Every week up to a hundred students show up to a dimly lit lecture hall in the Reckord Armory at the University of Maryland. Yes, they’re there to learn, but they aren’t there for any class or required assignment. These students show up to talk about the intricacies of living a spiritual life on a campus and in a world where many distractions and doubts can pop up. Maryland Cru welcomes these kinds of conversations, willing to discuss anything from “Is there any evidence of a God out there?” to “How can a good God allow suffering?”
Maryland Cru doesn’t go about this without preparation. With one full-time staff member, a few part-time and a core group of seven seniors called the “Servant Team,” this organization works to provide both large and small group experiences for various levels of intimacy. An incoming freshman can find a student-led bible study in any of the different areas around campus throughout the week, whether that be in the basement of Oakland Hall, the rooms of the School of Public Health or the lobby of Prince Frederick Hall. These groups that make the campus smaller are called “community plants.” Come their sophomore year, the plant they attended becomes a “community group” with many of the same faces. The groups often start their evenings in a co-ed setting with icebreakers and snacks, eventually splitting off into male and female groups to look at passages from the Bible and explore what it could mean from a more modern perspective.
The leaders for these groups are trained over the summer at a weekend-long retreat in Ocean City, Maryland. Juniors and the occasional sophomore are given the opportunity to lead the studies. When a student becomes an upperclassman, their Bible study moves off campus to be led by a Cru staff member. Cru also hosts various events for students, whether it be hammocking on McKeldin Mall between classes or driving to the Chesapeake Bay for a fall retreat. More regionally, Cru hosts a Winter Conference in Baltimore over New Year’s and internationally, the organization offers students a chance to go on short-term or long-term mission trips around the world.
The chapter in College Park, Maryland has been growing since 2005 when it was only a small cluster of students, staff member Julia Winters said. Cru itself is an international, interdenominational Christian organization, meaning that it welcomes people from all sorts of faith backgrounds. With a presence on 5,300 campuses worldwide, each chapter is made unique by the individual students who stepped up to take leadership positions. There’s plenty of opportunities for students to do this, whether that be in joining the Worship Team, planning events on the Inreach or Outreach Team, taking charge of the Freshman Team, setting up for large group on the Thursday Night Team, leading a group on Prayer Team or helping out with the Marketing Team.
Maryland Cru has over thirty designated students-leaders, and even those who don’t have a title are involved, helping out wherever they can. Many of the students find the biggest community within their own class, planning hangouts specific to those they commonly encounter at their studies and at large group. Cru’s vision statement is for everyone everywhere to know someone who truly follows Jesus, which localized becomes every student at the University of Maryland knowing someone who truly follows Jesus. Each class takes this vision and centers it around their interactions with each other to be a light for those looking in. When the Lights Come On takes you into the world of these students in between and during moments.
Sophomore political science and economics major Brendan Canterberry helps prepare Room 0131 of the University of Maryland’s Reckord Armory on Thursday, Nov. 14, for the nondenominational Christian group Cru’s weekly meeting. Maryland Cru has over thirty designated student-leaders, and even those who don’t have an official title would help out wherever they could. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)At a Sunday night prayer gathering on Oct. 13, sophomore civil engineering major Darius Robinson shares how he got to discuss spiritual matters with a homeless woman in Baltimore that weekend and asks the group to pray for her. On a campus of over 40,000, Maryland Cru students aimed to develop relationships with their peers, grow in their faith and go out into the world prepared to be leaders. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)The inside of Room 0121 in the Reckord Armory at the University of Maryland glints as dozens of students gather in the hallways before Cru on Oct. 24. This chapter in College Park, Maryland has been growing since 2005 when it was only a small cluster of students, staff member Julia Winters said. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Worship leader Carson Hoover, a fire protection engineering sophomore, beams mid-drum as he practices alongside members of the worship band on Oct. 27 in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. The team performed three to four songs at a large group meeting every Thursday. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)On Nov. 14, Inreach Team Leader and senior mechanical engineering major Houston Hoover greets students walking into Maryland Cru’s large group meeting. Hoover was a part of a core group of seven seniors called the “Servant Team” responsible for coordinating the various large and small group experiences of Cru during the fall semester. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Sophomore cell biology and genetics major Rachel Lawrence strolls through the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland before worship team practice on Oct. 27. Maryland Cru has over thirty designated student-leaders, and even those who don’t have an official title would help out wherever they could. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)At Sandy Hill Camp and Retreat Center in North East, Maryland, sophomore fire protection engineering major Bekah Schrader and senior mechanical engineering major Abby Robinson chat over a study break on Oct. 5. Maryland Cru students drove to the Chesapeake Bay for a fall retreat that focused on growing in their spirituality. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Sophomores Darius Robinson and Sreyas Chacko, a civil engineering major and computer science major respectively, discuss a Bible verse they were on assigned on Nov. 8 during a Cru training session that they attend every Friday called “Field Team” at the University of Maryland’s Adele H. Stamp Student Union. On a campus of over 40,000, Maryland Cru students aimed to develop relationships with their peers, grow in their faith and go out into the world prepared to be leaders. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Students stand for worship in the Reckord Armory at the University of Maryland during a large group meeting of Maryland Cru on Nov. 14. UMD was just one of 5,300 different campuses across the world where the international, interdenominational Christian organization Cru set up shop. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Junior sociology major Rachel Nyakaana-Blair practices a worship song on Oct. 27 at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. Maryland Cru has over thirty designated student-leaders, and even those who don’t have an official title would help out wherever they could. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Maryland Cru President Matt Byrd, a senior mechanical engineering major, helps string lights in Room 0121 of the University of Maryland’s Reckord Armory on Nov. 14. Byrd was a part of a core group of seven seniors called the “Servant Team” responsible for coordinating the various large and small group experiences of Cru during the fall semester. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Sophomores Rebecca Palmer and Kara Davis, an early childhood and special education major and neurobiology and physiology major respectively, pray during a break from fall retreat at Sandy Hill Camp and Retreat Center in North East, Maryland on Oct. 5. Maryland Cru students drove to the Chesapeake Bay for a fall retreat that focused on growing in their spirituality. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)On Oct. 4, students from colleges throughout the D.C. metropolitan area gather inside “The Lighthouse” at Sandy Hill Camp and Retreat Center in North East, Maryland for their annual fall retreat. Maryland Cru students drove to the Chesapeake Bay for a fall retreat that focused on growing in their spirituality. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Cru Staff member Heidi Smith pauses during a sophomore “Field Team” on Nov. 8, a training session that is hosted every Friday for members of Maryland Cru to grow in their faith and leadership skills. The University was just one of 5,300 different campuses across the world where the international, interdenominational Christian organization Cru set up shop. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)A group of students from Maryland Cru play spike ball and hammock at the bottom of McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland on Oct. 14. On a campus of over 40,000, Maryland Cru students aimed to develop relationships with their peers, grow in their faith and go out into the world prepared to be leaders. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Sophomore animal sciences major Riley Spickler writes in her journal during a Cru Fall Retreat at Sandy Hill Camp and Retreat Center in North East, Maryland on Oct. 5. Maryland Cru students drove to the Chesapeake Bay for a fall retreat that focused on growing in their spirituality. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Before Cru large group meeting on Nov. 14, sophomore government and politics major Julia Caspero chats with sophomore journalism major Kelsey Ward in the Reckord Armory at the University of Maryland. This chapter in College Park, Maryland has been growing since 2005 when it was only a small cluster of students, staff member Julia Winters said. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Junior Bible study leader and computer science/psychology double major Tomi Olusina greets students before Cru’s large group meeting on Oct. 24 in the Reckord Armory at the University of Maryland. On a campus of over 40,000, Maryland Cru students aimed to develop relationships with their peers, grow in their faith and go out into the world prepared to be leaders. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Freshman hearing and speech sciences major Caitlyn Gay runs to her friends hammocking on McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland after playing a game of spike ball on Oct. 14. UMD was just one of 5,300 different campuses across the world where the international, interdenominational Christian organization Cru set up shop. (Photo by Rachel Hunt)Kelsey Ward, a sophomore journalism major, joins her University of Maryland friends on a pier in between sessions at a Cru fall retreat in North East, Maryland at Sandy Hill Camp and Retreat Center on Oct. 5. These students showed up to talk about the intricacies of living a spiritual life on a campus and in a world where many distractions and doubts can be brought up, welcoming conversations from “Is there any evidence of a God out there?” to “How can a good God allow suffering?”
JOUR370 -Intro to Photojournalism 