Christianity at MIT by Kayode D. '27
An intro to Cru!
I’ve been trying to write a blog about Christianity and Cru at MIT for literal months now. Every time I start writing it I feel like I’m not doing it right, and then push it to the backburner. But now this just feels TOO IMPORTANT to NOT share with incoming freshmen that might be interested!
Before I came to MIT, I was often asked by my parents about the Christian groups on campus and churches in the area. I knew next to nothing and would have LOVED a blog about that sort of thing when I was coming in. I knew Cru existed but not much about it, and after coming to after spending a year with the group I would 1000% recommend it to anyone interested in God and staying connected to Christian community.
What IS Cru?
Cru is a caring community of individuals committed to sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people on campus. We do tons of events throughout the year to connect students and grow together. We do our weekly meeting on Tuesdays (called Cruesdays) in the student center, and it’s a highlight of my week. It’s a time that I carve out of the chaos of MIT to do no work and hang out with believers and friends. We have speakers come and talk about different topics, and I get to play drums on the worship team. We also do Life Groups, which are small groups outside of Cruesdays where you can grow with a group of people. The people are amazing, the lessons are great, and it has definitely been one of the best things I’ve participated in since coming to MIT.
Christianity and Boston
One of the really cool things we’ve done in the last year has been connecting with other colleges in Boston and their Cru groups. In the fall, we hosted an event called Cru Boston Citywide where we invited students from across Boston to meet up and connect. People from Harvard, Wellesley, Babson, Tufts, (and a bunch of others that I’m probably forgetting) came and hung out at MIT, and we shared testimonies from each school and how the Lord was working on our campuses. I played on the worship team for this event and practiced for like 20 hours leading up to this.
In the fall we also went to a retreat with these students to New Hampshire, and that was ALSO great! A lot more students came to this, and it was here that I found out that MIT has one of the biggest Cru groups of any school in Boston. We had speakers come to talk about Shalom, or the peace of God.
We do lots of events across Boston is what I’m trying to say. Some students even come from their college to MIT regularly to join us for Cru!
While doing things with the large group of Cru has been great, one of my favorite things has been life groups. People describe life groups as the people that you do life with. You meet up once a week to read the Bible together, ask questions, and learn more about life. It’s usually made up of people from your own or surrounding dorms, but you can really go to any group you want. It’s a great way to get connected to people and grow together. I initially thought that it just sounded like extra work, but it is genuinely so rewarding and fulfilling when you pour into it. It’s great to have that smaller support network, and there’s plenty of groups to attend. A (non-comprehensive) list of life groups includes Athletes in Action, Ignis (focused on the Afro-Caribbean student community but legit anyone’s more than welcome to join), New Vassar, BANANAS (Believers at New and Next and Simmons), and even one dedicated for freshmen!
The freshmen life group has already started doing online meetings on Wednesdays to get to know one another (led by someone you might know 👀), and you can get involved through: [email protected]
Cru is also very flexible about creating new or different life groups depending on the need or interest (e.g. we’ve had Big Questions-type groups in the past, where people of any or no faith can gather to talk about the big questions of life and the universe). One of the great things about this fellowship is that it is very student-led, so if there is something you want to start or join then you can definitely take the initiative to do so!
For example, I forget what the motivator was, but me and a few friends who all live in Simmons Hall wanted to start meeting in the mornings to pray and read the Bible together. I’ll admit that I’ve never been good about consistently setting aside time to read my Bible and in the beginning this was a struggle. We wanted to meet at 8 AM (which is earlier than you think) and I had to start going to bed earlier and committing to waking up when I really didn’t want to. I learned so much during these times (Matthew 8:18-22? Crazy!), and it has been a game changer to have people I can grow in faith with.
Reason for God
During IAP we do a series called Reason For God. During this event (and also at various points throughout the year), we have speakers come to MIT and give talks open to the entire community. Anyone who is interested in the topic or has questions can come listen and it’s one of my favorite parts of the year. These people aren’t just random people either. They are professors and scholars and astrophysicists – people who can relate to the thoughts and questions that an MIT student might have. We’ve heard talks on finding proof for the Bible, and the credibility of the Gospels and the Christmas Story, and on the question of whether Christianity is delusional or dangerous. It’s led to some great discussions, and I’ve always looked forward to these talks.
Churches, because I know I wondered
Students in Cru attend a number of churches in the Cambridge and Boston area, and most are either a walk or train/bus ride away. Thankfully, most have multiple services so you don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn. Groups leave together on Sunday mornings, too, so it’s not as daunting as I initially thought.
To summarize, there is a strong Christian community at MIT and Cru has been my favorite part of it. I am SO ECSTATICALLY PUMPED for this coming semester and to get to meet all of the incoming freshmen if you choose to visit Cru! We’ll have events throughout REX week and the start of the year, and if anyone has any questions about Cru or something relating to MIT, you can feel free to message [email protected] or reach me through [email protected]!
More information at mitcru.com or @mitcru on instagram!