Hunt, K. and G. Hunt. 1991. For Christ and the University: The Story of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the U.S.A. 1940-1990. Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity.
This book provides a history of the events that shaped the first fifty years of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, beginning with events that date back to the founding of the modern university in A.D. 1090. The data comes from archival material and interviews with two hundred past and current members of InterVarsity. The authors describe how the first Christian groups in the nineteenth century, the spiritual heirs of important figures of the Great Awakening, helped shape an evangelical ethos that formed the cornerstone of InterVarsity. They go on to describe important mergers with the Student Foreign Missions Fellowship and Christian Nurses Fellowship; the challenges posed by fraternities and conservatism in the post-World War II era; the challenges of long hours and low pay for student members; and the ways in which the organization matured through the 1980s and 1990s. The authors conclude with future concerns for InterVarsity: financing ministry work, paying attention to its theological roots, and ensuring a valuable legacy for past, present, and future members.
