# Campus Crusade for Christ name change...



## caoclan (Jul 20, 2011)

...to "Cru"! I'll expose my hand here... they are removing Christ from their ministry name!!! I am so tired of this relevancy culture,"we have to be relevant, or reach people where they are at" (not limited to CCC, of course). It is just becoming a cult of relevancy, in my opinion. This is not a commentary on their past ministry practices, although, I'm sure we could build quite a thread, but they spent TWO YEARS coming to this decision!!! Preach the Gospel people, that is what those donations are for!!!

Am I off-base here???

Christian Ministry Removing 'Crusade' From Name, Christian News


----------



## Rufus (Jul 20, 2011)

Cru? That's not really that "relevant" or "cool" of a name.


----------



## JoyFullMom (Jul 20, 2011)

I agree with you. I have friends on staff and in my opinion, they are just labeling where they already have gone.

I say that as a person for whom CCC played a large part in true discipleship in my teens. (Of course, I was not reformed at that time either)


----------



## caoclan (Jul 20, 2011)

Sean, I agree, but it is the typical passe relevancy the church likes to go after, which is "let's be like the cool culture of five years ago." They are already irrelevant, because they implement passing away, or passed away fads from the culture at large. We need to do what we do, which is preaching Christ and Him crucified, which is already a stumbling block and foolishness. I want the foolishness of Christ, not the foolishness of the cultural fads.


----------



## cih1355 (Jul 20, 2011)

caoclan said:


> ...to "Cru"! I'll expose my hand here... they are removing Christ from their ministry name!!! I am so tired of this relevancy culture,"we have to be relevant, or reach people where they are at" (not limited to CCC, of course). It is just becoming a cult of relevancy, in my opinion. This is not a commentary on their past ministry practices, although, I'm sure we could build quite a thread, but they spent TWO YEARS coming to this decision!!! Preach the Gospel people, that is what those donations are for!!!
> 
> Am I off-base here???
> 
> Christian Ministry Removing 'Crusade' From Name, Christian News



You are not off-base. Removing "Crusade" from the name does not mean that the word "Christ" has to be removed from the name. The ministry could have removed "Crusade" from the name without removing "Christ" from the name. They could have changed the name to "Christ Exalted on Campus Ministries" or "Christ Preached on Campus Ministries." 


The article says, "Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name." My comment is that when you start talking about Christ, some people are going to be turned off anyway. Campus Crusade for Christ did not have to change their name.


----------



## caoclan (Jul 20, 2011)

The other messed up issue here is they did not even get rid of "Crusade," they just hipsterized it! (On a side note, for "hipsterized," I am now trademarking that word)


----------



## Rufus (Jul 20, 2011)

caoclan said:


> Sean, I agree, but it is the typical passe relevancy the church likes to go after, which is "let's be like the cool culture of five years ago." They are already irrelevant, because they implement passing away, or passed away fads from the culture at large. We need to do what we do, which is preaching Christ and Him crucified, which is already a stumbling block and foolishness. I want the foolishness of Christ, not the foolishness of the cultural fads.



Agreed.


----------



## Grimmson (Jul 20, 2011)

One thing that not being said here is that they been calling themselves widespread in leadership “Cru” for close to ten years now, so this is nothing out of the blue. I know the article said that it started on “local level in the mid-90s,” but before I graduated college in 2002 I observed all of the CCC’s leadership calling formally the organization as “Cru” and some that I meant outside the state of Arizona as well. Also at the same time the Baptist Student Union was going through a name change as well to "Christian Challenge," manifested on their buildings not long after. What is being done in practice with the CCC is just becoming more official in 2012, which I thought it was already formalized based on some conversations I had about eight years ago from CCC staff. By the way for ministerial purposes I would not mind the dropping of the name “Crusade” because it can be a stumbling block to Muslims and some liberals in hearing Christ. And one more point, the proclamation of Christ on these college campuses should not be done (or at least not primarily) by parachurch organizations, but by the Church. I can go into that another time if one wishes.


----------



## caoclan (Jul 20, 2011)

David, I agree with the para-church point wholeheartedly, and I am confident it has been argued extensively on this board. THe church needs to step-up, in that sense. I have no problem with dropping "Crusade," but they did not do that, they just shortened it to Cru. They dropped Campus and, most ashamedly Christ.


----------



## PreservedKillick (Jul 20, 2011)

I agree with you completely. I would be fine with just "Crusade" being removed, since I don't see the Pope giving plenary indulgences to Norman thugs in return for them going on a Near Eastern killing spree as biblical in any way, shape, form. The problem with this renaming to me is its inherent dishonesty (although I'm sure that wasn't their motivation--I'm not trying to falsely accuse). Bringing someone in with a name that has no Christian connotations, for them to find out later that it is a Christian organization, smacks of a bait-and-switch to me. Again, I don't mean to accuse them of deliberate dishonesty, I just feel that this is the logical conclusion.



cih1355 said:


> You are not off-base. Removing "Crusade" from the name does not mean that the word "Christ" has to be removed from the name. The ministry could have removed "Crusade" from the name without removing "Christ" from the name. They could have changed the name to "Christ Exalted on Campus Ministries" or "Christ Preached on Campus Ministries."
> 
> 
> The article says, "Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name." My comment is that when you start talking about Christ, some people are going to be turned off anyway. Campus Crusade for Christ did not have to change their name.


----------



## JennyG (Jul 20, 2011)

There used to be a Christian children's organisation in this country called just "Crusaders". Of course, they've changed the name, to something so lame I can't even remember what it is


----------



## Jack K (Jul 20, 2011)

The word "crusade" probably did have to go. It can be an unnecessary barrier to evangelism even among non-Muslims. That's partly because of how history has been interpreted. It's also an anachronism from the heyday of revival meetings when the word "crusade" got people excited. Not the case anymore.

I can also understand wanting to switch to something that was already being used informally. And "Christ," though a part of the official name, generally has not been used in informal speech anyway as long as I've known the organization. It's almost always shortened to "Campus Crusade" or just "Crusade" already. And I bet lots of people will continue to refer to it as "Crusade" for a while. You can change your name, but you can't get people to actually use it if they think it sounds dorky or too slick.

What's most interesting to me is the comment that not having an overtly Christian name makes initiating conversations easier. It's certainly true that many people become guarded when they realize they're talking to a pastor, campus staff worker, or even just a devout Christian. But hiding that too much starts to become bait and switch. Stealth evangelism, if taken too far, is just dishonest.


----------



## jogri17 (Jul 20, 2011)

It is better than the Canadian version ''Power to Change''. Not really a big deal. A name is Just a name. All that changes who the name on 
bad tshirts.


----------



## Scott1 (Jul 20, 2011)

> From the press release
> 
> "It acts as a barrier to the very people that we want to connect with. It’s also a hindrance to many Christians who would like to partner with us but find the word Crusade offensive," the ministry said in a statement.



So, over the last 60 years of claimed explosive growth of the organization, it has acted like a barrier?

Didn't Mr. Bright know he created a barrier with the name?

---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------




Scott1 said:


> > From the press release
> >
> > "It acts as a barrier to the very people that we want to connect with. It’s also a hindrance to many Christians who would like to partner with us but find the word Crusade offensive," the ministry said in a statement.
> 
> ...





> Matthew 10
> 
> 32Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
> 
> ...



When the organization declines in the medium term, will there be accountability for this decision?

Will there be any understanding?


----------



## Jack K (Jul 20, 2011)

View attachment 2139

The new logo. It still has a cross.


----------



## Edward (Jul 20, 2011)

"Cru is Dallas' premier wine bar. Conceived as an exciting urban destination "

I thought that the name sounded familiar. Locations in Dallas, Austin, Houston, Woodlands, Plano, Allen and Denver. 

Hope the lawyers have vetted the trademark issues.


----------



## athanatos (Jul 20, 2011)

caoclan said:


> ...to "Cru"! I'll expose my hand here... they are removing Christ from their ministry name!!! I am so tired of this relevancy culture,"we have to be relevant, or reach people where they are at" (not limited to CCC, of course). It is just becoming a cult of relevancy, in my opinion. This is not a commentary on their past ministry practices, although, I'm sure we could build quite a thread, but they spent TWO YEARS coming to this decision!!! Preach the Gospel people, that is what those donations are for!!!
> 
> Am I off-base here???
> 
> Christian Ministry Removing 'Crusade' From Name, Christian News


Yeah, you are a little off base, actually.

I've been volunteer staff for Cru for about a year, and "Cru" is what people have been calling "Campus Crusade for Christ" for years, like... over a decade. That's multiple turn-overs of generations of students. Why? Because it is short, easier to say and has a catchy ring to it just like BK or KFC. Benefits of changing it is the fact that we don't like the crusades. They are a regretable time in the past and we can't ignore it, but we don't want to perpetuate the stereotypes for Christians. In fact, CCC has had to change the name of its ministry when going to many foreign nations because the Crusades are still in the minds of many Muslims and Jews and other nations that are post-Christian. It is very hard to share the gospel if we come in and they have bad connotations of Crusades coming to their minds as we are sharing the love of Christ. When you're unfamiliar, you don't know any better.

Also, gone are the days of Billy Graham. We need to change our minds about how we approach the nation and campus and thinking we're going to go "conquer". It isn't about that. So eliminating this from the name has the benefit of avoiding a TON of awkwardness in normal conversation.

As for removing the name of "Christ", that's just a cheap-shot and a misunderstanding. It has nothing to do with taking away the offensiveness of Christ or taking Christ out of the ministry. There are many ministries that don't have the word "Christian" or "Church" or "Christ" in their title and they share the gospel. We don't change our minds on whether they are discipling well or not.

But to reiterate, the fact of the matter is that CCC has been calling itself Cru for years informally, and unofficially. It's on stickers and t-shirts and flyers and stuff, packaged and repackaged for campuses. The ministry goals are the same. The methods are the same. The heart is the same. The name is different to reach more for the sake of the gospel, not watering it down. The two-years probably had to do with the fact that they weren't sure if changing it from Campus Crusade for Christ (official name) to Cru (unofficial name) would make such a huge difference in the US or not, or whether changing it would be justified for all the things that would still need to be changed, or... if people will misunderstand the name change and stop giving/donating out of their ignorance.


----------



## Rufus (Jul 20, 2011)

Is it being said like "crew" or "C-R-U"?


----------



## toddpedlar (Jul 21, 2011)

Rufus said:


> Is it being said like "crew" or "C-R-U"?



"Cru" as in rhymes with:

View attachment 2141


----------



## athanatos (Jul 21, 2011)

Crew, or kroo


----------



## DMcFadden (Jul 21, 2011)

Other name changes?

Rather than the offensive "Calvinist" (e.g., Servitus, duh!) . . . *"Cali"* (advantage of being a double entendre for ever-hip California)
In place of the sectarian "Presbyterian" . . . *"By"* (pronounced "Bee" as in "be whatever you want to be")
"Reformed" sounds so stilted. Let's try *"Formed" *as in "She really has her act together. She is soooo* 'formed.'*"
Following up on Grand Rapids Rob's problem with "hell," maybe we could just say "Bell is swell" (it rhymes) or "heaven or . . . *well* . . . " (spoken with shrugged shoulders and a Steve Martin grimace)


----------



## Philip (Jul 21, 2011)

> There are many ministries that don't have the word "Christian" or "Church" or "Christ" in their title and they share the gospel.



InterVarsity Fellowship, for instance.

Also anyone who wants the church to be more involved on college campuses, I suggest that you (if you're PCA) take a look at RUF, the PCA's campus ministry.


----------



## JennyG (Jul 21, 2011)

> In place of the sectarian "Presbyterian" . . . "By" (pronounced "Bee" as in "be whatever you want to be")



there's a neat euphemism for "Presbyterians" which we sometimes use in this house: "Britney Spears"..

(she may or may not be aware of it, but she has the good luck to be a perfect anagram)


----------



## Scott1 (Jul 21, 2011)

comments below



athanatos said:


> caoclan said:
> 
> 
> > ...to "Cru"! I'll expose my hand here... they are removing Christ from their ministry name!!! I am so tired of this relevancy culture,"we have to be relevant, or reach people where they are at" (not limited to CCC, of course). It is just becoming a cult of relevancy, in my opinion. This is not a commentary on their past ministry practices, although, I'm sure we could build quite a thread, but they spent TWO YEARS coming to this decision!!! Preach the Gospel people, that is what those donations are for!!!
> ...


----------



## raekwon (Jul 21, 2011)

I guess I'll be one of the few folks that says "who cares." Let's wait until they show some actual bothersome signs, rather than get worked up about an innocuous name change.


----------



## DMcFadden (Jul 21, 2011)

Organizations (including non-profits) pay serious money to marketing firms to handle their rebranding. By keeping the cross in their logo, they are probably not running from "Christ" but from the negative associations with the word "crusade."

Missiologists have been pushing their organizations to change the nomenclature from "missions" to "intercultural studies" for similar reasons.

I'd be more concerned about the non-Reformed reductionism of the Cru approach to "salvation" rather than with their cutesy name.


----------



## PreservedKillick (Jul 21, 2011)

It actually is InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, although, yes, on the FSU campus we generally just said "InterVarsity." 

The thing I really appreciated about RUF when I was in college was that it was under the authority of a local church, as opposed to the para-church model we so often see. 



P. F. Pugh said:


> > There are many ministries that don't have the word "Christian" or "Church" or "Christ" in their title and they share the gospel.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## Philip (Jul 21, 2011)

> It actually is InterVarsity Christian Fellowship



I stand corrected.


----------



## KMK (Jul 21, 2011)

Many churches, including my own, do not bear the word 'Christ' in the name.


----------



## DMcFadden (Jul 21, 2011)

KMK said:


> Many churches, including my own, do not bear the word 'Christ' in the name.



Again, duh . . . you're in California. 

I get great heartburn over the silly rebranding efforts of marketing consultants. In my area, a retirement community chain dropped the Christian "denominational" name from their moniker in favor of the generic "Be" (as in "be" whatever you want to be). Funny, they were supposedly a "Presbyterian" ministry! Now they can include Jews and Asian faiths without turning them off by the Christian name.

When we "rebranded" our retirement home a couple of years ago, we went to a more overtly Christian tag line. When the L.A. County fair housing folks threatened to sue us over religious discrimination, our Jewish attorney had to use the same line of reasoning that she had successfully utilized in defending the "Jewish Home" from the same charges.

"Cru" is a pretty silly rebranding. But, betcha it cost them a lot of money to dream up. I was willing to concede that it was probably innocent (my earlier post) until reading the secular press reports about it where the Cru people were quoted as defending their efforts on the grounds that the word "Christ" turns off non-Christians.



> Sellers said researchers found that 9 percent of Christians and 20 percent of non-Christians were alienated by the name Campus Crusade for Christ.
> “We felt like our name was getting in the way of accomplishing our mission,” said Steve Sellers, the vice president for Campus Crusade, noting that the ministry will still be committed to “proclaiming Christ around the world.”
> 
> As for removing Christ from their name, the Campus Crusade for Christ website states:
> “We were not trying to eliminate the word Christ from our name. We were looking for a name that would most effectively serve our mission and help us take the gospel to the world. Our mission has not changed. Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name. We believe that our interaction and our communication with the world will be what ultimately honors and glorifies Christ.”


----------



## Scott1 (Jul 21, 2011)

> *DMcFadden*
> secular press reports about it where the Cru people were quoted as defending their efforts on the grounds that the word "Christ" turns off non-Christians.



Something we read about in the New Testament (and implicitly in the Old).


----------



## jwithnell (Jul 21, 2011)

> Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name.


 Being disingenuous goes back a long way. As a baby Christian, I went out with some "Cru" folks. They got doors open by saying they were taking a survey and even made a show with clip board and pen. There was no survey involved -- just an effort to say the 4 spiritual laws in question form. And had anyone come to saving faith, what would have become of them? We were all from out of town at a conference. We were to give them some booklets or something then leave. Jesus does not seek and protect his lambs in this way.


----------



## Rich Koster (Jul 21, 2011)

The geek squad would have renamed them C^3 (C Cubed  )


----------



## kvanlaan (Jul 21, 2011)

> Being disingenuous goes back a long way. As a baby Christian, I went out with some "Cru" folks. They got doors open by saying they were taking a survey and even made a show with clip board and pen. There was no survey involved -- just an effort to say the 4 spiritual laws in question form. And had anyone come to saving faith, what would have become of them? We were all from out of town at a conference. We were to give them some booklets or something then leave. Jesus does not seek and protect his lambs in this way



Yeah, this is not gospel preaching or even witnessing. Bad salesmen use bait-and-switch tactics; we never should. We simply have no need.


----------



## Scott1 (Jul 22, 2011)

One other thought,

From the standpoint of practicality, trying to imagine what might have been in the imagination of the consultants who recommended the name change,

If the change is to "Cru," what does that stand for?

Crusade.

So, how does that make anything less offensive to people who are thought to be unresponsive (to their Creator's sovereign power) because of an historical event a thousand years ago?

So, is someone going to not be offended or unreceptive to God's grace (were that even possible) because four letters were taken off crusade, and now it is only abbreviated?

Were this a purely business decision, I would be asking for money back from the consultants, right now.


----------



## HoldFast (Jul 22, 2011)

The historical "crusades" are a talking point of every learned atheist on a college campus. I understand why removing the term is appropriate in light of the term becoming recently overtly offensive. Their reasoning for why they left Christ out of the name is well...it is what it is...a man centered theological foundation that lacks a trust in God's sovereign regenerating grace. Do we need gentleness in witnessing? Of course. Must we remove the name of Christ from ministry titles in order to not offend those we are evangelizing? Certainly not. God is on His throne and His Word will not return void.


----------



## Scott1 (Jul 22, 2011)

> *HoldFast*
> I understand why removing the term is appropriate in light of the term becoming recently overtly offensive.



When talking about atheists, and acknowledging your overall point, we might say that the name of God, generally has ALWAYS (not merely recently) been offensive to the atheist.


----------



## Pilgrim (Jul 22, 2011)

Grimmson said:


> One thing that not being said here is that they been calling themselves widespread in leadership “Cru” for close to ten years now, so this is nothing out of the blue. I know the article said that it started on “local level in the mid-90s,” but before I graduated college in 2002 I observed all of the CCC’s leadership calling formally the organization as “Cru” and some that I meant outside the state of Arizona as well. Also at the same time the Baptist Student Union was going through a name change as well to "Christian Challenge," manifested on their buildings not long after. What is being done in practice with the CCC is just becoming more official in 2012, which I thought it was already formalized based on some conversations I had about eight years ago from CCC staff. By the way for ministerial purposes I would not mind the dropping of the name “Crusade” because it can be a stumbling block to Muslims and some liberals in hearing Christ. And one more point, the proclamation of Christ on these college campuses should not be done (or at least not primarily) by parachurch organizations, but by the Church. I can go into that another time if one wishes.



I'm thinking that a perception that shortening Crusade to "Cru" will be construed by some as subterfuge and thus perhaps even more offensive. 

Like him or not, at least no one is going to mistake what "brother. Jed" is about.


----------



## kvanlaan (Jul 24, 2011)

> As for removing Christ from their name, the Campus Crusade for Christ website states:
> “We were not trying to eliminate the word Christ from our name. We were looking for a name that would most effectively serve our mission and help us take the gospel to the world. Our mission has not changed. Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name. We believe that our interaction and our communication with the world will be what ultimately honors and glorifies Christ.”



But see, if this is the case, then I think the discussion is over before it began. Using the line of reasoning of "We don't want to sound so overtly Christian, and that will help us spread the gospel" is simply pathetic.


----------



## athanatos (Jul 24, 2011)

Suppose you want to talk about Christ to your neighbor. Your welcome mat says "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord", your car has a bumper sticker "I love my family, 99.7 Family Life Radio", and yet another "Don't let my car fool you, my treasure's in heaven!" You come over to their house, with your wwjd bracelet on and a t-shirt that says your favorite ministry. When you talk about Jesus you use jargon that only Christians know and non-Christians are completely unfamiliar with, alienating them before they even know what you even mean by the words.

There are reasons not to be "overtly Christian"... because coming out and saying "I'm a CHRISTIAN!!!" doesn't really facilitate dialog.

Failing to put up this caricature and make it your own does not make you less godly, nor does it make your approach less God-centered.


----------



## Peairtach (Jul 24, 2011)

Cru (wine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## kvanlaan (Jul 24, 2011)

Sorry, but this change is not about moving from cultural-Christian themes (the t-shirts, mats, etc.) to more serious ones, it is about (as I think the quote clearly points out) making Christianity more 'palatable' to unbelievers. That's rubbish. The very name of Christ will offend, so where do we smooth things down next so it won't? I am not talking about instead being a Bible-bashing fundy, I am talking about presenting Christ unapologetically, and the attitude behind the change seems to be about keeping people from being offended by the name.

To me, it is not the name change itself that is the issue, it is the attitude behind it.


----------



## BJClark (Jul 26, 2011)

PreservedKillick;




> Bringing someone in with a name that has no Christian connotations, for them to find out later that it is a Christian organization, smacks of a bait-and-switch to me. Again, I don't mean to accuse them of deliberate dishonesty, I just feel that this is the logical conclusion.



When I seen this the other day, and read the article today, I thought the exact same thing, it "appears" they are trying to be deceptive. Not that they are, but it does give that appearance.


----------



## Robert Truelove (Jul 27, 2011)

The tendency of churches and Christian organizations to downplay the name of Christ and other distinctives in their names is further rot from Arminianism. If salvation is all about us being able to bring sinners to a decision, then we will do just about whatever we perceive is conducive to that end. 

However, on the pragmatic side of the equation, it is beyond me why anyone would be interested in learning about a Christ whose followers are ashamed to boldly declare Him.


----------



## PreservedKillick (Jul 27, 2011)

I thought of that too when I read about the name change. 



Peairtach said:


> Cru (wine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## Scott1 (Aug 17, 2011)

Interesting.

I just received (another) solicitation from Campus Crusade for Christ.... under that name. Prominent on the envelope and inside on the letter as well. No "Cru."


----------



## Berean (Aug 17, 2011)

Scott1 said:


> No "Cru."



It's all over their website. Campus Crusade for Christ International



> This week, we announced we are changing our name from Campus Crusade for Christ to Cru beginning in 2012.


----------



## JoannaV (Aug 18, 2011)

Ignoring all theological issues, I hate all these name changes that go from something that actually explains what it is to having the official name being something that means absolutely nothing. I'm foreign, I have no idea what Campus Crusade for Christ is, but I can guess pretty well. But Cru? You're part of Cru? In conversation, you're part of a crew? You hang out with your crew? Eugh it's like the local cinemas which are now called Vue and Reel. "You're going to view? What are you going to view? A body?" "You're going to reel in a fish? :-s" KFC is a big enough, old enough brand that it works. BK still confuses me though. When writing it is clear that one is talking about something, even if you don't know what it is, but in speech it can get confusing. Just because insiders refer to their organisation in a certain way is no reason to make it official. I call my husband many things, but he's not changing his name any time soon


----------

