In 1967, Berkeley was synonymous with worldwide student riots, demonstrations and radical movements of all kinds.
As Christians and as members of the Campus Crusade for Christ staff, we became concerned that so little was being accomplished for Christ on this campus, the fountainhead of the radical movement. So, at one of our campus strategy sessions, we decided to call together 600 of our staff and students from across the nation and saturate the University of California with the good news of Christ through a week-long convention. Our theme was "Solution -- Spiritual Revolution."
A syndicated news release from Berkeley carried this story:
A new kind of revolution talk was heard today on the steps of Sproul Hall on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. This site has been the scene of student protests and demonstrations and unrest for several years, but today about 3,000 students gathered to hear about a different kind of revolutionary leader -- Jesus Christ. The occasion was a rally put on by the Berkeley chapter of the Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which is having its national convention this week in the Berkeley student union building. While other students passed out handbills for and against the firing of the University of California president, Clark Kerr, and others distributed buttons reading "Impeach Reagan," a folk singing group sang gospel songs with a contemporary sound and the Campus Crusade leader proclaimed a new kind of revolution. The students were asked to trust Christ as the One who can bring spiritual revolution and change to the world. They claimed that the Christian message is revolutionary because it has changed history, creating vast social reforms through reshaping the lives and attitudes of individuals. The Campus Crusade rally on the Sproul Hall steps came at a time of special turmoil and tensions on the Berkeley campus because the day previously the Board of Regents had fired President Clark Kerr. As a result, newsmen and television cameras were on hand for the rally assuming that students were planning a major demonstration over the firing of Kerr. Instead, they were greeted by Campus Crusade for Christ revolutionaries who had reserved this area some weeks prior to the firing of President Kerr. Inasmuch as they had the use of the air, it was impossible for the radicals to drown out the demonstration, and both of the major television networks commented on the fact that Berkeley was the quietest campus in all the University of California system because of the influence of the Campus Crusade for Christ on the Berkeley campus.
Student Leaders Respond
The week at Berkeley began Sunday afternoon with an athletic banquet. All Cal athletes were invited, and some 400 responded to hear famous athletes give their testimonies. I presented additional good news of Christ to these athletes and invited them to receive Him as their Savior. A number of Berkeley's outstanding athletes responded to the invitation.
The following morning 125 student leaders of the university's student government attended the student leadership breakfast where two leaders shared their faith in Christ, and I followed with a salvation message explaining who Christ is, why He came and how to know Him personally. A number of these leaders also responded.
During that week, many additional meetings were held on and off campus. Christ was presented at 28 separate dinners given for international students, and many of these were introduced to Christ. Meetings continued from noon until after midnight in the Forum of Telegraph Avenue, a hangout for the radical students, the street people and the hippies at Berkeley. Approximately 40 of these radicals received Christ during that week. In addition, each evening another 1,400 students gathered in the Berkeley Community Theater to hear Campus Crusade staff present the claims of Christ.
Billy Graham was with us for the last day of the meetings. That last Friday morning a special breakfast was held for approximately 300 of the faculty in the Student Union. Billy gave a powerful presentation of the gospel, and I explained the purpose of our week at Berkeley.
Threat of Cancellation
We had scheduled a great rally at noon at the Greek Theater, where Dr. Graham and I would both be speaking. Dawn had greeted us with a downpour of rain that continued all morning. As we met in our various sessions, we prayed God would stop the rain in time for the noon rally. There was no other place to meet, and the Greek Theater had no roof. Thus, thousands who would otherwise come would be forced to miss hearing the gospel through Dr. Graham's message. As we continued to pray, the rain continued to pour. What were we to do? Surely God had not brought us to this great week of witness for Christ and finally to the grand climax meeting for us to fail.
"Whatever we ask in prayer believing we shall receive...If we ask anything according ro His will, He hears us, and if He hears us, He answers us ...God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
These and many other promises of Scripture were claimed as we asked God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the One who controls men, nations and nature, to intervene for the salvation of souls. As we prayed, dramatically and abruptly it happened -- the rain stopped. A spontaneous song of praise flowed from our hearts, for we realized that the rally in the Greek Theater would take place as planned.
More than 8,000 students and faculty joined us in the Greek Theater. I greeted them with a brief message and introduced Dr. Graham. Following his clear-cut presentation of the gospel, he invited the students to commit their lives to Christ. Long after the meeting was over, 600 staff and students counseled and prayed with those remaining behind to learn how to become Christians. God had done a mighty work at Cal, but this was only the beginning.
Follow-up Program
After most of us left Berkeley, those remaining began a follow-up program designed to preserve and increase the impact that had been made. All the students who had invited Christ into their lives, and those who expressed interest in knowing more, were contacted during the first week after the convention. Approximately 200 of those who had just received Christ attended a retreat to learn more about how to live the abundant Christian life. Many of those who expressed interest in Christ also responded.
One local newspaper described the "invasion" at Berkeley this way:
Unparalleled organization. Campus radicals, accustomed to being hailed the best student organizers, looked on in amazement as the extensive Campus Crusade for Christ campaign got under way in an attempt to evangelize the entire student body at Berkeley. Teams of delegates spoke and shared their faith in Christ in more than 70 dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and in nearby student residences. Other groups spoke and sang in restaurants, coffee houses and similar gathering places for "free speech movement" advocates, and other teams of delegates conducted door-to-door campaign in the entire area adjacent to the campus just to make sure no one was overlooked in the crusaders' effort to give each of the 27,000 students an opportunity to hear the claims of Christ on their lives.
In addition to the regular convention schedule of morning and evening addresses, daily Bible exposition and prayer sessions, staff members also spoke in nearby churches and in church related meetings.
More than half of the students in most of the fraternities, sororities and dormitory meetings indicated that they would like to know how to become Christians. A young man from Hawaii who was visiting Berkeley made his decision in a restaurant after a third Crusade delegate, during that one week, had talked to him about his personal relationship with Christ.
During that week at Berkeley, I met by appointment with one of the leaders of the radical movement on campus -- a brilliant, dynamic, personable individual. Reared a Jew, more recently this person had become a dedicated atheist and card-carrying Communist. It has been my practice for years to ask Muslims, Hindus, atheists and Communists, "Who is the greatest person who has ever lived?" When I asked the radical leader this question, there was a long, awkward silence. "I guess I would have to say Jesus of Nazareth," was the reluctant reply. This leader was one of thousands who came face to face with the Master that week.
Radical Movement Broken
Dr. Hardin Jones, a well-known scientist and professor at Berkeley for 40 years, shared with me that the back of the radical movement was broken at Berkeley that week. He also said that since then there was more talk about Jesus Christ on campus than about Karl Marx. There is power in the gospel. Satan cannot withstand it. When he is confronted with men and women who trust and obey God, he releases control of occupied territory.
By the time the week-long convention had ended, more than 700 had made commitments to Christ, and approximately 2,000 other students indicated that they would like to know more about Jesus Christ and how they could also commit their lives to Him.
By Bill Bright, Come Help Change the World
©2023 Bright Media Foundation