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Justin Browne, Princeton ’01, visits with the evening’s emcee, Eric Metaxas, Yale ’84, during the New York Christian Union launch reception at Manhattan’s Penn Club on July 13.
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Coming to a City near You
Posted August 13, 2006
by L.A. Wagner, Director of the Ivy League Christian Observer
"…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”—Luke 12:48
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK - Imagine America’s most influential leaders in every field—academia, the arts, business, law and government, the media, and medicine—organized for the same cause, with a presence in 125 cities throughout the country. Oh, yes, and add one more element: every member of the organization is Christian. This is the vision for Christian Union’s latest initiative, appropriately named City Christian Unions. Its unified cause is to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ among Ivy League alumni and parents and friends of the ministry across the United States.
New York City holds the honor of being the City Christian Unions’ premier chapter. Matt Bennett (Cornell ’88, ’89), president and founder of Christian Union, chose the Penn Club in midtown Manhattan as the venue for the July 13 launch reception. Approximately 130 guests, including Ivy League alumni; staff, faculty, and family members; and Christian Union supporters, were in attendance.
At the launch, Bennett explained the hope for the New York chapter: to offer evangelical opportunities, mentor recent Ivy League graduates, and, most significantly, “seek God’s presence, that it would manifest itself in New York and the Ivy Leagues.”
Speaking from his office in Princeton, New Jersey, Bennett explained the premise of City Christian Unions.
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The launch reception for the New York Christian Union was held at the Penn Club on West 44th Street in Manhattan on Thursday, July 13.
| Current Ivy League alumni need to understand Christian Union’s vision. They need to be “informed and mobilized.” Lastly, today’s leaders need to mentor tomorrow’s leaders.
Christian Union’s vision, by God’s power and other ministries’ assistance, is to change the world by bringing sweeping spiritual transformation to the Ivy League institutions in order to develop and mobilize Godly leadership for all areas of society, according to Bennett.
To mobilize its members, he appointed Lolita Jackson (Penn ’89) president of New York Christian Union (NYCU).
“I was…humbled and honored that he asked me because I know how amazing this organization will become,” said Jackson, who prayed about the position before accepting it.
Bennett unequivocally made a wise choice: Jackson has already declared her threefold vision. She endeavors to “to reach forward to the New York community at large through forums and activities, reach across by creating networks…among schools, ethnicities, and professions to build a cohesive [association] of Ivy League Christian alumni, and reach back and help nurture [current Ivy League] students…by connecting them to actively engaged Christian alumni,” said Jackson.
Not surprisingly, when asked how she specifically planned to “reach back,” Jackson had already begun strategizing. The plan includes an advisory board at each school comprised of current students who will inform NYCU when a Christian is moving to New York City. Networking and career forums will take place, creating mentoring opportunities by uniting new graduates and older alumni. Jackson will also ensure that New York chapter members are active in their alumni groups. As Penn Alumni’s Vice President, Jackson has the savoir-faire to publicize NYCU’s events at her alma mater.
“We need members who are similarly situated in each school’s alumni group in order to host events geared toward recent alumni, as [they] tend to be… inclined to attend events geared toward recreating that sense of community,” she said
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Adrian Mullings, Princeton ’04, socializes at the New York Christian Union launch reception held at the Penn Club on July 13.
| Adrian Mullings’ experience at the launch testifies to this.
“It was so good to see old friends I haven’t seen in such a long time,” he gleefully remarked. Mullings (Princeton ’04) also said that he was encouraged to see that there are so many Christians.
At the reception, Jackson addressed the crowd, encouraging them that ‘there is a role for everyone in New York Christian Union, that no matter how small… it will make a difference.’ “I also wanted people to understand that we are very inclusive. We want NYCU to reflect the Christian diaspora, especially since we are in a diverse city like New York,” she said.
Response to the initiative has been positive. “People loved the event [and] are dying to help,” Jackson said of the feedback she received later that evening. “It is always amazing to see the Lord work through something like this.”
The positive response continued weeks later, with Mullings commenting on what a smart idea City Christian Unions is.
“Good ideas always seem so obvious. I was like, ‘Why didn’t I think of this?’”
When Bennett contemplated this good idea two years ago, one of the galvanizing factors was responsibility.
“Ivy League graduates have been given ten talents,” Bennett said, alluding to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:1430, “[and] not for their own sake and self-indulgence but so others will be blessed…We are all called to do the same….We must invest them for the kingdom of Christ…When we stand before the Lord, we want Him to say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’” |
