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Brown University |
Previous News Stories:
Wendy Calderon-Payne, Brown ’89, has used her gifting in administration to help further the efforts of the Urban Youth Alliance. As a student at Brown University, Wendy Calderon-Payne had a compelling desire to pursue missions. The recent convert was also troubled by the lack of response among Christians to the pronounced racial divide on campus. As she approached graduation, Calderon-Payne ’89 spotted an advertisement for the Urban Youth Alliance (www.uyai.org), an organization that was seeking a campus ministries coordinator. Calderon-Payne immediately was sold on Urban Youth Alliance’s commitment to Christian outreach across cultural and socioeconomic lines. Click Here for Full Story
From its strategic location a block from campus, the Adoniram Judson Center is serving a growing number of Christian activities at Brown University. “Just about every day, there is some sort of meeting or event–or people are just here,” said Jarrod Lynn, facilities coordinator of the Judson House. “The students come to meet, study, or hang out.” Judson House is one of three Christian Union ministry centers in the Ivy League; the leadership development ministry also owns and operates the Mott House at Cornell and Wilson House at Princeton. Christian Union allows campus ministries to use the ministry center for fellowship, meals, Bible studies, prayer, training, administrative duties, and the like. Click Here for Full Story
When A.J. Jacobs, Brown ’90, wrote The Year of Living Biblically, the Jewish agnostic from New York didn’t imagine that his literal exploration of the Scriptures would inspire Christians to live out their own faith. “I didn’t foresee it at all,” says Jacobs. “I’m honored and flattered. It makes me commit the biblical sin of pride.” His book had a huge impact on Pastor Ed Dobson, author of The Year of Living Like Jesus. Dobson, the author of Bible commentaries and other books, spent 12 months trying his best to live out Jewish customs and practices and live as his Lord and Savior did. Jacobs wrote the foreword to Dobson’s latest book noting, “Both Ed and I are strong believers in the phrase, ‘to understand someone, try to walk a mile in their shoes.’ Or their sandals, I suppose. To understand Jesus better, Ed tried to eat like Jesus, talk like Jesus, think like Jesus, and hang out with sinners like Jesus.” Click Here for Full Story
Student-athletes at Brown gather around meals to explore the claims of the gospel with their peers PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - Brown’s Athletes in Action (www.aiaatbrown.com) ministry is hosting a series of Monday Night Dinner Discussions to encourage student-athletes in the area of evangelism and expose non-Christians to the gospel. The discussions, sponsored by Christian Union, have been such a success that students sometimes take the initiative to host the meeting when ministry leaders are unable to attend. One such meeting happened at Judson House and included a discussion on the validity of Scripture. “This was especially memorable because it demonstrated initiative from students as well as confirmation that these dinner discussions are helpful and fruitful,” said ministry director Jarrod Lynn, Brown ’07.
Billon’s RiverWired posits eco-friendliness in ‘can do’ terms NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Catherine Billon, Brown ’85 and Columbia MBA ’89, recently launched an internet-based media company called RiverWired to provide tools, information, and resources for the eco-friendly and eco-novice alike. “Our mission at RiverWired is to help inspire folks to live a little greener in practical, achievable, and local ways,” said Billon, who left the corporate arena after experience with major media companies to “do something entrepreneurial that would positively impact the world.” As Billon works to educate others about sustaining the viability of the planet, she relies upon her own faith in Jesus Christ to sustain her personally and professionally. “Stewardship of the earth goes beyond economic need or national trend,” says Billon. “It’s also a Christian principle.”
Guitarist from the band 'Holy Fire' performs at Brown music festival PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - On the evening of September 29, after months of planning, the Luminate Christian music festival was held at Brown University’s Lincoln Field. Three bands performed: Music One, Holy Fire, and Lazarus & P. Lowe. All three bands presented their own, unique take on the Gospels, spoke a little bit about their personal testimonies, and prayed for the Brown campus. About 300 people attended the festival, which was partly funded by Christian Union. “It’s a place for Christians to be together, listen to music, reach out to the Brown community, and just to show that Christians are on the campus,” organizer Brian Lee ’09 said.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - Twenty-nine students from Brown University participated in the Katrina Relief Urban Plunge (KRUP) from March 23-31, 2007. KRUP was an outreach organized by Brown Christian Fellowship to show the love of Christ through practical assistance to those still suffering the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Due to successful recruiting and the reduced price made possible by a grant from Christian Union, almost half of the participants were non-Christians. Of the Christian students involved, one-third had not been previously involved in any sort of campus fellowship or church community at Brown. During the week, all students engaged in in-depth Bible study, focusing on Luke 4 and Luke 19. Organizers wanted to provide non-Christians with a living picture of the whole gospel and vibrant Christian community, believing this would open them up to a relationship with God. Non-Christian students almost universally commented that their negative stereotypes of “evangelical Christians” had been dismantled by their experience. Another goal of the trip was to draw non-Christians into the Brown Christian Fellowship and Imani communities, where they will continue to engage with the gospel long after the end of the project. At the end of the week, eight non-Christians expressed interest in joining a weekly spiritual discussion group. On the project, two students made re-commitments to Jesus. One of them said, "This week has made me realize how much I want and need to have a closer, more intimate relationship with God.” One of the non-Christian students commented: "I’ve learned many new perspectives on spirituality, but at the same time discovered that many ideas overlap between Judaism and Christianity. My small group was awesome. I’d love to talk more with the staff later about more of my thoughts. I’m really glad I came.” Christian students relished the opportunity to be in a setting where they were presented with natural opportunities to share about Jesus. One student shared, “I got to share (with the non-Christians in my group) my testimony of how God delivered me from pornography and that Jesus is completely relevant and essential in life." KRUP helped Christian students discern part of their larger vocation to be agents of God’s mission in the world, both in pursuing justice and in calling people to give their allegiance to Jesus. The organizers trust that KRUP has paved the way for similar (and better) projects to take place in the future, as staff are now more prepared to lead them and students are highly motivated to participate and recruit others to be involved. In fact, they count this as the most successful evangelistic project they have undertaken thus far at Brown.
Geoff Freeman is not only Director of College Hill for Christ at Brown University, he also coordinates the Judson House, Christian Union’s ministry center there. PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - Geoff Freeman, Director of Brown University’s College Hill for Christ, a Campus Crusade ministry, spoke with the Ivy League Christian Observer by telephone this past July 7. He graciously discussed the spiritual state of Brown, counseling students, and the ministry’s vision for this year. Q. How long have you been the director of College Hill for Christ at Brown? Q. What is the spiritual climate at Brown? Q. How has the ministry changed since you’ve been there? Q. How many Christians are there on campus? What percent is undergrad? Q. Can you share an example of someone who has come to Christ? Q. What kinds of questions did he ask? Q. Have you ever been stumped? Q. Do you have training in counseling? Q. What is the vision for your ministry this year? Q. What population is least open to the Gospel? Q. Is there anything else you’d like to say about Campus Crusade for Christ’s work at Brown University?
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - On the morning of April 15, 2006 the posters went up. Immediately, members from the Queer Alliance (QA) and College Hill for Christ (CHC, www.collegehillforchrist.com) began commenting on how excited they were to see the names of both of these groups on the same poster, supporting the same event. Not only was the Free Anonymous Oral HIV Testing event, held on April 18, 2006 at Brown University, the first event that these two groups have co-sponsored, but it was the first time that the QA and CHC have worked together in any capacity. It was the first step in building a relationship between two groups that have historically been perceived as enemies. The mission of CHC is to “turn lost students into Christ centered laborers for a lifetime.” Part of fulfilling this mission at Brown is reaching un-reached groups on campus. At a CHC student leadership meeting in November 2005, while brainstorming what some of these groups might be, Taylor Barnes ’09 and several other students suggested greater efforts for reaching the queer community with the gospel. However, it was not until spring semester of 2006 that a significant amount of headway was made in reaching out to the QA, when several CHC members began attending QA meetings and discussing the possibility of the QA and CHC working together. The HIV Testing event offered an excellent opportunity for CHC to begin building this bridge with the queer community. QA member Bradley Portnoy ’09 states that “here we identified a place where we had a common interest, that is helping people improve their health and wellbeing, and took action together.” Portnoy along with other QA Community Committee members, who were responsible for organizing the HIV Testing along with a CHC representative, strongly supported the co-sponsorship between the QA and CHC. During the months of planning prior to the event, members of this committee repeatedly expressed their excitement and satisfaction with being able to break down the misperception on campus that the QA and CHC should automatically be enemies. This enthusiasm and commitment to a continued relationship with CHC is encouraging especially considering the obstacles that first had to be overcome to initiate the formation of a formal co-sponsorship. It began as CHC offering just a general support for the event, which was then misrepresented as an official co-sponsorship in the Brown Daily Herald in February, raising objections from certain members of the QA who were uncomfortable with the idea of co-sponsoring an event with CHC. Ironically, it was after this misunderstanding arose and was sorted out, that CHC and the QA Community Committee began to seriously consider the possibility of having an actual co-sponsorship. Along with providing an opportunity to serve the Brown community on an issue that both groups can support, the co-sponsorship also allowed for the beginning of an intentional move to break down barriers between Christians and non-Christians. By serving in this capacity with QA members, CHC was able to demonstrate God’s love for the queer community through the full grace and truth of the gospel. CHC Staff Intern, Jarrod Lynn commented that he believes that “God is already using this event to break down barriers not just between CHC and the QA, but within the Brown community as well.” By God’s grace this co-sponsorship has brought the Brown community one step closer to understanding the true nature of God’s unconditional love and what it means for Christians to love as Jesus loves. In a closing remark to the successful production of this event Portnoy said, “I am so glad that we managed to build a bridge between the two organizations and am very excited to work with CHC more in the future.” CHC is also looking forward to not only continuing, but more importantly deepening this relationship with the queer community at Brown, in order to fulfill our mission of bringing the gospel to every Brown student. Good Friday Opportunity “LORD, I believe. Help my unbelief,”...“Jesus is legit: dying for ignorant people takes [guts],”...“God is dead.” PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - These lines reflect a mere sample of the many words written on note cards stapled to a wooden cross on Good Friday 2006 at Brown University. With a desire to refocus the campus’s attention to the real reason for the resurrection season, the students of College Hill For Christ (CHC, www.collegehillforchrist.com) built a seven-foot tall wooden cross, made with 4x4 pressure-treated wood, and placed it in the middle of the Main Green—the nucleus of the university campus. To the right of the cross stood a table with note cards, pens, and instructions. The instructions simply informed the reader that this cross represented what Jesus Christ did over two thousand years ago and if s/he would like to write something about it, s/he was welcome to. To the left of the cross stood another table with free Bibles, free copies of The Case For Christ, and flyers for the “Investigating Christianity” discussion group taking place later that evening. About thirty feet away from the cross and tables sat one CHC member (students alternated every hour due to class schedules), who was not only present for security purposes, but also available for discussion if someone wanted to converse more about the cross, Christianity, or some other related topic. This passive approach to actively engage students’ curiosity concerning the cross apparently worked quite well. Several CHC students recounted many spiritual conversations with other Brown students as a result of this imposing wooden structure at the center of campus. Moreover, the timing of the event was ideal for maximum exposure. Many students were outside due to the beautiful weather and numerous campus tours took place as pre-frosh explored their potential new home. By the end of the day, almost the entire cross was covered with note cards, and students were still pausing at the cross to read students’ responses or write one of their own. Some students quoted scripture, such as John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Others simply expressed their gratitude for what Jesus has done, while still others confessed sin in their own words. In all instances, the responses were real and unadulterated. Perhaps the anonymity allowed for such candidness, since names were not required nor suggested to be placed on the note cards. An example of genuineness was given by one student who wrote, “Sometimes I think I know who Christ is—everything makes so much sense, but other times I realize that it is just impossible for me to understand who God is, or the ‘why’ of any of it.” At least one student’s honest response seems to have resonated well with the original intent of the outreach: While many note cards reflected sincere responses from stu-dents of some form of Christian faith, others revealed their ostensible opposition to Christianity. One student expressed his/her “beef” with Christianity on three note cards (rather than using one note card like everyone else), objecting to the religion’s validity based on the actions of people who identify themselves as “Christian.” Along the same lines, another student wrote how “Jesus had it right. Why do so many ‘Christians’ get it wrong? While opening hearts to Christ, minds are closed to indifference, wars are waged in his name, and people are scourged because the Bible is read literally. Do we think that this is what HE would want?” Similarly, one student asked Jesus to “stop this war in Iraq and elsewhere,” while another student asked for more prayer regarding this “young generation of USA.” An outreach like this is unprecedented in CHC’s history. Although in some years the Easter holiday coincided with Brown University’s Spring Break, there have been ample opportunities to capitalize on this religious holiday which have not been realized—until this year. Several weeks prior to this Easter event, over a dozen students gathered at the Judson House, Christian Union’s ministry center at Brown, for the monthly open-leadership planning meeting. There ideas are discussed, debated, designed and eventually delegated to whosoever desires to execute them. That day, all students agreed that some form of campus-wide outreach for Easter should be done. They brainstormed strategies that would be thought-provoking and relevant. Most agreed that the wooden cross on the Main Green would be stimulating, appropriate and might afford CHC an opportunity to gather a random sample—reflective of the general population—of the spiritual climate currently on campus, helping them to facilitate future discussions of faith. Following the Easter outreach, the wooden structure was relocated to the front porch of the Judson House, where it remained for several weeks fostering continued conversation about the connotation of the cross.
As the ads for the party get racier every year, this poster from 2004 was reportedly superceded by 2005's scantily clad Brown students in compromising positions. PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - Although it had been taking place for years, this November's "Sex Power God" party at Brown University hit the national radar. The annual party, hosted by Brown's Queer Alliance, boasts nudity, graphic dancing, public sexual encounters, possibly illegal drugs, and although the Queer Alliance does not serve alcohol at the facility, more than 20 students were hospitalized for dangerous intoxication levels. Although many students claim that the party is no different from those which take place at major universities and fraternity parties across the country, the shocking disapproval stems from what seems like administrative permission. Tickets are sold to cover much of the funding but a little spare change for advertising, an on-campus building in which to hold the event, and supplies from Brown Media Services come from pockets lined with the $136 activities fee charged to every Brown student. Many heard of the annual "Sex Power God" party on the Fox News Program "O'Reilly Factor" in which host Bill O'Reilly and producer Jesse Waters discussed what O'Reilly termed, "the party Brown University doesn't want you to know about!" Waters attended the party to do some reconnaissance work after buying a ticket online. "What I saw was pure debauchery," he said. Naturally, response to this national recognition has been outrage, but not at the party's "debauchery," its danger, or its indulgence. Rather, outrage at the nerve of the news media in invading students' privacy, imposing moral judgements, and offending their right to party freely. After all, this party has been occurring for years, and probably will continue on in the future. Even more disheartening is the Sex Power God party-goer attitude that Brown's soiree is only a mirror (if not a toned-down version) of similar events that take place every weekend at other schools. This is a sad truth and one that Chritian Union hopes to fight with your prayer and support. By God's hand, we desire to be a part in seeing a reconfiguration of these campuses' views on sex, power and God.
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CROSSING CULTURAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC DIVIDES
A MINISTRY HUB AT BROWN
THE YEAR OF LIVING LIKE JESUS
