FULL TIME

SOON Movement (Cru) staff members are among the best-trained Christian workers in the world. Upon acceptance, you will be invited to a New Staff Orientation (NSO) conference, held four times a year. The focus of this 8-day conference is two-fold: introducing new missionary staff members to the mission and vision of Cru and training them in raising their financial support.

You will have the opportunity to hear from top leaders of Cru and grow in your commitment to the Lord and how Cru fits into His vision for the world. You will also undergo intensive training in support raising, known in Cru as Ministry Partner Development (MPD).

SOON Movement (Cru) is committed to the theological development of our staff members. Therefore, all new missionary staff members are required to take the first three courses in our eleven-course curriculum called the Institute of Biblical Studies (IBS). Two of those courses are taught twice a year in conjunction with the NSO conference. The third course is taken online during your initial MPD time.

When your initial MPD is completed, you will report to your ministry assignment. At that time, you will enter a period of training in the biblical principles, philosophy of ministry and specific skills you will need to be successful in the ministry to which God has called you.

SOON Movement (Cru) is a faith-based mission organization. This means that full-time staff members, including the president of Cru, have the responsibility to mobilize a team of ministry partners to pray and give for their personal ministry. This is called “raising support” and is a common practice among many mission organizations. In Cru we call raising support MPD (Ministry Partner Development).

Raising support is rooted in the Old and New Testament. For example, the Philippians supported the Apostle Paul (Phil. 1:3-5, 4:10-19).

In our early history we learned that having each individual staff member raise his/her support would allow us to grow the missionary force needed to help fulfill the Great Commission. As a result God has allowed Cru to grow to become one of the largest mission agencies in the world.

Each staff member raises support to cover the following:

Salary
Benefits (health plan, worker’s compensation, disability coverage, life insurance)
Retirement
Ministry related expenses (training, ministry materials, communication with ministry partners, etc.)

Once an applicant is accepted as a staff member, he/she is assigned an MPD coach who coaches them all the way through to the completion of raising their needed support. Each new staff member attends New Staff Orientation which includes some of the finest MPD training in missions.

SOON Movement (Cru)’s compensation plan for full time Missionary Staff Members is based on need, not on one’s job role within the ministry, or the market value of that position among similar organizations. All US missionary staff members, including our president, Steve Douglass, are provided similar compensation based on need.

Missionary staff members are required to develop a team of ministry partners to contribute funds to SOON Movement (Cru) to cover their salaries, Social Security, benefits, training, and ministry expenses, plus a portion of the administrative and international expansion costs of Cru.

In order to keep our staff free from financial distractions and focused on our mission, our salary structure promotes a moderate lifestyle, longevity in ministry, and individual freedom and responsibility for staff.

We use the following list of qualifications in our process to select missionary staff for SOON Movement (Cru). Please note these criteria are not for the purpose of judging a person’s standing with the Lord or his worth in the body of Christ. Rather, they are for the purpose of evaluating a person’s readiness to serve in the midst of spiritual battle in ministry with Cru.
God’s Leading: Applicants must be able to state clearly how and why they believe God is calling them to serve with Cru. They must be able to explain how they have been prepared and led by the Holy Spirit. Husband and wife each need to express God’s calling to serve with Cru.
Walk with God: We are looking for people who maintain a lifestyle of personal holiness. Scripture places some restrictions on a mature believer’s liberty in Christ, in that while serving Christ he/she must act with a high level of consideration for those around him/her. As a result, we ask our staff members to be sensitive concerning their behavior out of respect to others by refraining from particular actions that can be stumbling blocks. Examples of sensitive behavior would include controlling the usage of alcohol, tobacco and other questionable activities that might discredit the work of Christ or cause others to stumble.
Spiritual Maturity: Before beginning active ministry with Cru, an applicant must have been a Christian for at least six months prior to applying for staff status, and one year before being accepted. He/she must also understand and be in full agreement with Cru’s statement of faith, our emphasis on Scripture and its application to daily living, and our emphasis on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The applicant needs to be mature enough in his/her walk with the Lord to build into the lives of others.
Moral Conduct: As a ministry we must evaluate the moral character of applicants in light of the biblical standards of sexual purity. Any breach of these standards may affect the timing of one’s acceptance for staff.
Character: An applicant must have leadership qualities, be attractive to others in personality and character, or manifest potential in these areas. Priority is placed upon dependability, willingness to assume responsibility, a teachable spirit, a good reputation and moral purity. These qualities help demonstrate that an applicant is faithful, available and teachable. Emotional Maturity: The demands of support development and an initiative-oriented ministry necessitate that an individual has a reasonable degree of self-assurance and an ability to handle pressure. Effectiveness of Witness: An applicant must demonstrate a concern for others and a willingness to learn how to introduce others to Christ.
Knowledge of Scripture: An applicant must have a basic knowledge of Scripture and is expected to attend Cru’s New Staff Training program that involves two weeks of intensive Bible training in addition to a 10-week correspondence course.
Tongues Policy: Because of the divisive nature of the issue of speaking in tongues, and because it is not essential in communicating the gospel to non-believers, Cru asks its staff members who believe they have the gift of tongues not to promote or use the gift in public. Staff members may use this gift in their own private worship if they so desire.
Skills and Training: Applicants must have a minimum educational background of a high-school diploma or equivalent training and experience, and have been out of high school for at least one year prior to receiving acceptance as a staff member. A person applying for student ministry should have a four-year college degree. Completion of a three-year Bible course or a three-year nursing course is considered equivalent to a college degree.
Availability for Training: We want our new staff members to have the best possible training to enable them to effectively minister for Christ. New Staff Training is an important Bible training time and an important experience to help orient new staff and help them make the transition to life as a staff member.
Personal Appearance: Since we would not want any area of our lives, including our appearance, to hinder our effectiveness in ministry, an applicant must appear neat, well groomed and willing to dress appropriately.
Marriage/Engagement: We consider every married couple who desires to join our ministry to be a husband and wife team; therefore, couples must be in agreement as to their leading to the Cru ministry, and both must apply and be accepted as staff. For couples without dependent children, both husband and wife should be committed to full-time ministry involvement with Cru. If an applicant is engaged and plans to marry prior to joining staff or within the first year on staff, the fiancé must submit an application if they are desiring to join Cru staff.
If only one spouse desires to join our staff they must complete the application process similar to any other new staff applicant. Because our ministry considers couples to be a husband and wife team, the non-staff spouse agrees to be a “Spousal Affiliate.” A Spousal Affiliate meets Affiliate Staff acceptance requirements, although not required to carry on any Cru ministry activities. Spousal Affiliates stay connected with Cru by once a year meeting with their spouse’s supervisor or a local H.R. leader and once every three years attending their spouse’s staff conference or Cru’s biennial national conference.
Divorce: Divorce may be a disqualifier depending on the circumstances, but need not be. Two years of consistent Christian living must elapse between the time of divorce and submission of a staff application.
Single Parents: God’s design for the family is that a husband and wife jointly share the task of raising children. Thus, when a parent finds himself/herself forced to parent children alone, the demands are tremendous. The needs of the children have not changed but the number of parent hours available have changed. The demands of full-time ministry as a staff member would jeopardize adequate time, energy or attention for the children. Cru will not invite single parents to join staff because it acknowledges the strain of single parenthood and endorses the priority of raising children.
Tenure: It is expected that all applicants will spend at least two years in the ministry of Cru after reporting to their initial assignment assuming that the standards for staff are maintained.
Right to Work: Citizenship in the United States is not required in order to become a U.S. staff member. However, applicants who are not citizens must have a permanent resident visa prior to submitting an application for U.S. staff. Applicants without permanent resident visas may submit the applications to the Cru ministries in their home countries.
Personal/Consumer Debt: We do not want a person to join the staff of Cru with indebtedness that would prove to be a hardship based on our salary scale. New staff applicants must meet debt limits in two areas. The first area is personal debt, which includes credit card, bank loans, and other consumer debt, but does not include mortgages. In the area of personal debt, an application must be within both the total limit and the monthly payment limit. The second area is total monthly payment of all debt, which includes educational, auto and all personal debt. There are three sets of limits, depending on the applicant’s stage of life.

Cru’s Statement of Faith expresses our basis of belief in the Bible and our faith in its major doctrinal teachings. All staff members affirm their agreement with this Statement
Read the Statement of Faith.

Applying to be a full time missionary with SOON Movement (Cru) is a multi-step process. First you will need to identify the SOON ministry and position that you want to apply for. If you are interested, please contact LDHR (Leadership Development and Human Resources) personnel (soon.ldhr@cru.org). They will connect with you to guide you with the details of the application process.