Tuesday Oct 2nd students and faculty (and Cru staff) will be meeting from 10am-3pm to pray for each other, the campus, community, and world – as part of the “Worldwide Day of Prayer.”
We hope you’ll consider joing us.
We’ll be starting at 10:10am, and going until 3pm – with ten minutes breaks at the hour (ie 10:10-11am, 11:10-12pm, etc). Feel free to walk over and join us any time.
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A picture worth a thousand words: one thousand students Tuesday night September 18th on Dexter Lawn at Cru’s kick off meeting (click on the image for a larger version).
Please contact us if you’d like more information about a specific campus ministry, or ways to connect with the different undergraduate student ministries.
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We are excited about this year and what God wants to do on campus. We look forward to connecting as a group, sharing the wealth of ideas for ministry, and praying together.
Sunday September 23 – 3:30-6pm
Please join us for BBQ chicken and tri-tip. Bring your favorite side dish or dessert to share.
Similar to last year, this is a family event – and we’ll have some experienced childcare helpers on hand so you can bring kids and still enjoy adult interaction! Please indicate the number and ages of children you are bringing by September 17, so we can be prepared.
3:30-4:00 arrive and connect
4:00-4:45 BBQ and potluck
4:45-5:45 hearing from each other, vision for the year, and praying together in small groups.
Please rsvp to the evite, or contact us for more information.
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MIT Associate Professor of Chemistry Troy Van Voorhis will be speaking on campus Wednesday January 16, 2013, the featured speaker for this upcoming year’s Veritas Forum. Dr. Van Voorhis has served on the faculty at MIT since 2001 and has spoken as part of the Veritas Forum at University of Rhode Island, UC Berkeley, MIT, and Bowdoin College.
Here’s a 60 second clip of Dr. Van Voorhis speaking at MIT. We are excited about having him here at Cal Poly, and look forward to seeing how God uses these Veritas Forum events in the lives of faculty and students.
We’re planning a late afternoon faculty welcome reception Wednesday January 16th at 4pm in the UU followed by a campus-wide Veritas Forum at Chumash at 8pm.
Please mark your calendar and save the date.
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Earlier this year, a small group of Christian faculty at Purdue – working together with the undergraduate ministry – created this compelling, visionary minute and a half video. We hope you’ll take a moment to watch it.
Walter Bradley, one of the original founders of Faculty Commons, once noted, “If a student goes through four years of university, and never once meets a Christian professor, they will inevitably assume that Christianity is either untrue – or irrelevant to the real world.”
Would you like to see something like this at Cal Poly? Would you be willing to participate? Let us know.
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Please save the date: Sunday afternoon Septemeber 23rd.
We hope you’ll be able to join us as we kick-off and pray together for the upcoming campus year. We’ll send more details, and an e-vite, later this summer.
HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US
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The weekly “Ministry Minute” will be resuming next Fall.
In the meantime, as you see God at work in your own life – or in the lives of your students, or your colleagues – we hope you’ll consider sharing your experience through a future Ministry Minute. Here’s a few thoughts from a previously posted Ministry Minute from Dr. Phil Bishop:
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I remember purchasing and hauling a lot of Cokes. I remember a bit of trepidation as we set up tables outside each of the entrances to the meeting hall. Somewhat awkwardly, the master of ceremonies announced the refreshments and acknowledged the hospitality of the Christian Faculty Fellowship.
When you ask non-Christians to describe Christians, reckless kindness and love towards strangers somehow doesn’t come up very often. But as Paul was fond of saying, “Brothers (and sisters) these things ought not be!”
Jesus tells us that he who is greatest among us is servant of all. Do a random act of Christian kindness for the colleague most hostile to Christianity. Love and serve someone who least expects it. I am glad I did.
As perhaps you have heard, religious organizations at Vanderbilt University have come under fire for refusing to sign the “all comers” policy for student organizations. This policy allows any student to pursue a leadership position in a faith-based group – regardless of their beliefs.
13 campus ministries including Cru (Campus Crusade), InterVarsity, Navigators, AACF, Graduate Christian Fellowship, Lutheran Christian Fellowship, St. Thomas More Society, Vanderbilt Catholic, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Christian Legal Society – are choosing to take a stand by refusing to sign the new policy.
If Vanderbilt’s Board of Trustees continues to hold to this, these ministries will be forced off of campus. Other universities are considering similar policies.
Two links: first, a position paper on why Cru at Vanderbilt is continuing to have faith-based leadership requirements. And second, some excellent thoughts and perspective from the InterVarsity staff ministering at Vanderbilt.
As you remember, please pray for Vanderbilt’s Board of Trustees to reverse their decision, for wisdom and direction for the 13 campus ministries that are taking a stand regarding this policy, and for the Christian students and faculty affected by this policy.
Below is an extended quote from the Cru position paper (the entire paper can be read here).
Why is Cru at Vanderbilt continuing to have faith-based leadership requirements?
[Because] the interests of diversity support it. We believe that the desire for diversity that many universities articulate, including Vanderbilt, is best served by student groups that maintain diverse perspectives. The thinking of individuals is best sharpened when different, well-reasoned outlooks are consistently and passionately represented in a respectful manner. It is not well served when many viewpoints are gradually merging with the mainstream perspective because the proponents of less popular beliefs are unable to preserve and promote them.
We believe it is inappropriate for a University to impose its particular values on RSOs instead of allowing for diversity among organizations that represent strongly a variety of viewpoints. It is wonderful to see diversity within the membership of each student group, and it is also wonderful to see diversity among the perspectives represented by those student groups. We believe both are possible if groups are able to maintain their voices through the selection of leaders that believe their group’s purpose and yet are expected to be respectful and welcoming as their groups participate in the marketplace of ideas on campus.
When religious voices are diluted or even forbidden from being clearly represented, it does a disservice to the goals of diversity at Vanderbilt. The leaders are the group’s primary voice, both internally to its members and externally to the University community. A committed leader can determine whether a group thrives or withers. Religious student groups need to be allowed to maintain their unique religious identities.
In fact, when the messages of religious groups are not able to be preserved, the university will end up violating its own nondiscrimination policy. It will discriminate against any religious groups that hold to well-defined doctrines, and will end up suppressing unpopular or minority religious viewpoints. Religious diversity cannot remain in such an environment.
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Wednesday Night April 25th students involved with Intervarsity, Asian American Christian Fellowship, the Newman Center, Navigators, Epic and Cru (Campus Crusade), will be hosting a Unity Night for Cal Poly on Dexter Lawn.
According to the student coordinators, “the event will include worship, speakers, and fellowship, and will showcase the diversity and unity of the body of Christ.”
Students would LOVE to have a handful of Christian faculty share a short (6-8 minute) testimony during the event. Please contact us – or Ondy Pagan (involved with Epic) at thelandbeforethyme-at-gmail.com if you’re interested.
And while the event is scheduled from 6-9pm, please feel the freedom to “come when you can, leave when you must.”
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Faculty Commons SLO 