In the beginning…
uccf:thechristianunions has always held the cross at the centre of its ministry. It was in 1910 that the first Christian Union (Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union) disaffiliated from the dominant Christian student movement of the time (the SCM) because of the SCM’s liberal interpretation of key gospel doctrines — notably they did not hold as central the atoning blood of Jesus.
The Inter-Varsity Fellowship (now known as uccf:thechristianunions) was formed shortly after. ‘It was only a few months later that the realisation dawned on us that if a CICCU was a necessity in Cambridge, a union of the same kind was also a necessity in every university of the world’ (F. Donald Coggan, Christ and the colleges, p.71).
There are now over 350 CUs in the UK and they are thriving! They are vibrant missionary communities on our university and college campuses! This vital and strategic work continues to grow and develop under the partnership, care and gentle encouragement of UCCF Christian Union Staff Workers (CUSWs).
