It was formed in 1877, but can trace its origins back to the formation of the Jesus Lane Sunday School in 1827 and the Cambridge Prayer Union in 1848.
[2] Students in many other universities followed Cambridge's lead in forming their own Christian Unions, beginning with OICCU being founded in Oxford in 1879.
Initially CICCU was part of the Student Christian Movement, which it left in 1910 to provide a specifically conservative evangelical ministry in Cambridge.
Students who become members of CICCU are asked to sign the following statement, "I desire in joining this Union to declare my faith in Jesus Christ as my Saviour, my Lord and my God".
Recent comment on the CICCU has been more ambivalent – surprised by the intense focus on sharing rather than simply maintaining their faith, but impressed by the warmth of their welcome, and the depth of their conviction.