Chi Alpha Campus Ministries
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Chi Alpha Campus Ministries (usually known as Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship on campus, but sometimes University Christian Fellowship or 'Schoolname' Christian Fellowship) is a Pentecostal Christian ministry to college students.
In many respects Chi Alpha is similar to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship or Campus Crusade for Christ, although it is sponsored by the Assemblies of God and is thus denominational rather than nondenominational.
The Assemblies of God began a ministry to collegians in 1947 at the urging of J. Robert Ashcroft (father of John Ashcroft), which consisted of a newsletter sent to college students to encourage them in their faith.
It soon became apparent that much more could be done, and so in 1953 Calvin Holsinger chartered the first Assemblies of God student group at Southwest Missouri State University (in Springfield, Missouri - where the Assemblies of God headquarters is located). The group was called Christ's Ambassadors, after an Assemblies of God youth movement at the time. Soon the name was changed to Chi Alpha to sound more like a university organization and less like a children's organization.
There are now Chi Alpha ministries on over 200 universities in America, and many more in sister organizations around the world.
External links
- Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA (http://www.chialpha.com/)
- Reach The U (http://www.reachtheu.com/)
- Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, Canada (http://www.chialpha.ca/)