The New Testament in Its World: How History Can Revitalize Faith; Christmas Doesn't Ignore Your Pain; Pressing Toward the Mark at Princeton; The Dark Psychology of Social Networks; Faculty Call for Ideological Diversity; Trevin Wax's 10 Favorite Reads of 2019 and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.— Matthew 1:21

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Harvard Chaplains Pat and Tammy McLeod are sharing the account of their son’s traumatic brain injury and resulting disability in a new book entitled, Hit Hard: One Family’s Journey of Letting Go of What Was – and Learning to Live Well with What Is.

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• Harvard

“Whose Are We?”

  Editor’s note: The following staff editorial is reprinted with permission from The Harvard Ichthus, a journal of Christian thought and expression produced by undergraduates at Harvard University. This editorial is part one in the journal’s three-part series (to read parts two and three, visit http://harvardichthus.org).   In an article published in October of last year, The Harvard Crimson explored the ramifications of a new study from Harvard Medical School Professor Cindy Hsin-Ju Liu. A national survey conducted by Liu and her colleagues found that 20 percent of college students reported suicidal thoughts, 25 percent reported diagnosis or treatment for a mental health disorder in the previous year, 20 percent reported self-harm, and 10 percent reported having attempted suicide.   

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Testifying in Song

By Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer 

Stanford Testimony Christian A Cappella kicked off the new academic year by welcoming members of the class of 2023 during a spirited performance on the opening evening of classes. On September 23, Testimony joined with nine other student a cappella groups to stage the annual O-Show, Stanford University’s biggest a cappella event of the year. Each of the groups performed two songs during the 9 p.m. show at Memorial Auditorium. Stanford’s largest indoor performance facility was nearly filled to its 1,705-seat capacity for the annual gathering. The a cappella organizations banded together to greet students, especially frosh, and to invite undergraduates to audition for the coveted slots in the celebrated choirs. Per tradition, alumni of the musical groups returned for the back-to-school event. The O-Show is “one of the best ways we reach out to the campus broadly,” said Nate Marshall, president of Testimony. “We bring together the larger community. It’s a big a cappella scene.”  

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• Stanford

'Go and Make Disciples'

  Most Princeton students spend their summers engaged in activities such as internships, summer jobs, or backpacking trips, but undergraduates Jack Monaco and John Smith dedicated their long break to sharing the Gospel. The students’ spiritual fervor on summer break was the direct result of an effort at advanced discipleship by then-Princeton senior Mikal Walcott. During the latter half of the 2019 spring semester, Walcott led a group of five underclassmen (including Monaco and Smith) in an intensive, seven-week spiritual “boot camp” that included an hour of morning prayer and two hours of afternoon instruction, Monday through Friday. Walcott created this cohort after feeling called by God to pass along his knowledge and experience in advancing God’s kingdom to younger disciples. Although the commitment of nearly fifteen hours a week to prayer and instruction was difficult at a university like Princeton, the five young men immediately began to testify to incredible fruit and growth in their lives as a result of their commitment to the Lord and to each other during those six weeks. 

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• Princeton

Institute for Catholic Life Fosters Religious Discourse

  The Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life is a new initiative that will focus on the faith formation of Princeton students. Directed by married couple Alexi Sargeant and Leah Libresco Sargeant, and coordinated by Dr. R.J. Snell, the initiative comes out of the Aquinas Institute, the Catholic campus ministry at Princeton. Focusing on members of the undergraduate community, the Institute for Catholic Life offers a variety of seminars and guest speakers and hopes to create new conversations on campus related to faith and religious scholarship.    “As we develop, the vision is to provide a full range of formation,” explained Dr. Snell. “This includes liturgy and sacraments, small groups, Bible study, mentoring and spiritual direction, prayer, and also solid intellectual offerings in theology, philosophy, arts, and literature dealing with perennial Christian themes, as well as responding to contemporary questions and topics.”

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• Princeton

Ministry Leaders Seek to Foster Hope, Community 

  In the wake of the suicide of Gregory Eells, the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, local campus ministry leaders pledged to actively support students battling depression. Christians with ties to Penn also expressed a desire to help foster a better sense of community and to emulate the hope of Christ to their collegiate peers. “Community is a big help. Welcoming people in and being especially attentive to those who are struggling is important,” said Patrick Travers, a director with the Penn Catholic Newman Community (newman.upenn.edu). In light of eternal matters, “the good news of the Gospel and the new life that Christ invites us to is quite different from the ‘successful life’ that Penn preaches.”

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• Penn

Penn for Jesus Hosts Edifying Event 

  Colossians 3:16 proclaims the fullness of joy and wisdom that can be gleaned from worshiping with other followers of the Lord: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (ESV)   The Scriptures make it clear how worship and fellowship will be used for building up one another. The All-Campus Worship Night at the University of Pennsylvania on September 28, 2019, certainly worked to rejuvenate the local community of Christians. The event, held at beautiful Christ Community Church, was hosted by Penn for Jesus, an organization with a mission of connecting and unifying all Christians on campus, irrespective of denomination, participation in any specific on-campus ministry, and church background.

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• Penn

Late Journalist Remembered for His “Gracious Spirit”

One of the nation’s leading newspapers recently shared the remarkable story of the Harvard-educated journalist behind one of its prestigious awards.   The New York Times highlighted the memory of Nathaniel Nash and the paper’s efforts to create an award in his honor for a business journalist who exemplifies professional excellence and exceptional character. The publication also designated a Nathaniel C. Nash room to pay tribute to the reporter who died in 1996 while traveling with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown and his delegation of business leaders and government officials.

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• Columbia
• Harvard

Prayer Room Is Open for Students, Ministries, and Churches 

Empowered by the Prayer Room, Dartmouth students are interceding for each other, their campus, and the world.  Nestled among second floor apartments on Main Street in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Prayer Room stands humbly and boldly as a space to seek the Lord in silence and solitude or in praise. Started in 2009 by two community members, its mission is “to promote the expansion of God’s kingdom in Hanover by providing students and others a sacred space dedicated to enabling them to encounter Christ, equipping them in the work of intercession, and empowering them to be His ambassadors in this world.”

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• Dartmouth

Campus Ministry Is Tight-Knit Community 

Agape Christian Fellowship celebrated the seniors during their Senior Sendoff event in the spring. Agape Christian Fellowship is providing a loving and welcoming place in which Dartmouth students can seek the Lord.  Agape, living out the meaning of its Greek name, seeks to shower the campus in God’s sacrificial love. The ministry’s vision proclaims that “even the slightest contact with agape love transforms... Knowing God’s love brings us gently toward a joyful surrender and commitment to sacrificial love for others. God’s love creates family, and that’s what we strive to be.” Liz Choi, Dartmouth ’20, the student president of Agape, said, “When people enter our space, I want them to feel loved and I hope that, as Christians, we can be vessels for God to use on this campus.”

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• Dartmouth

Dave Evans Lectures at Cornell 

  In September, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University hosted Stanford Professor and author Dave Evans, who spoke about how the application of design thinking can bring fulfillment and meaning. Evans, co-author of the New York Times’ bestseller, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, appeared as part of the Dyson Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series.   Featuring his signature rapid-fire wit and humor, Evans lit up a full Statler Auditorium with anecdotes and constructive advice, speaking right to Cornell students’ penchant for problem solving and strategy. Even though he did not share specifically about his faith, an astute ear could catch allusions to Christianity. Evans previously wrote a companion to Designing Your Life that dives deeper into the themes of the book and examines their place within the Christian worldview.

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• Cornell
• Stanford

One-Man Show Comes to Columbia University 

  For students involved in campus evangelism, the life of C.S. Lewis offers an interesting case study as his path from apostasy to faith took place in the halls of the academy. On October 1, the Fellowship for Performing Arts brought its one-man play, C.S. Lewis: The Most Reluctant Convert, to the Roone Arledge Auditorium at Columbia University. The event was sponsored by several ministries, including Columbia Reformed University Fellowship, Christian Union at Columbia, and the Veritas Forum.

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• Columbia

Brown University Study Presents Radical Disparity

Teens who engage in same-sex activity may be more than twice as likely as their peers to turn to self-harm, according to research from Brown University. In June, the study appeared in JAMA Pediatrics, prompting a wave of attention from media outlets, including medical press. Such findings add further weight to existing scholarship that has documented physical and emotional risks associated with alternative sexual behavior, especially during adolescent years. In the study, psychiatrist Richard Liu, Cornell ’02, found that rates of non-suicidal self-injury were elevated among engaging in same-sex or “bisexual” behaviors, when compared to other adolescents. Liu is an assistant professor in psychiatry and human behavior at Brown’s Alpert Medical School.   Strikingly, 38 percent to 53 percent of surveyed “homosexual” and “bisexual” teens acknowledged engaging in personally dangerous behaviors, compared to 10 percent to 20 percent of adolescent youth who said they had cut, hit, or bruised themselves.

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• Brown

Princeton Alumna Reflects on Value of Christian Leadership in Her Sector; When You Recognize that Abortion Ends Life, but Still Defend Abortion; Anticipation and Hope in Advent; Lessons on Confession from Psalm 51; The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers: An Interview with Amy Hollingsworth; Please Give by December 31 and more, in this issue of Christian Union's bi-monthly email brief.  We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.— Colossians 1:9-12

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The Poulson Family

For every parent, sending a child to college brings pride and excitement, as well as worry for all the unknowns of this new phase. Richard and Anne Poulson were not only able to send their son Hundley (Princeton ’19) to one of the top schools in the nation, but were elated to know that Hundley found rich Christian community on campus through the ministry of Christian Union. “Christian Union provided our son with a warm and nurturing environment as he began his college career. Christian Union serves a very useful purpose in helping students transition to college life.”  

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• Alumni
• Intellectual Engagement
• Princeton

Lecture Focuses on Spiritual Intimacy

Christian Union’s ministry in a key urban setting is highlighting the connection between prayer and the supernatural as it offers mentoring and training to young professionals. “We are seeking to draw people into all aspects of the faith,” said Scott Crosby, ministry director of Christian Union New York. “We want to make the supernatural aspects of Christianity a little more natural to engage. The supernatural is very common in other parts of the world.” Christian Union offers ministry to young professionals in New York City. From his base in Manhattan, Crosby oversees Bible courses, mentoring sessions, industry network gatherings, forums, and other events.

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• New York
• Seeking God

Harvard Alumni Lead Bible Course at Law School

In September, Julian and Kianna Nunally began leading a Christian Union Bible Course for married Harvard Law School students and their spouses. The newlyweds wanted to minister together and connect with other couples. Julian Nunally, Harvard ’17, is a third-year law student. Kianna Goldsberry Nunally, Harvard ’18, is an aspiring orthopedic surgeon who is spending the current academic year serving as a clinical research fellow in pediatric orthopedics at Boston Children’s Hospital. “I’m really excited for this (Bible course),” said Kianna. “I love discussion and studying Scripture.”

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• Alumni
• Harvard

Summer Trip Is a Blessing for Students 

Winston Churchill once called the East African nation of Uganda a fairytale, saying, “You climb up a railway instead of a beanstalk, and at the end there is a wonderful new world.” However, with the insurgence of the despotic regime of Idi Amin in the 1970s, the fairytale turned into a nightmare, and decades later, the region is still recovering from the aftermath of war and the devastation of HIV/AIDS. 

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• Harvard
• Penn
• Cultural Engagement

Christian Union Prayerfully Welcomes New Students

Through hard work, perseverance, prayer, and the grace of God, Christian Union’s faculty members and student leaders at Dartmouth rejoiced after a successful Freshman Welcoming Campaign. Ministry Fellow Noah Crane was encouraged by the number of first-year students who wanted to be involved. “We’ve seen a strong response from the freshman class and have already seen many people connect with our ministry and with our returning students,” Crane said.

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• Dartmouth