Vonette Bright

Life

She was born Vonette Zachary on July 2, 1926, in Coweta, Oklahoma. Bill Bright, who later became her husband, was from the same hometown. In 1948 she received a bachelor's degree in home economics from Texas Woman's University. She later pursued graduate studies in education at the University of Southern California and taught in Los Angeles schools.

In the summer of 1948 she attended a conference at Forest Home in California with her fiancé, Bill Bright. There she is said to have received Christ under the guidance of Henrietta Mears, director of Christian education at Hollywood Presbyterian Church. The couple married on December 30 of that year and had two sons. After her husband's death in 2003, she continued her ministry. She died of complications from acute leukemia in Orlando on December 23, 2015, at the age of 89.

Ministry and Achievements

Co-founding CCC

In 1951 the couple began Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), a student evangelism organization, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At first they ministered while living in Mears's home; about ten years later they moved the headquarters to Arrowhead Springs. Vonette Bright focused primarily on evangelism and discipleship among female students. In the United States the organization changed its name to "Cru" in 2011. At the time of her death, it was reported to have more than 25,000 full-time staff members serving in 173 countries.

Prayer Movement

In 1972 she founded the National Prayer Committee, a group of leaders who prayed together for spiritual awakening. Although the U.S. National Day of Prayer had been established by a congressional resolution in 1952, the president proclaimed its date separately each year. Vonette Bright led a petition campaign to fix the date. In 1988 the Senate and the House of Representatives passed an amendment, which President Ronald Reagan signed on May 5 of that year. As a result, the National Day of Prayer has been observed annually on the first Thursday of May. She subsequently served for nine years as chair of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, the organization that plans the observance.

Other Activities

She was also active in the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, where she was one of the committee's few female members. In 1993 she founded Women Today International, a ministry to women. She wrote or co-wrote more than a dozen books on prayer and the spiritual lives of women.

Influence on the Korean Church

The CCC founded by the couple spread to many countries around the world. In Korea, Korea Campus Crusade for Christ (Korea CCC), which is connected to this movement, is active today. However, little documentation confirms whether Vonette Bright visited Korea or had any direct interaction with the Korean church.

Assessment

Within evangelical circles she is regarded as a leader of the prayer movement and of women's ministry. Billy Graham said that her life, with its unwavering focus on the power of intercessory prayer (prayer offered on behalf of others), was an example to the church. On social issues she is generally considered to have been less contentious than her husband.