Crusading Groups Welcome Everyone
October 20, 2008 • By Anna Young, Managing Editor
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Dance parties and proms, tailgating, D-Hall dinners and root beer kegs are just a few things in the social scene of Campus Crusade for Christ.
“People assume that we are trying to make everybody live a life as a good Christian, or a good person,” said Josh Earman, a staff member for the interdenominational, international Christian group. “That’s not the main point at all… we as an organization, all people, all of us, are not living as we should.”
Campus Crusade for Christ is one of the largest faith groups on campus, along with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
As a JMU freshman, Earman began attending Campus Crusade’s large group meetings. After graduating in 2001, he had an opportunity to work with Campus Crusade as a staff member and decided to jump on the chance.
Earman said that he encounters misunderstandings about the group every year, such as that the members, or even Christians in general, constantly try to convert people or don’t want people to have fun.
“We encounter that probably every year, where we realize people have a misunderstanding… about what we’re about,” Earman said.
So what is Campus Crusade for Christ all about? CRU, as the group is commonly called, is about supporting those who want to follow Jesus or explore the Christian faith, according to Earman.
“We want to be welcoming to new people, but we also want to be encouraging to those who do want to grow and follow Jesus,” he said.
People of all backgrounds and denominations come to the large group meetings that are held each Thursday at 8 p.m. in HHS 2301. The speakers at the large group meetings are usually members of the CRU staff, but occasionally they will feature guest speakers like professors. There are also three-minute testimonies from someone who is involved in CRU and worship segments featuring a live band.
“CRU is such a welcome community, so it really reached out to me,” said Alvin Lin, a junior kinesiology major who has been involved in the organization since his freshman year.
Different leadership teams, such as the prayer, conferences, socials, evangelismand freshman teams, are responsible for keeping the group running smoothly and for planning events. Earman said that CRU tries to have events on campus that are usually more social and allow for more interaction and to attract newcomers, particularly freshmen.
“Of all the freshmen that I’ve met, most of them said that they didn’t have anyone they would consider a good friend yet,” Earman said. He added that CRU encourages all upperclassmen to be intentional about meeting and inviting freshmen to different events, because he knows the seasoned students “understand and remember what was it was like freshman year trying to meet people and connect with people.”
As a transfer student, Shelly Smith said people in CRU really helped her find a great circle of friends. To return the favor, the senior nursing major became part of CRU’s freshman leadership team, because she had a passion to help people find deep friendships. Smith said the first couple of weeks or months of freshman year is often when a student decides where he or she is going to invest time, so CRU hosts different social events during this time, like D-Hall dinners and CRU dance parties to draw freshmen into the group.
Speaking of dance parties, the $5 prom is just one of the events that CRU holds each year. This year’s prom was held Saturday night in Transitions. It’s an informal, goofy dance party featuring mismatching clothes, ’80s-style dresses and wacky outfits that are supposed to cost less than $5.
“It’s not a Christian dance; we want to create an environment of fun for everyone.” said Lin, who is part of the socials team. “‘Christian’ is a really poor adjective; people just throw it around.”
Aside from attending large and small group meetings and events, many CRU members are interested in volunteering and getting involved in the local church community, particularly after they graduate.
“We don’t see ourselves as a church,” Earman said. “We don’t want to be an end to ourselves, we want to do something that is far beyond four years of school.”
INTERVARSITY
InterVarsity is similar to Campus Crusade, in that it’s interdenominational, features weekly large and small group meetings, focuses on freshmen involvement and has a few social events throughout the semester. Lizzie Keegan, the president of InterVarsity, tried
to dispel misconceptions that there’s competition between CRU and IV.
“There are a ton of friendships across CRU and IV and I know the staff workers of CRU and IV are friends with each other,” the senior English major said. “We have the exact same reason we exist. I don’t think Christians should just hang out with Christians, she said. “I think we should all be open to being friends with one another and having discussions about what it is that we believe.”
Keegan became involved in IV as a freshman, and has been on IV’s executive council since 2007.
C.J. Goeller, a staff member for IV, speaks at most large group meetings on Fridays at 8 p.m. in HHS 2301. Keegan said there are around 400 people in JMU’s InterVarsity chapter, which started in 1971.
Because there are so many people involved, a big part of IV is small groups, which are usually eight to 12 people who are the same academic year and sex, who get together on a regular basis for Bible study or just for hanging out.
Doug Arms, a senior communication studies major, became a small group leader his sophomore year, and now leads a group of about 12 seniors.
“The real backbone of InterVarsity is in our small groups. What a small group does is get together once a week and open up the Bible and talk through it and apply it to our lives,” Arms said. “The heart of the small group is developing people’s relationship with God, with Jesus.”
Keegan also said there is a strong initiative to get freshmen involved in the group. During the first month of school, IV concentrates on new student outreach and holds a retreat for new members at the end of September.
Arms became involved in IV as a freshman through the welcoming events. “I got involved through several events that were organized the first couple weeks of my freshman year for new students, such as ice cream socials,” Arms said. “I felt really welcomed by folks who were older and in the chapter.”
However, Keegan pointed out that IV welcomes anyone and everyone. “Just because we focus on freshmen at the beginning of the year doesn’t mean we are not welcome to other people joining,” Keegan said. “We want them to have a place to feel comfortable right away at JMU.”
Freshmen are assigned to small groups at the beginning of the fall semester, and stick with the groups for their entire time at JMU. When new students join IV, they’re assigned to a group that already exists, which Keegan said usually works very well.
IV doesn’t have very many social events as a large group, but some events include a massive Capture the Flag game, a chapter-wide bonfire and an annual Christmas dance.
People usually get involved in IV by having friends in the organization and getting invited to an event.
“We really do feel like we’re based in relationships and getting to know one another; it’s not about all getting together at the same time, it’s about knowing one another and loving one another,” Keegan said, adding that she would rather have groups be tight-knit communities rather than just random social groups within IV.
Contact Anna Young at youngam@jmu.ed
Click here to view the Intervarsity slideshow.
Click here to view the CRU prom slideshow.
Click here to view the CRU meeting slideshow.
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