Steve and Sarah Pogue

“If I could start Campus Crusade for Christ all over again, I would begin by working with professors.” 

When Bill and Vonette Bright started the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ or “Cru” on the UCLA campus in 1951, their dream was to reach the world by reaching the future leaders of the world — today’s college students. That dream hasn’t ended as Cru today has staff members working with students on more than 300 campuses in the United States, and in more than 100 countries around the world.Yet in later years, Bill expressed his wish to have included a ministry to professors from the inception of his organization. The professors, he said, were the key to the university and any long-lasting change on the nation’s college campuses must include reaching those who lead them. His dream finally came true in 1980 when Faculty Commons (initially called “Christian Leadership Ministries”) was launched in Dallas, Texas.

Summary:

• Founded in 1980 in Dallas by Stan Oakes at the request of Bill Bright
• 6000 Christian professors at more than 1,100 universities
• 90 fulltime staff members serving more than 100 universities in 25 states
• 6 web sites accessed by 3 million users annually, from 135 nations
• 150 faculty outreach trips to 35 nations
• faculty ministries in England, Poland, Taiwan and Jamaica.

History:

1980 Christian Leadership Ministries Founded:
Campus Crusade formally establishes a ministry to reach and equip university professors. Director Stan Oakes and his wife Ginger launch the ministry with five full-time staff members.

1981 Christian Faculty Conferences and Workshops:
Thirty professors gathered in Atlanta, followed by others in Columbus and Dallas, learn how they might be more effective in their witness for Christ as professors. Led by Drs. Rae Mellichamp and Walter Bradley, with Bill Bright speaking on the Spirit-filled life, the Dallas conference is videotaped. More than 3,000 professors view it in workshops on more than 300 campuses during the following two years.

1984 First international ministry trip:
The first Christian Leadership Ministries trip takes Christian professors to universities in South Africa to share their faith and help encourage and mobilize local Christian professors. The faculty ministry at the University of the Witswatersrand in Johannesburg (above) is launched.

1995 LeaderU.com:
CLM introduces what will become one of the best-known apologetic Web sites on the Net and the largest of Campus Crusade’s 300+ sites in North America. LeadershipU houses more than 8,500 essays, articles, white papers, debates, books and chapters, Bible studies, ministry tools, debates and reviews—all from a thoughtful biblical worldview. Currently accessed by hundreds of thousands of visitors each month from more than 135 nations.

1997 Ministering in the Secular University:
CLM publishes a 149-page guide for Christian faculty and staff, compiling over 25 years of ministry ideas and strategies that an individual professor or group can implement to reach and affect the university for Christ.

1999 FacultyLinc.com and Virtual Faculty Offices:
FacultyLinc features online resources for Christian professors and hosts “Virtual Faculty Offices.” [Recently Steve worked with Paul Hartgrove, website manager for Faculty Commons, in updating the site and providing additional content.]

2000 -2008 National Conferences:
First biennial summer national faculty conferences, God & the Academy draws over 300 professors, graduate students, faculty spouses and others to the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. Followed by the 2002 National Faculty Leadership Conference in Chicago and the 2004, 2006 and 2008 conference in Washington D.C. These academic- and ministry-oriented events build faculty leadership by providing vision, equipping, networking, fellowship, encouragement and aid in integrating faith and scholarship.

2007 MeetTheProf.com:
As student gravitate to the online world, professors discover that they can dialogue with them about issues of life and faith. Steve oversaw the development of this website with a team of Campus Crusade staff and a design company based in Orlando, Florida. There are now 300 professors listed on the site.