By Amy B. McCraw Hendersonville Times-News Correspondent
Published: Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, April 9, 2010 at 6:52 p.m.
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When Anne Traister left her home in Hendersonville last fall to attend Appalachian State University, she wanted to make new friends and get involved in campus life.
She accomplished both goals after her pastor, the Rev. Chip Vining of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville, suggested she check out the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) on campus.
Traister attended her first meeting of the campus ministry early in her freshman year and felt at home right away.
"It was awesome," she says. "Everyone there was welcoming and loving."
RUF is a ministry of the Presbyterian Church of America. The ministry, which grew out of the passion of young Presbyterian ministers in the Southeastern United States in the 1970s, aims to reach students of divergent beliefs with the message of the gospel.
RUF welcomes students from all faiths and walks of life. The ministry of students to students takes place under the guidance of ordained campus ministers. It has spread to more than 100 campuses across the country.
RUF Missions conference
Covenant Presbyterian Church will give other college students like Traister the chance to learn more about RUF this month during its missions conference Friday through April 18. The conference at the church on Kanuga Road will highlight the church's outreach to college and university students.
Covenant Presbyterian supports RUF at several universities including Appalachian State and at Western Carolina in the mountains.
Rod Clark, the chairman of the church's mission's committee, says he wants college students like Traister to know colleges offer Christian activities for students.
"If you want to open the door to college extracurricular activities that go beyond binge drinking and hooking up, here's your chance," he says.
Traister, a 19-year-old graduate of North Henderson High School, says she made new friends after joining RUF. She attends large RUF group meetings on Wednesdays and regular Bible study groups with a small group of other students. Traister and her friends also attend church together in Boone.
Football games and sledding are other activities RUF members enjoy.
"It gives you something to do that is positive and safe," she says. "They are like your own little family."
The ministry rests on two convictions. Those convictions are that campus ministry ought to be centered on the word of God and that such ministries need the community of the church to flourish.
Having campus ministers lead the RUF on campus also helps students grow in their faith, according to a RUF Web site.
Seminary training allows the ministers to anticipate and address the questions and challenges students face in college.
RUF ministers also direct students to local churches while they are in college so they might experience a more robust community of faith, according to the Web site.
Conference details
The conference at Covenant will begin at 7 p.m. Friday with a concert by Matthew Smith and Indelible Grace. The music group ministers to college students through its association with RUF. The concert, which will include new music from hymns most Christians know and love, is open to the public.
On April 17, the conference will continue at 10:15 with a morning of small group discussions. Those discussions will be led by the Rev. Matt Howell, RUF minister at Appalachian State University; the Rev. Dave Osborne, RUF minister at Western Carolina University; the Rev. Jeff Thompson, RUF minister at the University of Georgia; and John Hanna, the area director of the Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship.
Students from the universities will join each of the speakers. The discussions will give participants the chance to learn about each RUF program in detail.
At 5 p.m. on April 17, young people will have the chance to experience RUF through a session that includes pizza and soft drinks.
The conference concludes on April 18 at 10:45 a.m. with a sermon delivered by Dr. Rod Mays at Covenant Presbyterian. Mays is the coordinator for the RUF program at the PCA headquarters in Lawrenceville, Ga. The sermon will draw the various parts of the conference together in a meaningful, powerful message.
Traister is trying to arrange her schedule to allow time to return home from college to attend the conference with members of her youth group at Covenant Presbyterian.
She also intends to encourage those young people to get involved once they reach college.
"That is how you meet people," she says. "I think it is important to develop your own faith as a college student."
Vining says he hopes the conference will encourage young people from all faiths to consider participating in a campus ministry.
"My job is to prepare God's people for works of service, and I can't think of a more important component of that job than enabling young people, whether believer or not, to have access to the enduring strength of God's word during their time in college," he says. "Our prayer is that every youth attending will leave saying, 'I can't wait until I'm in RUF.' "
Covenant Presbyterian uses one fourth of its annual budget to support mission projects. Those projects include missionaries in multiple nations in the world and in other parts of the United States. Other outreach efforts in the church include supporting groups such as RUF on university campuses.
The church also supports local organizations that include Meals on Wheels, Open Arms, Interfaith Assistance Ministry and Hendersonville Christian School.
For more information about the conference, contact Covenant Presbyterian at 693-8651. For information about RUF, visit www.ruf.org.
