"CRM forges partnerships in prayer to build missional communities that transform the University of Texas by the gospel of Jesus."
Is it possible to see the University of Texas radically transformed for God's glory? God's character and a modest study of history, even current history, would suggest a resounding, "Yes!" If yes, then what will it take to see this happen? Believing that this type of transformation can happen, students and campus ministers at the University of Texas have been faithfully seeking God for transformation since 1991, uniting in prayer and collaborating in mission to reach every student at UT with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The movement began with three students meeting at 7:00 AM every day to pray for transformation at UT. The group soon grew to about twelve students. The twelve students, who were a part of five different campus ministries at UT, prayed together every day from 1991 to 1995. God used the fifteen students who met daily for years to cast a vision for transformation at the University of Texas and to start a national campus ministry called Campus Renewal Ministries.
In 1992, these students began a weekly, united prayer meeting that drew together student leaders from more than twenty different campus ministries at UT. As they enjoyed fellowship and prayer, the Lord gradually laid a burden on their hearts to unite the campus in one night of focused prayer for revival. Hundreds of students came to "All Campus Worship" and the prayer movement began to grow, as did the relationships among student leaders as they prayed together weekly. The student leaders from each ministry simply prayed together weekly until they sensed the Lord was calling them to mobilize their ministries together.
In 1995, the students were led to plan Rez Week, a week of united prayer, worship and outreach over Holy Week. 500 to 1000 students attended each night, and the hunger to pursue relationship with one another for the purpose of reaching all of UT continued to increase. As the movement grew, the campus ministers from these ministries began to get involved as well.
In 1997, more than twenty campus ministers met together to discuss what it meant to work together for transformation at UT. As a first step, they began to meet weekly to pray for an historic movement of God on campus. As the campus ministers prayed together each week, their relationships grew, and so did their desire to work together. Additionally, their vision for the campus grew beyond the scope of their individual ministries.
In 1999, about twelve campus ministers from different ministries gathered to talk specifically about what they could do together beyond weekly prayer and occasional campus-wide events. Material from Jack Dennison's book City Reaching guided the conversation. Ultimately, in what they jokingly called a "modern day miracle," a dozen campus ministers read City Reaching together over the next three weeks, meeting weekly to discuss it. Out of the discussions came a commitment to a new model of collaborative ministry that they called "campus reaching."
From 2000 to 2004, Jim Herrington, a contributing author to City Reaching, met with campus ministers at UT once a year. The purpose of these meeting was to help the ministers discover how God was calling them to partner to see UT transformed by the gospel of Jesus. Each year, twenty or more campus pastors from different ministries would meet with Jim for several days of prayer and planning. Over the four-year period, a very clear model for campus reaching was developed. The pastors committed themselves and their ministries to a long-term vision to mobilize campus-wide prayer, to spiritually map the campus, and to send students as missionaries to every college, club, residence, and culture at the University of Texas.
In 2001, as part of the campus reaching movement, ministries began working together to spiritually map the UT campus by conducting research, creating surveys, and discussing their spiritual perceptions of the campus. They created a yearly report on the campus that they called the "Longhorn Chronicles," which compares the Body of Christ from one year to the next. Each October since 2001, eighty to one hundred campus ministers gathered to discuss the most recent "Longhorn Chronicles." These yearly discussions increased the focus of their prayers and planning.
From 2001 to 2005, ministries continued to unite in prayer, knowing that transformation must come from God alone. Campus ministers and student leaders continued to meet weekly to pray. They also planned campus-wide worship and prayer events each fall, and they united to pray 24/7 each spring during Rez Week. In 2006, ministries began working together to pray 24/7/365 by starting a Campus House of Prayer (CHOP). They rented a small building just west of campus where believers from every campus ministry could come to pray. Students and ministers signed up to pray at the CHOP the same time each week. One after another they began coming into the CHOP to ask God for transformation at UT, hoping someday to literally be praying 24/7/365.
Since 2003, campus ministries worked together to send students as missionaries into every college, club, residence, and culture at UT. They understood that reaching the campus required students to be mobilized to reach unbelievers in the hundreds of communities at UT. A training course was developed to equip students to reach specific communities on campus, and the number of missional communities at UT grew from 20 to 200 over a five-year period. In 2008, thirteen ministries significantly increased their commitment to the missional community movement, forming a network called Renovate UT. Ministries that joined Renovate UT began meeting monthly to map out the campus to determine which communities at UT were and were not being reached. Renovate UT ministries created a monthly survey for each participating ministry to complete each month, so they can continue to equip, connect, and send students into unreached communities on campus.
The campus reaching movement led to increased relationships among ministry leaders, resulting in encouragement and partnership. It created opportunities to learn from each other, resulting in greater leadership and strategy. It led to a more complete spiritual map of UT, resulting in more strategic prayer and planning, ultimately creating an understanding of which people groups remain unreached. It increased the scope of each student's and each minister's vision, believing God for campus-wide transformation. God willing, as leaders continue to strategically work together, they will see the complete transformation of the University of Texas to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The movement began with three students meeting at 7:00 AM every day to pray for transformation at UT. The group soon grew to about twelve students. The twelve students, who were a part of five different campus ministries at UT, prayed together every day from 1991 to 1995. God used the fifteen students who met daily for years to cast a vision for transformation at the University of Texas and to start a national campus ministry called Campus Renewal Ministries.
In 1992, these students began a weekly, united prayer meeting that drew together student leaders from more than twenty different campus ministries at UT. As they enjoyed fellowship and prayer, the Lord gradually laid a burden on their hearts to unite the campus in one night of focused prayer for revival. Hundreds of students came to "All Campus Worship" and the prayer movement began to grow, as did the relationships among student leaders as they prayed together weekly. The student leaders from each ministry simply prayed together weekly until they sensed the Lord was calling them to mobilize their ministries together.
In 1995, the students were led to plan Rez Week, a week of united prayer, worship and outreach over Holy Week. 500 to 1000 students attended each night, and the hunger to pursue relationship with one another for the purpose of reaching all of UT continued to increase. As the movement grew, the campus ministers from these ministries began to get involved as well.
In 1997, more than twenty campus ministers met together to discuss what it meant to work together for transformation at UT. As a first step, they began to meet weekly to pray for an historic movement of God on campus. As the campus ministers prayed together each week, their relationships grew, and so did their desire to work together. Additionally, their vision for the campus grew beyond the scope of their individual ministries.
In 1999, about twelve campus ministers from different ministries gathered to talk specifically about what they could do together beyond weekly prayer and occasional campus-wide events. Material from Jack Dennison's book City Reaching guided the conversation. Ultimately, in what they jokingly called a "modern day miracle," a dozen campus ministers read City Reaching together over the next three weeks, meeting weekly to discuss it. Out of the discussions came a commitment to a new model of collaborative ministry that they called "campus reaching."
From 2000 to 2004, Jim Herrington, a contributing author to City Reaching, met with campus ministers at UT once a year. The purpose of these meeting was to help the ministers discover how God was calling them to partner to see UT transformed by the gospel of Jesus. Each year, twenty or more campus pastors from different ministries would meet with Jim for several days of prayer and planning. Over the four-year period, a very clear model for campus reaching was developed. The pastors committed themselves and their ministries to a long-term vision to mobilize campus-wide prayer, to spiritually map the campus, and to send students as missionaries to every college, club, residence, and culture at the University of Texas.
In 2001, as part of the campus reaching movement, ministries began working together to spiritually map the UT campus by conducting research, creating surveys, and discussing their spiritual perceptions of the campus. They created a yearly report on the campus that they called the "Longhorn Chronicles," which compares the Body of Christ from one year to the next. Each October since 2001, eighty to one hundred campus ministers gathered to discuss the most recent "Longhorn Chronicles." These yearly discussions increased the focus of their prayers and planning.
From 2001 to 2005, ministries continued to unite in prayer, knowing that transformation must come from God alone. Campus ministers and student leaders continued to meet weekly to pray. They also planned campus-wide worship and prayer events each fall, and they united to pray 24/7 each spring during Rez Week. In 2006, ministries began working together to pray 24/7/365 by starting a Campus House of Prayer (CHOP). They rented a small building just west of campus where believers from every campus ministry could come to pray. Students and ministers signed up to pray at the CHOP the same time each week. One after another they began coming into the CHOP to ask God for transformation at UT, hoping someday to literally be praying 24/7/365.
Since 2003, campus ministries worked together to send students as missionaries into every college, club, residence, and culture at UT. They understood that reaching the campus required students to be mobilized to reach unbelievers in the hundreds of communities at UT. A training course was developed to equip students to reach specific communities on campus, and the number of missional communities at UT grew from 20 to 200 over a five-year period. In 2008, thirteen ministries significantly increased their commitment to the missional community movement, forming a network called Renovate UT. Ministries that joined Renovate UT began meeting monthly to map out the campus to determine which communities at UT were and were not being reached. Renovate UT ministries created a monthly survey for each participating ministry to complete each month, so they can continue to equip, connect, and send students into unreached communities on campus.
The campus reaching movement led to increased relationships among ministry leaders, resulting in encouragement and partnership. It created opportunities to learn from each other, resulting in greater leadership and strategy. It led to a more complete spiritual map of UT, resulting in more strategic prayer and planning, ultimately creating an understanding of which people groups remain unreached. It increased the scope of each student's and each minister's vision, believing God for campus-wide transformation. God willing, as leaders continue to strategically work together, they will see the complete transformation of the University of Texas to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.