The Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, usually known as CICCU, is the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

's most prominent student Christian organisation, and was the first university Christian Union to have been founded. It was formed in 1877, but can trace its origins back to the formation of the Jesus Lane Sunday School in 1827 and the Cambridge Prayer Union in 1848. CICCU's stated purpose is "to make Jesus Christ known to students in Cambridge". Currently CICCU runs two main outreach activities – 'Events Week' in

Lent term Lent term, named for Lent, the six-week fasting period before Easter, is the name of the winter academic term at the following British universities: *University of Cambridge *Canterbury Christ Church University * University of Lancaster *Univer ...

, and 'Big Questions' lunches on Fridays in

St Andrew the Great St Andrew the Great is a Church of England parish church in central Cambridge. Rebuilt in late Gothic style in 1843, it is a Grade II listed building. The church has a Conservative Evangelicalism in Britain, conservative evangelical tradition an ...

which feature short talks and Q&As about questions of life and faith – along with a variety of occasional events, and bigger activities in colleges. CICCU is a registered charity. Students in many other universities followed Cambridge's lead in forming their own Christian Unions, beginning with OICCU being founded in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1879. Initially CICCU was part of the Student Christian Movement, which it left in 1910 to provide a specifically

conservative evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian go ...

ministry in Cambridge. Again, OICCU and other Unions followed them in this move, and together they founded the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Evangelical Unions in 1928, which now the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship or

UCCF Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF; also UCCF: The Christian Unions) is an evangelical Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses in the United Kingdom. It is a member of the International Fellowshi ...

. UCCF spread to Canada in the same year and later to the United States, Australia (

Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students The Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses in Australia. It is a member of the International Fellowship of Evan ...

), New Zealand (

Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship is an evangelical Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses in New Zealand. It is a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. With a firm commitment to evang ...

) and in 1947 across the globe as the

International Fellowship of Evangelical Students The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) is an interdenominational association of 180 evangelical Christian student movements worldwide, encouraging evangelism, discipleship and mission among students. The headquarters is in O ...

Membership declaration

Students who become members of CICCU are asked to sign the following statement, "I desire in joining this Union to declare my faith in Jesus Christ as my Saviour, my Lord and my God". This was one of the issues in the dispute with the SCM. However, this declaration is ''not'' necessary to attend any events, or become involved with helping.

Leadership

CICCU is led by Christian students from a wide variety of backgrounds, united in a common desire to "make Jesus Christ known to students in Cambridge." Past CICCU members have included Josh Moody,

Basil Atkinson Basil Ferris Campbell Atkinson (1895–1971) was the under-librarian of the University of Cambridge and Keeper of Manuscripts from 1925 to 1960, and a writer on theology. He was born in Tonbridge, Kent and attended Tonbridge School before, in 1919, ...

, Helen Roseveare,

John W. Wenham John William Wenham (1913 – 13 February 1996) was a conservative Anglican biblical scholar, who devoted his professional life to academic and pastoral work. Two of his four sons, Gordon Wenham and David Wenham, are also noted theologians. Wenh ...

John Stott John Robert Walmsley Stott (27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011) was a British Anglican pastor and theologian who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. I ...

Gordon Wenham Gordon J. Wenham (; 21 May 1943 – 13 May 2025) was a Reformed British Old Testament scholar and writer. He authored several books about the Bible. Tremper Longman called him "one of the finest evangelical commentators today." Early life and ...

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in ' ...

Hugh G. M. Williamson Hugh Godfrey Maturin Williamson (born 15 July 1947) is a theologian and academic. He was Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford from 1992 to 2014, a position he now holds as Emeritus. Career Williamson has authored major comme ...

and

Vaughan Roberts Vaughan Edward Roberts (born 17 March 1965) is a Church of England clergyman. Since 1998, he has been the rector of St Ebbe's, Oxford. In 2009, he became Director of the Proclamation Trust. Early life Roberts was born on 17 March 1965 in Win ...

. The leadership operates on two levels – university wide and within colleges. A committee of eight students, known as the Exec organise CICCU. Two reps in each college lead college events and meetings.

Structure

There are weekly meetings in almost every college during term time – these include Bible study, prayer and praise. The college groups then meet together as a whole for Bible Teaching and prayer each week. The CICCU organises weekly talks, explaining what Christians believe, and discussion groups ( Christianity Explored courses). The college groups organise termly events in the colleges where people can come and find out more about Christianity. Every year there is a high-publicity main event, during which events are held in most of the colleges and there are lunchtime and evening talks.

Doctrinal basis

CICCU adopts the doctrinal basis of the

, to which it is affiliated.

Controversy

Attitudes towards

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

have been a particular area of controversy, in particular during their 2004 Promise Week event, in which it was alleged that homosexual relations were equated with bestiality. CICCU members deny that their organisation is anti-gay, stressing "equality in the sight of God", and point out that they love homosexual and heterosexual friends equally, as does God.. Recent comment on the CICCU has been more ambivalent – surprised by the intense focus on sharing rather than simply maintaining their faith, but impressed by the warmth of their welcome, and the depth of their conviction.

Presidents

''From this point the usual tenure was from the

Easter term Easter term is the summer term at the University of Cambridge, University of Wales, Lampeter, University of Durham, and formerly University of Newcastle upon Tyne (before 2004 Lent term Lent term, named for Lent, the six-week fasting period before Easter, is the name of the winter academic term at the following British universities: *University of Cambridge *Canterbury Christ Church University * University of Lancaster *Univer ...

of the next'' Sources in the

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...

Affiliation

(Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship) *

IFES The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an international, non-profit organisation founded in 1987. Based in Arlington, Virginia, United States, the organization assists and supports elections and electoral stakeholders. Sin ...

(International Fellowship of Evangelical Students)

References

Bibliography

''Old Paths in Perilous Times'': an account of the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union
Basil F. C. Atkinson : London, Inter-Varsity booklet, 1932. * ''A Cambridge Movement'',

J. C. Pollock J, or j, is the tenth letter of the English alphabet. J may also refer to: * Palatal approximant in the International Phonetic Alphabet * J, Cyrillic letter Je Astronomy * J, a provisional designation prefix for some objects discovered be ...

: London, John Murray, 1953. * ''Whatever Happened to the Jesus Lane Lot?'', Oliver R. Barclay : Leicester,

Inter-Varsity Press Inter-Varsity Press (IVP) was previously the publishing wing of Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship. It supported the publishing or distribution of well over one million books each year to over 150 countries, including the translati ...

, 1977, . * ''From Cambridge to the World: 125 years of student witness'' / Oliver R. Barclay and Robert M. Horn : Leicester,

, 2002, . *
''The Rise of the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union''
1910–1971', David Goodhew, in ''Journal of Ecclesiastical History'' Vol.LIV no.1, pp. 62–88. * ''Cambridge Students and Christianity Worldwide: Insights from the 1960s'', Ian M. Randall, Cambridge, UK:

Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide The Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide (CCCW) is a study, teaching and research centre in Cambridge, England and a member of the Cambridge Theological Federation which is affiliated with the University of Cambridge. History The cent ...

, 2019.

External links

Official website

Tomorrow
– CICCU Events Week 2019 website
Life
– CICCU Events Week 2020 website {{University of Cambridge CICCU

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Religious organizations established in 1877 1877 establishments in England