As UCCF gives thanks for 75 years of witness to Christ in the student world EN asked Dr. Oliver Barclay, a staff member of UCCF from 1945 and General Secretary 1964-1980, to reflect on his involvement with the Christian Union movement.
EB: What was your experience as a Christian student?
OB: During and immediately after World War II the Christian Unions were very small. Religion in the universities and most churches was either very liberal or high church. Evangelical students were dismissed and denigrated as obsolete theological dinosaurs. Some thought that we should not be allowed in the universities, since we contested the lecturers' received wisdom. Sometimes CUs faced discrimination over things such as meeting places. We knew that we were a minority, but it didn't worry us. We just got on with the job and, although we made mistakes and plain errors, in the Lord's goodness, people were converted and CUs flourished.