After more than three decades of faithful service, including 32 years as CEO, Gary Hill is preparing to hand over the leadership of CRU (formerly Crusaders) to Nick Hood. Both men share a deep connection to Arrow, a ministry that has shaped their leadership, their vision, and even their personal family legacies.
For Gary, the story began long before his Arrow experience in the late 1990s.
“If people knew me when I was at school, they would’ve seen someone who was selfish and proud and kind of ambitious,” he recalls.
His life was turned around when, fresh out of Year 12, he encountered Christ at a CRU camp in Lake Macquarie. That encounter redefined his purpose and would eventually lead him to invest his entire career in CRU’s mission.
Nick’s journey, though a generation later, shares a similar heartbeat.
“First and foremost I’m a Christian,” he says. “Jesus’ forgiveness of me is the most important thing that’s ever happened to me and I am therefore much loved by God.”
His own faith journey began in high school after a season of loneliness and bullying: “I recognised that Christian leaders, and Christians, loved me and so sought out Jesus for myself.”
Both men would go on to complete Arrow’s Emerging Leaders program: Gary in Arrow 3 (1999–2000) and Nick in Arrow 26 (2022–23). Remarkably, Gary’s son is now part of Executive Leaders 17, marking a second generation of Arrow influence in the Hill family.
The impact of Arrow
When reflecting on Arrow’s shaping influence, Nick points to the way the program grounded his leadership in discipleship.
“My leadership of others must always start with and be founded in being led by Jesus myself. If my relationship with him is not right or good or close, that doesn’t just impact me; that impacts those I lead.”
Arrow also helped clarify his own wiring and gifts.
“Through Arrow, I gained greater clarity on how God has wired me to serve him. Even now as I prepare to take this next step (as CEO), I can see God’s equipping and know his peace.”
For Gary, Arrow reinforced the daily rhythms of faith and the importance of communication in leadership.
“It reinforced the importance to have daily times of Bible reading and prayer at the start of each day. And it reinforced for me some structures which we’d look to introduce with our CRU staff doing Bible reading together.”
He also notes that Arrow reshaped his approach to decision-making, helping him see that engaging board members outside formal reports was not manipulation, but wise leadership that clarified obstacles and refined information.
The interdenominational thread
CRU and Arrow share a deeply interdenominational DNA. CRU’s reach extends to about 115,000 young people each year through school lunchtime groups, supporting Christian teachers and chaplains, school camps and Christian holiday camps across New South Wales, the ACT and Western Australia.
“CRU is an interdenominational ministry,” Nick explains. “We’ve got two conference centres where we do a lot of that, but we also use other places across Sydney, New South Wales, and in Western Australia.”
For Gary, Arrow was pivotal in broadening his own denominational horizons.
“One of the great benefits I found from being engaged with Arrow was meeting people from different churches in different states… and just having conversations together about areas where we were similar or different and what that meant. That was valuable for me.”
Nick echoes that. “It meant I came into Arrow having a better understanding of different perspectives, and while we won’t agree on everything, it’s good to have good, honest, robust discussions. And that’s what we do at CRU as well.”
Both leaders see this as a strength: learning to disagree well, model unity, and hold fast to the gospel while being generous with secondary matters.
Preparing for change
Leadership transitions are often complex, but for Gary this moment feels like the answer to years of prayer: “A key part of my role has been preparing for the person who comes after me. I remember chatting with someone during [Arrow] and coming away convinced that my prayer should be that the next CEO is actually the best one up to that date.”
That answered prayer now has a name: Nick Hood.
“I’ve come to just thank God so much for his work in Nick’s life,” Gary reflects. “He’s got a desire to care for people and see them develop and grow… Therefore that sense of how we can reach more people with the gospel and how we can do that faithfully is I know on his heart. And so that just causes me incredible delight.”
Nick, meanwhile, carries both gratitude and humility into the role: “Many people have said to me that I’ve got very big shoes to fill, and they’re right. But I lead with different feet, and that’ll mean at times we take different steps. I’m humbled by stepping into this role… but really thankful that I’m stepping into a strong position. It has been led well.”
A generational legacy
The story takes on an even deeper resonance as Gary’s son, Matt, embarks on Arrow’s Executive program.
“It’s a joy to watch your kids be involved in that sort of way and to see what they can do,” Gary says. “And to know that Matt’s perspectives are being broadened by engagement with others who are faithful… it’s just a wonderful thing as a parent to see that happen.”
Matt has already returned to serve as a volunteer on a CRU leadership camp, continuing the cycle of investing in the next generation. For Gary, this embodies CRU’s motto, based on Psalm 78:4: telling the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.
Looking ahead
As Gary steps down in December 2025 and Nick steps into the CEO role, the baton is being passed with confidence, prayer, and hope. Both men testify that Arrow’s shaping influence, though decades apart, has equipped them not only to lead but to serve.
For Arrow and CRU alike, their stories highlight what it means to be led more by Jesus, to lead more like Jesus, and to lead more to Jesus: across generations, denominations, and seasons of change.
Recent Comments