities. Indeed, the joy of the Lord was evident in some of the most dismal circumstances because God is able, His Spirit is all powerful, and His sons and daughters are faithful to serve others with the spiritual and professional gifts He has given them, for His purposes. In Christ, we are all made new.
A Celebrated Space
Christian Union Dedicates Ministry Center at Columbia
by catherine elvy, staff writer
Profound awe and gratitude permeated the highly anticipated opening of Christian Union’s ministry center adjacent to Columbia University.
On October 13, staff, ministry faculty, and financial partners of the leadership development organization celebrated the debut of the center on West 113th Street with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Olympic Dreams
Collins ’19 Is a Leader on Women’s Crew Team
by catherine elvy, staff writer
For one Princeton University senior, grueling routines are just part of pursuing her Olympic dreams.
“I’m an Olympic hopeful. There’s lots of training and hard times ahead,” said Claire Collins ’19, an accomplished rower.
In July, Collins ’19 helped the United States capture the 2018 World Rowing Under 23 Championship in Poland. Overall, the United States team took home eight medals. Collins helped the United States to clock a 6:08.04 in the women’s eight, 0.19 seconds ahead of the United Kingdom for the bronze medal.
Engaging through Volunteering
Christian Union Panel Discussion Focuses on Reconciliation
by catherine elvy, staff writer
Drew Griffin, the managing editor of Providence: A Journal of Christianity & American Foreign Policy,highlighted the critical role believers play in fostering redemption, reconciliation, and transformation within their spheres of influence when he appeared at a Christian Union New York forum this summer.
Griffin moderated a panel of non-profit leaders who took part in an event entitled Mission to the City: Engaging through Volunteering. About 55 people attended the forum, held at the Scandinavia House on Park Avenue in Manhattan.
Christian Union Caritas
Ministry Begins Third Year in Silicon Valley
by tom campisi, managing editor
Two years ago, Christian Union expanded west by launching Caritas, a ministry to students at Stanford University.
Since 2002, Christian Union has focused on influential colleges in the Northeast, with a presence at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale.
Impacting students in California’s Silicon Valley fits in well with the mission of developing Christian leaders to transform culture, according to Garrett Brown, Christian Union’s Director of Undergraduate Ministry at Stanford.
Friday Night Lights
Freshman Welcoming Campaign Attracts a Crowd
by tom campisi, managing editor
At the start of the fall semester, Christian Union at Brown’s faculty wanted to extend its Freshman Welcoming Campaign beyond students who would typically attend a Bible course or leadership lecture series.
To reach a “festive” demographic late on a Friday night, Ministry Fellows Justin Doyle and Laurel Copp, Intern Gianna Uson, and student leaders brought grills and burgers to Wayland Arch, which is located between Frat Row and a freshman dorm quad. Christian Union at Brown set up camp in the midst of partying students, handing out about 150 sliders and bottles of water.
Summer Book Study
Students Encounter The Prodigal God
by catherine elvy, staff writer
The parable of the Prodigal Son points to distinct forms of spiritual lostness, one marked by wanton sinfulness and another by self-righteousness, and reveals the lavish grace of God in redeeming them both.
These insights emerged when students involved with Christian Union’s ministry at the University of Pennsylvania spent a portion of their summer probing The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith,by Tim Keller. In the 2008 book, Keller highlights how Christ provides the answer to lifestyles ensnared by immorality, as well as the hidden traps of hypocritical religiosity.
Christianity in Economics
Sadly, many Christians have a stunted understanding of economics, with some even insisting that the Bible doesn’t really concern itself with such topics. In reality however, the Bible bestows upon us a wholesome worldview to which we can apply and shape our different spheres of life, whether they be economics, politics, or culture.Changing Cultural Norms Are Eroding Religious Freedom
The First Amendment is receiving a massive amount of pushback, not just from a specific group, but by the culture as a whole. Trevin Wax, in his article ‘4 Cultural Trends Leading to the Decline of Religious Liberty’, states: The Christian Address to Relativism
The idea of the university has long been that of a community dedicated to discovering truth and its application to life. Guided by this mission, students and teachers were enabled to find the noble and beautiful things in the world, discover their relationship to one another, as well as establish a concrete structure from which all thoughts, words and actions flowed in their proper order. Man does not live on sex alone: Tolkien’s Words of Wisdom
Tolkien dearly loved his children, and he left a literary legacy in the form of letters. Many of these letters were written to his sons, and these letters represent, not only a hallmark of literary quality, but a treasure of Christian teaching on matters of manhood, marriage, and sex. Taken together, these letters constitute a priceless legacy, not only to the Tolkien boys, but to all those with whom the letters have been shared.Lawyers Forbidden to Practice Religion
In an era that celebrates certain forms of diversity under the banner of acceptance, it is ironic that large swathes of American society—those who affirm traditional sexual ethics—are increasingly unwelcome. Now, there is a movement to exclude those holding such beliefs from the legal profession, or force them into conformity to secular sexual ethics. Recently, the American Bar Association initiated a horrifying change to their ethics rules. Under the new rules, any speech or activity that could be traced to organizations that endorse traditional sexual ethics, is punishable. Generation Snowflake: How We Got to This Point
In a thoughtful article entitled ‘Understanding Generation Snowflake’, writer Carl Trueman reviews and dissects a book entitled I Find That Offensive. In the book, Claire Fox covers in-depth the present plight of many Western universities. She points out the weakness of modern day students and their need for “safe spaces,” while also identifying the significant changes in Western culture itself in the last few decades that have produced such a sensitive generation: