An unchanged identity

The Crusader Union of Australia has existed for almost 90 years – and in that time a lot has changed in our country!

Perhaps the most noticeable change is the way that Christianity is viewed in the public square. Even just 60 years ago, Christianity in Australia was perceived completely differently – something that Stuart and Patricia Braga remember well.

Back in the 1950s and early 1960s, Stuart says, “The society I grew up in was still fully Christian. Not necessarily church-going, but the general attitude towards Christian churches was very favourable.”

“The Sydney Morning Herald used to publish a column every Monday morning called ‘From the Pulpit’,” Stuart recalls. “They would go to a church in the suburbs and there’d be a report on the sermon. And when Archbishop Mowll died in 1958, around 50,000 people lined George Street as the cortège left the cathedral.

I was one of them, having skipped university lectures for the morning."

It was a time in which Christians enjoyed a position of privilege and was a period of extraordinary growth for the Crusader Union (as it was known back then).

Stuart and Patricia’s families were heavily involved in this era of growth. Stuart’s father, Hugh, was instrumental in leading working parties at Galston and Lake Macquarie to develop the campsites, and his mother, Nora, had been involved in the Crusaders Union in Britain before getting involved with the Girls’ Committee in New South Wales. Similarly, Patricia’s mother, Irene, was a vice president of Crusaders, and both her parents (the Youngs) led on camps alongside Stuart’s parents.

Hugh & Nora Braga, parents of Stuart Braga

Given their heavy involvement, both families became well-known in the Crusader Union family. Amongst many other contributions, “Mrs Braga was known for her pikelets. Any function, Mrs Braga always brought the pikelets,” Patricia remembers fondly.

During this era, many young people were keen to be members of Crusader groups, and Stuart and Patricia became involved in groups at their schools, Saturday night “drawing room” meetings and later served on camps. They both wore their Crusader badges proudly.

“It was a great era of badge wearing. The badge showed identity, strong identity. You weren't just given a Crusader badge. You didn't buy a Crusader badge. You applied for it. You wrote out your answers to questions affirming your faith and discipleship and they went before the Crusader Council,” Stuart remembers. “When young people wore that Crusader badge you knew exactly what the Statement of Faith was that they were committing to.”

“You always wore the badge once you got it,” adds Patricia.

Though young people proudly proclaimed their faith through their Crusader badges, the world has changed since those open days of the 1950s.

Patricia comments that when she was at school at Abbotsleigh, “It was kind of natural to go to a Crusader Group.” That is no longer the case in most schools.

Christianity has been pushed to the margins, and kids and teenagers are no longer so quick to claim and share their faith in Jesus.

“The non-Christian world is now harshly, and aggressively, antagonistic,” Stuart comments.

However, Stuart and Patricia remain certain that CRU ® is equipped to continue its mission to reach the next generation for Christ – because that’s what it has always done.

CRU has been a huge blessing to me, for almost the whole of my life. I'm very, very keen for CRU to have the capacity to make a huge difference to peoples' lives, well into the future

“CRU has always been on the cutting edge of youth evangelism,” Stuart says. “CRU has always been at the forefront, saying ‘We are here to proclaim the good news of Jesus, and to bring enrichment to the lives of all who have anything to do with us’.”

While CRU remains consistent in its mission and core beliefs, Stuart and Patricia are pleased to see how the organisation has adapted and moved forward to suit the changing interests of young people: “If you go back around World War II, you had just a couple of camps and house parties, not much in the way of activities other than games. But now, look at the immense range of programs that’s offered on camps. The variety of activities that CRU does would not have been dreamt of in the early years.”

Though Stuart and Patricia are older, and no longer able to be involved in the CRU ministry in the same way as they were in the 1950s and 60s, they remain committed to CRU’s identity and aims. That’s why they have chosen to leave a bequest to CRU in their Will, to ensure the next generation has the same opportunities that they did to hear and become convinced of the gospel.

“CRU has been a huge blessing to me, for almost the whole of my life. I'm very, very keen for CRU to have the capacity to make a huge difference to peoples' lives, well into the future,” says Stuart.