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| Crusaders Becomes Urban Saints |
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| Crusaders, the UK youth and children’s missionary movement which celebrates its centenary this year, has announced the new name that will take the organisation into its second century. From 1st January 2007 the movement will operate under the new name, ‘Urban Saints’. The name was announced at Crusaders’ centenary youth celebration, ‘No Turning Back’, at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday May 20th 2006 where over 3,500 young people gathered for a dynamic event which featured many of the UK’s top Christian bands and performers, and included a challenging call for young people to be agents of change in God’s world. |
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Commenting on the new name, Matt Summerfield, Crusaders’ Executive Director, said, “The ‘Urban Saints’ movement is about an inclusive call to a generation of children and young people to live lives of faith, hope, and love through Jesus Christ wherever they are in the world.”
Unsurprisingly, arriving at the new name has not been an easy task, particularly bearing in mind the tens of thousands of people who have been impacted by God through Crusaders over the last one hundred years. Crusaders’ Chairman Peter Jeffrey commented, “The name ‘Crusaders’ had served us well over 100 years but now says very little about us and in some quarters was a distinct impediment to our mission. A second century called for something new that reflected the real sense that God is doing something wonderfully refreshing in the movement at this time.”
In light of this, the organisation has worked hard to create an identity that is very contemporary and yet recognises the wonderful history and heritage of the movement. To this end, the design for ‘Urban Saints’, which is as surprising as it is distinct, features a modern crest with icons representing the core biblical values which undergird the vision and mission of the movement.
Commenting on the need for change whilst remaining true to the roots of the movement, Nigel Spencer, the Chair of Crusaders National Leaders Council, said, “For the last century, the Crusader movement has been instrumental in seeing countless young lives discover the good news about Jesus Christ, all the while recognizing the importance of evolving in order to remain a dynamic and relevant organisation for each new generation. Whilst the name is changing into something new and challenging, the unchangeable vision and mission of our movement remains the cornerstone and distinctiveness of our work.”
In pressing ahead with this new name, the movement strongly feels that the ‘Urban Saints’ message is a positive challenge to the negative stereotyping so prevalent across the media today. “Young people are fantastic - rich in potential and wanting to live lives of purpose and impact”, comments Matt Summerfield. “We want to encourage them to reject negative stereotypes and prove to society that they are agents for good through Jesus - in their local communities and beyond. This is what ‘Urban Saints’ is all about. Urban Saints are people who have discovered the joy of following Jesus, with His mission becoming their passion - to see the good news of the Kingdom come, through words and action.”
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