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Richard Quebedeaux, author of a biography entitled I Found It!: The Story of Bill Bright and Campus Crusade, credits Bright's initial Christian exposure to Bright's Mother, Mary Lee Rohl, who was a pious Methodist (Quebedeaux:4; Melton 1991:62). Bright did not accept Christ himself though, nor follow any religion, until he was reintroduced to the concept by Vonette Zachary, a girl he knew from the small community of Coweta Oklahoma where he grew up.
Bill and Vonette's relationship was sparked by a letter from Bill while he was in California. Bill had moved to Los Angeles after finishing school at Northeastern State College in Oklahoma. At the university he demonstrated his natural leadership ability as year book editor and student body president. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1943 he became a teacher at Oklahoma State University. But, Bright was interested in more material wealth than teaching could offer him. Bright left Oklahoma to open his own business, Bright's California Confections, in Southern California. Vonette and Bill began corresponding while Bill was in California. At the start Bright was concerned about Vonette's religious fanaticism, and her about his lack of belief. Through a visit with Vonette, Bill came to accept Christ and began attending Hollywood's First Presbyterian Church (Quebedeaux:5-8).
There he learned the ways of evangelical Christianity from Henrietta C. Mears, director of Christian education at Hollywood Presbyterian (Quebedeaux:7). In 1946 Bright began studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. The following year he continued training at Fuller Theological Seminary, a conservative evangelical school in Southern California.
In 1948 Bright married Vonette. During his last year of seminary he felt the call to preach; he never finished seminary. He sold his business and began his life's work as an evangelist out of a house adjacent to the fraternities and sororities of the University of California at Los Angeles (Melton 1991:62; Quebedeaux:5-23).
Through saturation evangelism, and with the help of William Frank (Billy) Graham, Campus Crusade became a national movement by 1960 (Melton 1991:62). The organization has grown throughout the years and now has "a chapter on most college campuses in North America and... spread its activity around the globe" (Melton 1991:62).
Campus Crusade began with the core marriage of Bill and Vonette and spread outward. They began recruiting disciples who met at their home near the UCLA campus for prayer and meals. Today, the organization has grown tremendously, but Bill and Vonette still maintain a close group of disciples who are mostly prominent leaders in the business community. Other staff are not kept as close to the source of charisma but instead are trained in the Campus Crusade complex in Orlando, Florida, and then sent all over the world to win others to Christ. Only the best become a staffer and all staffers must raise their own salaries (Hadden and Shupe:26). Marriage is a very important tenet to Bright. Husband and wife must apply together to become staffers (Quebedeaux:52). The "beloved community" of staffers is similar to a very close family. The staffers have very strong ties and a close feeling of being with fellow Christians making entry and exit into this group very difficult (Quebedeaux:53,58)
Campus Crusade began as a ministry to reach university students (an evangelical niche not well supported at the time), but through the years Bright's high motivation to evangelize soon expanded to include high school students, university faculty and administrators, professionals, as well as minorities; in short to reach all people by what ever means necessary (Quebedeaux:26).
Bill Bright set his goal on nothing short of evangelizing the entire world. Bright wants to bring all nations to Christ, he is committed to the proposition that the the United States is a Christian nation and that it has a special place in God's scheme to redeem a sinful world. According to Frederick Clarkson, author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy (Common Courage Press, 1997), "Bright insists [in his book The Coming Revival] Christians must 'become actively involved in restoring every facet of society, including government, to the biblical values of our Founding Fathers.' Bright would turn the nation over 'to God from the top down, where our laws are made' in order to enact 'permanent change.'" Bright's various campaigns to evangelize the nation are clearly forerunners to and provided inspiration for recent lay-directed evangelistic campaigns. One example is Bill McCarthy's "Promise Keepers" which organized a "million-man march" on Washington, D.C. in the late 1990s (Clarkson).
Campus Crusade seeks to "be all things to all people," so that they may win all people to be saved through the acceptance of Christ as their lord and savior (Quebedeaux:62). In the pursuit of this goal Campus Crusade has spawned a large number of subsidiary ministries and campaigns to appeal to high school students, professionals, faculty, administrators and minorities (Quebedeaux:37).
As of 1993 "CCC [operated] more than 40 ministries, including Andre Kole; Athletes in Action...; Business Executive; Campus (university/college); Christian Embassy; Christian Leadership (faculty); Drama; Family; Here's Life, World (a special discipleship/evangelism outreach that has sponsored training by radio in 12 languages); Here's Life, America (lay); Here's Life, Black America; Here's Life Training Centers; Hispanic; International; International Christian Graduate University; International Student; Jesus Film Project; Josh McDowell; Mass Media; Military; Music; Paragon Productions (multimedia); New Life 2000; Prayer; Prison; and Student Venture (high school)" (Melton 1993:82). Other examples include CWLF (Quebedeaux:30), BCC, "God's Forever Family," and Agape (Quebedeaux:59). A more up to date list may be found at http://www.ccci.org/ministries/.
Campus Crusade has also held several campaigns to spread their message to larger numbers of people, with the goal of turning these large conventions of believers and non-believers to accept Christ. Examples of these campaigns include: "I Found It" (Quebedeaux:40), "Here's Life, America" (Quebedeaux:40-44), Soviet Union tour (Quebedeaux:44), EXPLO '72" in Dallas, Texas and "EXPLO '74" in Seoul, South Korea (Quebedeaux:35-40), and the "Washington for Jesus" rally (Hadden and Shupe:21-38; Cloud).
The "Washington for Jesus" rally (April 29, 1980) is a particularly important example because it demonstrates Bill Bright's commitment to his belief in the specialness of the United States in God's plan. This rally also demonstrated Bill Bright's ability to bring together Christian leaders and focus them on his common goal without steeling the spotlight. Bill Bright agreed to co-chair this rally with Pat Robertson after receiving divine inspiration to bring together the ministers of the US while traveling in Asia in the spring of 1979. The rally's goal was to help return America from its "sinful" path. Bright believed from the founding of Campus Crusade that America had to be "saved" from its destructive path away from the morality of God. According to Jeffrey K. Hadden and Anson Shupe, in their book Televangelism: Power & Politics on God's Fronteir, Bright has "the gnawing conviction that something has gone terribly wrong with America. What is wrong is the result of sin, of disobedience of God's covenant with America." According to Hadden and Shupe, Bright also believes "that America is not just one among nations; it is instead the nation with a providential mission in God's grand scheme of things" (24). This rally was therefore important for Bright because of his continued belief in the need to "save" the United States. According to David W. Cloud, in his book Flirting with Rome, Bill Bright has helped organize and sponsor the "Washington for Jesus celebrations" every year since the first. Cloud also asserts that this event was important because it brought together Christians of all denominations from around the U. S. (Cloud).
Campus Crusade has taken full advantage of every new media and means of reaching new people. Bright has authored over 50 books and booklets, distributed the film Jesus and developed an extensive web presence. All of this is a part of an extensive marketing program to sell salvation through Jesus Christ to as many people as possible.
Bill Bright has always held lofty goals for his organization. His most recent, New Life 2000, is no exception. "With the NewLife 2000 strategy, the goal of Campus Crusade for Christ is to reach the world's 6 billion people by the end of the year 2000" (harvest2000.org).
The Bible, of course, is the primary sacred text of Campus Crusade, but there are a myriad of instructional, inspirational and evangelical books written under the name of Bill Bright that provide inspiration and guides for living for those associated with the ministry. Bright is a prolific writer with over 50 titles attributed to him, the most prominent among these is a booklet entitled The Four Spiritual Laws.
Most of Bright's writings are guides to evangelism and to leading a "good Christian life." Many of his books have been translated into other languages and are available on audio cassette. Bright also assisted in the production and distribution of a film about the life of Jesus. By 1988, the sound track of the film titled Jesus, referred to among evangelicals as "the Jesus film," had been translated into 90 languages with the goal of 271 (Hadden and Shupe:26).
Campus Crusade is considered a "parachurch" organization because it does not claim itself as a separate denomination or church, but more as a vehicle through which people find Christ (Jorstad:23).
Campus Crusade has 16,000 staff worldwide all of which raise money for their own salaries (Hadden and Shupe:26). Campus Crusade also claims credit for tens of millions of conversions to Christ, though these converts do not necessarily become members of the group.
The Four Spiritual Laws are followed by a suggested prayer which, if your "heart" is so moved, you may read to accept Christ into your life. Bright says that in accepting Christ you leave behind the "Self-Directed Life" and begin a "Christ-Directed Life." In the former life "Christ is outside the life," "Interests are directed by [the] self, often resulting in discord and frustration." Whereas in the "new life" the self yields to Christ, here "interests are directed by Christ, resulting in harmony with God's Plan"(Bright and Damoose:297).- God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
- Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.
- Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.
- We must individually receive Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives (Bright and Damoose:295-7).
Campus Crusade members believe that everything that happens in their life is a manifestation of God's will and his purpose for them. Whereas some fundamentalists demand strict adherence to doctrinal and behavioral codes, Campus Crusade believes in simple suggestions for living such as having a good time without drugs or alcohol. Though suggestions are laid out for proper dress, manners and lifestyle, members live their life through God's grace, not through strict religious law (Quebedeaux:26).
Staffers are encouraged to adopt the dress and culture of the people they wish to evangelize in an effort to be all things to all people, and thereby win all people to Christ (Quebedeaux:62).
Campus Crusade for Christ members center their entire lives, every daily action, around the winning, building and sending of others to Christ. They do this out of a feeling of obligation to God and to their fellow people to spread his message to as many people as possible.
Terms
"Accepting Christ" The goal of Bill Bright and
his Campus Crusade is nothing short of getting everyone in the world to accept Christ. Accepting
Christ means to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.
"Born Again" The evangelical Christian idea that one begins their
life anew once they accept Christ.
"Discipleship" Members of Campus Crusade become participants
in "discipleship groups" where they are able to meet and discuss biblical
texts and life issues with other members under the leadership of a more
experienced member. Avery Dulles, in her entry on "Discipleship" for The
Encyclopedia of Religion, points out that:
All of which is very true for Campus Crusade, though every member of Campus
Crusade becomes involved in discipleship, because it is required of all
members to devote their lives fully to Christ, and to "winning, building,
and sending" others to Christ. According to Dulles "the term
disciple as used in the Gospels admits of no precise definition," and so Bright
uses the more inclusive definition of Luke, Paul, the Second Vatican Council
(1962-1965), and other texts (Matthew 10:42, Acts 6:1 to 21:16, etc.) to
include all Christians as disciples. Campus Crusade members might also
refer to each other as "brother" which Luke used as a virtual synonym for
disciple (Dulles, 362-4). According to Dulles: "Paul sees the whole Christian
life as a recapitulation of the existence of Jesus and hence as an exercise
of what other authors call discipleship" (362). Similarly to Paul's conception
of discipleship, Bright saw that one's whole life should be devoted to living
as Christ lived, and so as a disciple of Christ.
In nearly all religions and in many philosophical schools the normative
tradition is established, preserved, and transmitted by a process of discipleship.
In this way the bearers of the tradition are formed under the personal
supervision of accredited masters, who in turn become capable of instructing
others by example and personal direction. Discipleship in religious and
quasi-religious societies . . . involves a total way of life and a comprehensive
system of values. (Dulles, 361)
The
Campus Ministry
Personal biographies of student members, how to get involved, and resources
for member's parents.
http://www.thecampusministry.com or http://www.uscm.org
Campus Crusade
A place to purchase supplies for evangelism.
http://www.campuscrusade.com"
Harvest 2000 Recruiting
Office/Campus Crusade for Christ
The recruiting web site for Campus Crusade for Christ.
http://www.harvest2000.org"
U.S. Ministries
A listing of information and links for the numerous Campus Crusade for Christ U.S.
Ministries.
http://www.ccci.org/ministries/
"William
R. Bright, (1921- ) founder of Campus Crusade for Christ International
An article about the life and work of Bill Bright through Campus Crusade.
http://www.ezlink.com/~trbranch/bright.htm"
Campus
Crusade for Christ - An Expose
Campus Crusade for Christ, International and its relationship to the
Charismatic Movement and the Roman Catholic Church (circa 1975, updated
1980). I have not been able to determine the accuracy of this site.
http://www.ezlink.com/~trbranch/CCC.htm"
University
of Virginia Campus Crusade for Christ Chapter
There are a huge number of Campus Crusade evangelical sites available
on the Internet, most prominent among these is university chapter sites.
This is an example of one university chapter's site.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~ecj9r/home.htmll"
Evangelical Sources
Created by Samuel Bellas
For Sociology 257, Spring, 1999
Last modified: 07/17/01