Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries around the world. In 1996, USA Today called Campus Crusade the largest evangelical organization in the United States. Today, the organization employs over 25,000 full-time missionaries and has trained 225,000 volunteers around the world.[1]
Founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by Bill Bright as a ministry for college students, Campus Crusade has since expanded its focus to include adult professionals,[2] families,[3] athletes,[4] high school students,[5] and more. The World Headquarters is located in Orlando, Florida, and the current president of the organization is Steve Douglass.[1]
Campus Crusade is also the publisher of The Four Spiritual Laws, also known as the "Knowing God Personally Booklet".
On July 19, 2011, Campus Crusade for Christ announced that they will be changing their name to "Cru" in order to overcome existing barriers and perceptions inherent in the original name. This name was already in use on a number of college campuses.[6]
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Campus Crusade for Christ has active ministries on 1,064 college and university campuses with over 50,000 students actively involved in the U.S. ministry in 2007.[7]
While Campus Crusade continues to use one-to-one conversations about God to reach out to students, they also use mass meetings, film showings and new media, such as Google advertising with e-mail responses and social networking on Facebook.[8]
The Jesus Film Project was founded in 1981 to translate the Hollywood film Jesus into other languages so that it could be shown by missionaries to peoples around the world in their native languages.[9]
The first translation was done for the Tagalog-speaking people of the Philippines. The organization works with thousands of missionaries around the world to show the film, sometimes to audiences who have never seen a motion picture. Distribution in the United States has included direct mail campaigns sponsored by churches to deliver a copy of the film to every address in select zip codes across the country.[10] In 2004, the organization made the film available for viewing on its website in over 800 languages.[11] Both Jesus and The Story of Jesus for Children are available in DVD and VHS formats. Audio dramatizations in a number of languages are also available.
The origins of The Jesus Film Project date back to 1945 when a young businessman named Bill Bright wanted to privately finance a film about the life of Jesus Christ[12] that was entertaining, biblically accurate, and which could be translated into non-English languages. Rather than making a film at that time, Bright went on to found a Christian ministry to reach college students called Campus Crusade for Christ in 1951.
In 1976, with Campus Crusade's influence spreading beyond college campuses to sports, the marketplace and other aspects of society, Bright turned his attention once again to filmmaking. Hollywood producer John Heyman approached Bright to fund a project to put the entire Bible on film. The project would eventually be scaled back to just one book of the Bible, the Gospel of Luke, and be financed primarily by Campus Crusade supporters Bunker and Caroline Hunt[13] for a sum of $6 million.
A team of 500 scholars and leaders from secular and Christian organizations began to research historical elements for a film about Jesus. Filming took place over the course of several months throughout the Middle East.[14]
Jesus was produced by John Heyman, a German-born Jew and starred British Shakespearean actor Brian Deacon as Jesus, Rivka Neumann as Mary, Yosef Shiloach as Joseph and Niko Nitai as Peter.[15]
The Jesus Film Project has translated Jesus into 1,006 languages and shown the film in 228 nations.[16] Project leaders claim that it has been viewed over 5 billion times by over 3 billion people, numbers which cannot be verified and have been greeted with skepticism by other evangelical leaders.[17]
Athletes in Action works with athletes and coaches who compete at both the collegiate and professional level to use the platform of sport to help people around the world with questions of faith.[18]
Among the events sponsored by Athletes in Action is the NFL-sanctioned Super Bowl Breakfast[19] which features the presentation of the Bart Starr Award "to honor the NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community."[20]
In 1976, Campus Crusade began providing pre-marriage seminars for its staff members. Following their success, married staff couples began asking for encouragement through marriage seminars. Demand for the seminars spread to community leaders and pastors they were opened to the public in 1978. Since 1976 more than 1.5 million people have attended conferences. Today, approximately 100 "FamilyLife: Weekend to Remember" conferences annually held in almost every major city in America. FamilyLife offers multiple resources like the HomeBuilders Couples Series, HomeBuilders Parenting Series, Resurrection Eggs, and What God Wants for Christmas.[21]
FamilyLife president Dennis Rainey hosts the daily FamilyLife Today radio broadcast.[22]
In 1964, Josh McDowell became a traveling representative of Campus Crusade for Christ International addressing campus groups about the Christian faith. Over the years his ministry has focused on Christian apologetics, youth issues such as relationships and sexuality, and international humanitarian aid.[23]
McDowell's writings have concentrated on addressing challenges to belief, questions posed by non-Christians, doubts about faith, and non-Christian religions. Notable works include Evidence That Demands A Verdict, The Resurrection Factor, He Walked Among Us, More Than A Carpenter and The Da Vinci Code: A Quest for Answers. McDowell has arranged his arguments by pleading for a cumulative case of evidences, such as archaeological discoveries, the extant manuscripts of the biblical texts, fulfilled prophecies, and the miracle of the resurrection.
The Christian Embassy is a Campus Crusade ministry with offices in a number cities around the world. Its United Nations office is accredited as a Non-Governmental Organization.[24] Another office located in Washington, D.C., is geared towards the diplomatic community, including presidential employees, members and the staff of the United States Congress, and workers in The Pentagon. Its alleged influence among the military and in national politics has attracted attention from the media.[25][26]
Global Aid Network (GAiN) is the humanitarian aid arm of Campus Crusade for Christ. In 2007-2008 fiscal year GAiN distributed over $30 million worth of aid to countries all over the world. Global Aid Network exists to bring the message of God's love through tangible ways. GAiN is able to partner with many countries around the world, because of the wide network of Campus Crusade for Christ. GAiN also has several mission trips that go on year-round.
The Military Ministry was started by Bright in 1965 and originally led by retired Colonel Jack Fain, USAF (Ret.).[27] In July 2009 Christianity Today noted the organization's Bridges to Healing Ministry, which specifically addresses the issue of PTSD.[28]
Chronology of events in Campus Crusade's history[29]:
Campus Crusade begins new ministries to high school students, military personnel, and athletes, as well as a new prayer ministry.
Campus Crusade for Christ staff members raise funds for the organization to pay their salaries and ministry expenses. All staff have the same base pay adjusted by tenure, life situation (single, married, children), and geographic cost of living[35]
Married staff members are considered a missionary team. In practice this means that if single staff members marry, their new spouse must join staff also if they are not on staff already, otherwise the existing staff member must resign. If a prospective member is engaged or plans to marry in the first year, their fiance must apply as well.[36]
Campus Crusade for Christ does not invite single parents to join, as they feel the demands of the mission would take away from the single parent's ability to raise their child.[37]
In many parts of Europe, Campus Crusade is known as Agape Europe [5] or "New Life" in post Soviet countries. The collegiate ministry is known in some parts of the world as Student Life (Poland, New Zealand and Australia); Power to Change and Campus for Christ (Canada); Lembaga Pelayanan Mahasiswa Indonesia (LPMI) In Indonesia; or LIFE Ministry (southeast Africa). The changing of the name of the U.S.-based ministry to Cru will not affect the names of overseas ministries.