“A caring community passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ,” is the motto of Cru’s Keene State chapter.
The club has been active for well over five years, with the goal of creating a safe space for Christians and spiritually questioning students.
Cru itself is a non-profit organization based out of Calif., with principal offices in Orlando, Fla. Cru is not an acronym, but rather a shorthand of “Campus Crusade for Christ.”
As the group heads into the spring semester, they have a new president, as sophomore Joclynn Tyler got elected to the leadership role.
Tyler said she first became interested in her first-year at KSC, with a desire to have a religious community on-campus. “I definitely had a very stressful first semester freshman year and I was always pushed by people to go find a Christian group on campus if you have one, and I saw that Cru was one and I reached out,” she said.
Tyler noted the club was not only for people who are already Christians, as they are open for anyone interested in faith-related topics. “If you don’t have a faith background or don’t even know where to start, anyone can join and we’re here to support you on the way … there’s places that aren’t as open or as supportive for people to grow in their faith, or continue in their faith or explore their faith,” she said.
Going forward, Tyler hopes to build a greater community at the club. “We want to branch out and create more bible studies, which would look different, we could have a men’s bible study, a women’s bible study and a co-ed bible study,” Tyler said. “We’re also thinking about having a meal time where people can just chill and talk before the meeting,” she said.
During the Jan. 24 meeting of Cru, club members engaged in bible study, performing a group-reading from the book of Ephesians, chapter two.
After the reading, members discussed the importance the verses hold to them.
Emily Guirguis, the club’s advisor, encouraged members to view the passage through an analysis method called SMAC, or summary, meaning, application and connection.
Nathan Roth, a graduate student and Cru member, spoke about the passage’s meaning to him, “Even though we were spiritually dead and doomed, we were given our lives again by Christ being raised from the dead, and that, because of his favor, that we should not even hope to receive, but we have been given it; we have been saved through that,” Roth said.
Cru member and sophomore Ashley Flores talked about another verse which was personal to her, Corinthians 12:9, “This verse has actually helped me in my walk with the Lord, I was actually reading this yesterday … it has really helped me,” Flores said.
Cru’s theme for the spring semester is “How do we trust God?,” according to Guirguis. “Christianity is the only religion that says God had compassion and God came down and lived in a really broken world because he cares about us,” Guirguis said.
After the discussion, club members discussed outreach methods to the campus community. Firstly, to clarify, the club’s name isn’t connected to the crusades, which members noted were problematic.
Tyler urged members to bring a friend or two to help the club grow, as it is currently on the smaller side, with anywhere between 10-15 people attending a meeting.
Additionally, the club tabled for Winter Celebration on Jan. 26, with members offering students to create marshmallow snowmen and to learn more about Cru.
In terms of resources offered, Cru hosts a winter retreat annually which costs $75 for first-time students, and $105 for enrolled students. This year’s retreat will be held in Alton, N.H. from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4. The retreat consists of community-building based on faith. The club can also offer scholarship opportunities to enrolled students.
Cru meets weekly on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. in the Madison St. Lounge on the first floor of the L.P. Young Student Center.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
