Campus Crusade changes name!

Many of you have probably heard that Campus Crusade for Christ has decided to change its name. Here is the official release!

CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST TO BECOME: Cru

5,000 Staff Renew Commitment to Mission: Proclaiming Jesus Christ

New Logo Points to the Cross

ORLANDO, Fla., July 22, 2011 – Staff members gathered in Ft. Collins, Colorado, this week for the biennial U.S. Staff Conference of Campus Crusade for Christ were introduced to a new name for the U.S. – Cru – and at the same time reaffirmed their commitment to proclaiming the name and love of Jesus Christ around the world. Since the mid-1990s Cru has been used as the organization’s name for many of our U.S. campus ministries, and is now used on the majority of our campuses.
The ministry also introduced a new logo, dominated by a cross above the name Cru. Steve Sellers, vice president for the U.S. explained that the inclusion of the symbol of the cross was critical to accepting the new name. “Just as our new name, Cru, visually points to the cross, everything we do as a ministry is intended to point others to the cross of Jesus Christ.”
“Anyone who knows anything about Campus Crusade for Christ knows we are passionate about one thing – connecting people to Jesus Christ,” noted president Steve Douglass. “In fact, we only exist for the purpose of helping people everywhere experience the transforming grace and forgiveness of the gospel through God’s Son, Jesus Christ.”
Steve Sellers, responding to a few media reports suggesting the ministry had changed its mission in the process of changing its name said “it is not our name that makes us a Christian organization – after all, a majority of well-known Christian organizations have nothing in their name identifying them as Christian. It is our mission which makes us Christian and our mission is a bold one, namely the fulfillment of Jesus Christ’s command to 'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.’”
“Whether our ministry to Athletes, Athletes in Action, our ministry to families, FamilyLife, our JESUS film ministry or any of our 29 ministries, everything we do is intentionally designed to introduce people to the person of Jesus Christ. Consistent with Christ’s command, the JESUS film is the most translated film in history, resulting in well over 6 billion exposures to the gospel in 1,129 languages.”
The decision to expand the use of the name Cru from the campus ministries to the entire U.S. ministry is the result of a two-year study and process involving hundreds of staff members, thousands of interviews, and a list of 1,600 potential names. Sellers emphasized that the objective of the name is to “accomplish a greater level of effectiveness in ministry, and we believe Cru achieves that.” The transition to the new name will take place over the next year.
Campus Crusade for Christ is a worldwide, interdenominational Christian evangelism and discipleship organization, founded by Bill and Vonette Bright in 1951. Since its founding, Campus Crusade has become one of the largest Christian organizations in the world, served by more than 25,000 full and part-time team members in 191 countries around the world through 29 different ministries.
For more information, visit ccci.org