New Look. Same Mission

As I step into my new role as Director of Design, I'm actually pleased at the timing of the recent name change of our organization from Campus Crusade for Christ to Cru. Though I can be quite nostalgic at times (especially with things very close to my heart), I believe that this name change and re-branding was already overdue.
It was very interesting for me to watch the media response and hype surrounding this significant change for such a large ministry organization with a significant legacy both here and around the world. The assumption that we set out to remove Christ from our name and that we were leaving our spiritual and theological moorings was quite absurd. No, the real reason is to remove any barriers from the mission so that we can have a broader impact and clearer Gospel message then ever before.
Recently, Starbucks changed there logo and dropped their name "Starbucks Coffee Co." from around the iconic mermaid. You know what? I didn't hear people raising a concern that Starbucks was changing for the worse as a company or that they were loosing their passion for coffee (or even worse yet, that I'd walk into one of their stores to find that they don't sell coffee anymore). No, their change also reflected a desire to show people that about MORE than just coffee and don't want their brand name to keep people from experiencing all that they have to offer. In a similar vein, I can assure people that Cru is so much more than just reaching campuses for Christ and reassure them that we aren't about "conquering" people in some form of crusade for Jesus. We are the same at our core yet growing and pursuing new ways to invite people into a global community of believers so that they might experience the life-changing Truth of knowing and following Jesus Christ. Amen.