Our New Name

On Tuesday night, our U.S. National Director, Steve Sellers, unveiled the new name that Campus Crusade for Christ will be known as moving forward: Cru.

The change does not indicate any shift in our purposes, mission, vision, or values.  Rather, we are doing this to remove any obstacles to the gospel and to more accurately represent what the ministry has grown into over the last 60 years.  We are no longer simply a “campus” ministry and “crusade” is now primarily associated with bloody battles of the Middle Ages (not a bright spot in Christian history, to put it mildly) as opposed to how it might have been used in the 1950′s. We learned from research we did that 1 in 5 people who initially indicated an openness to discussing spiritual matters were immediately turned off upon hearing the name of the organization.  That’s really unacceptable.  The late Bill Bright, who founded CCC, knew that at some point we would likely change the name.  That time has now come.

It’s a little ironic, because although the primary reason we changed the name was to remove barriers for people coming to know Christ, the media seem to have pounced upon the fact that our new name does not have “Christ” explicitly in it and have pointed to this as “evidence” that we’ve watered down our commitment, that we’re just trying to be politically correct, etc.

I wish you all could have been at our staff conference over the last few days to see just how patently false that claim is.  We have truly been experiencing a fresh sense of collective repentance and dependence on the Lord.  It has been very powerful.  Twice our national director has scrapped pieces of a carefully planned program in response to the work the Holy Spirit is doing in our midst and has instead called us to a collective time of waiting on the Lord and responding in worship.  I believe that our new name is ushering in a new season of growth for us as a ministry, not only in numbers but in depth and maturity as well.

However, since the charge of abandoning our commitment to Christ is a pretty significant one, here are a couple other things to consider:

1) We didn’t “remove Christ” so much as scrap the whole name and start over.  If we’d changed our name to just “Campus Crusade,” then that would be a different story.  “Cru” ended up being the best choice for a variety of reasons; it’s what many of our local movements have been calling themselves since the 90′s.  I’m not aware of any movement tacking on “for Christ” at the end (i.e. “Cru for Christ”) and yet thousands of Christ-centered laborers have come out of these movements and are impacting the world with the gospel.

2) The United States is actually one of the last countries to change their official name from Campus Crusade for Christ to something else.  In Europe, we’re known as Agape.  In New Zealand, it’s Tandem. In parts of Africa, it’s Great Commission Ministries.  You’ll notice that none of these have the word “Christ” in them.  Not to mention other organizations like InterVarsity, YoungLife, or Wycliffe.  Surely having “Christ” in the name is not a pre-requisite to glorifying Christ in our work.

3) When I first joined staff, one of the metaphors we used to describe the process of entering into someone’s spiritual journey was that we wanted to be in the car traveling along with them as opposed to just being a billboard on the side of the road.  Unfortunately, the tone of some of the comments about “removing Christ” remind me of those billboards — as if the name of our organization would be the thing that would convince someone to give their life to Christ.  Because we value relationships, “Cru” actually provides a gentler entry-point into spiritual conversation because it invites questions as opposed to making a strong declarative statement.  Since so many people have had negative experiences with the church or “organized religion,” this also helps avoid some of those preconceived ideas.

4) We still have the cross in our logo.

5) In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul says this: “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

This, above all else, is the heart behind the name change.  It’s why I and 5,000 other U.S. staff members joined with this organization and each of us have raised the financial support necessary to engage in ministry full time. It’s why some have made significant sacrifices and it’s why we’re constantly looking for any way we can share Christ with more people.

A fellow staff member posted the quote below on his blog earlier today.  Though it’s probably too strong a rebuke for those who are just seeking clarification, I do actually think it’s appropriate for some, given the vicious comments I’ve read over the last few days:

For those that identify themselves as Christians and are overly critical of this decision, I ask you to do a heart examination. If you have never personally stepped out in faith to share the gospel with another person, if you’ve never had the privilege to see another place their faith in Christ, if you’ve never personally invested your life into the spiritual life of another or have never left your family and home for the sake of the gospel, then may I suggest that you seek the Lord on how you can personally be involved in His mission rather than criticizing those that are already doing it.

I list all these reasons only because I want to be crystal clear that nothing about our mission has changed.  I was honestly unprepared for the extent of media coverage that this would get, and naively believed that those who covered the story would seek to represent it fairly.  Many reporters have, but some have not.  Since many of you have been faithfully partnering with me, I simply want to ease any concerns you might have out of respect for you and for your investment.

Personally, I’m excited.  I’ve witnessed people recoil upon hearing the name “Crusade,” and I’ve seen the walls go up and conversations end.  I’m in the “about time!” camp.  At the same time, I know our organization has a rich history and the name is part of that.  It’s truly been a privilege to watch our leaders wrestle with this weighty issue and I’m excited to be able to support their decision.

If you have other questions or concerns, I’d love to discuss them with you.   Some of these are likely addressed on the pages linked below.  If not, please don’t hesitate to email me at claire [dot] angus [at] ccci.org.

Thanks for reading!

Official Press Release and FAQ’s

Our Commitment to Christ

Next post: Our New Name, Part Two