How to Get Involved at Marymount Campus Crusade for Christ

By: Caileigh Barnett
Photos by: Caileigh Barnett

A winter conference will let Marymount students interested in Christ encounter each other, create a community, meet friends and grow in fellowship and faith.

Campus Crusade for Christ International is a non-denominational Christian ministry holding its Winter Conference at the Baltimore Convention Center Dec. 28 to Jan. 1. The goal of this conference is to help build the faith of anyone in attendance, said Matt Caspero, a campus field staff member for Marymount’s 10-year-old CRU branch.

The faculty sponsor Alice Petillo, who has been with CRU at Marymount since its inception in 2012, said, “CRU is a place to find a spiritual home and community. The Winter Conference is an amazing opportunity to be surrounded by lots of fellow students and grow in your walk with Jesus.”

Communities in CRU share a common purpose throughout all the events and activities they do, according to the CRU website. On their website CRU says, “Our purpose is helping to fulfill the Great Commission in the power of the Holy Spirit by winning people to faith in Jesus Christ, building them in their faith and sending them to win and build others.” 

Caspero, who has served as campus field staff member since 2021, said this is the goal at Marymount’s branch as well. He said they put on events that will help the community grow and share their faith.

Marymount CRU puts on two weekly activities consistently. Bible studies are at 7 p.m. Mondays in Room G211, Rowley Hall and at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, there is a Night of Fellowship in Room G207, Rowley Hall. The group also holds occasional worship events on campus. For example, on Nov. 2 they held a bonfire and smore’s worship night.

These events are open to any Marymount student. Claire Smith, a student leader said,

“Everyone is welcome to come, you don’t need to be Christian.”

Smith is a senior at Marymount majoring in communication and has been part of CRU since her first year and became a treasurer in fall 2021. Other student leaders; current President Bridget Clark, is a senior studying interior design, and current Vice President Amira Holland, is a sophomore majoring in graphic design. Clark and Holland said they already knew before beginning classes at Marymount they would join CRU from looking at MUEngage, a Marymount website that shares information for all of Marymount’s events. Smith, however, said she did not know about CRU until Marymount held its annual work expo, which lets clubs spread the word about their club and related opportunities.

CRU is active in three countries and is affiliated with 5,300 campus ministries worldwide. Caspero said he works closely with the branches at George Washington University and American University. Students can attend CRU events outside the university as well. “We get quite a lot of support from CRU as an organization,” said Clark. 

The Fall Retreat was held over one weekend during October. The Winter Conference is an expanded version of the Fall Retreat, Holland said. “At the Fall Retreat we had one guest speaker, but with the Winter Conference it is a different guest speaker every day, then you have mini sessions and the people that are leading those mini sessions are the ones that work at all the different schools. For example, Matt led a session at Fall Retreat that was called, ‘How to Read the Book of Songs,’ his session was pretty good,” Holland said.

Caspero said he hopes to expand CRU, “I’d like to have more activities in the middle of the day so more commuters can attend if they’re interested,” Caspero said. “I’m hoping to find volunteers in churches nearby who can provide lunch for students so we can have fellowship over meals.” Smith, Holland and Clark discussed their goals as student leaders is to have intentional leadership connection and support, to include students who are showing interest and to fuel others on campus.

CRU takes strides to work with the Catholic Campus Ministry at Marymount as well. They partner in events and just recently, they organized the return of Halloween Fest where children of various grades from a local school come to Marymount to take a spooky tour, play games, make crafts and eat pizza. They have also partnered with the Association for Campus Events, or ACE, who plans any on-campus and off-campus events.

Smith said she sees a lack of fellowship in the general student body and that for her, “CRU was the only sense of fellowship on this campus.” Holland said she felt similarly in that CRU was a community in which she could open up to people attending the weekly events.

“It made me feel more comfortable sharing my testimony, and the support from CRU was unexplainable,” said Holland.

The three student leaders said that if anyone is on the fence about coming to a CRU event, to just do it. “Nowadays, authentic conversations are not common, but with CRU we go deeper than surface level conversations,” said Smith. 

You can sign up for the Winter Conference at: https://www.cru.org/communities/campus/winterconference/