Reformed University Fellowship

Last updated
Reformed University Fellowship logo Ruf-logo.png
Reformed University Fellowship logo

Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) is the campus ministry organization of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). RUF has experienced rapid growth in the 1990s; its income in 1995 was $200,000 and grew $24 million by 2012. [1] Currently, RUF has more than 170 ministries at different college campuses spread across 41 states in the US and throughout the world. [2] RUF began on college campuses in the southern United States but expanded throughout the country, with campus ministries from Hawaii to Massachusetts. The PCA follows traditional Westminster standards, including belief in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. [1]

Contents

Purpose

RUF is not intended to be a substitute for formal church. It is open for anyone to join and is not exclusive to those within a certain denomination. However, the organization itself is closely associated with the Calvinist theological viewpoint, as their name implies. Its meetings range in size from campus to campus. There are also different types of meetings, often referred to as 'Large Group' or 'small groups'.

RUF hosts its main conference, Summer Conference (popularly known as SuCo), for students during three weeks in the summer at Laguna Beach, Florida. There are also regional conferences that take place throughout the year. The conferences, like the organization meetings, are not limited to those ascribing to Calvinist theology.

History

The first RUF was started by Mark Lowrey in 1973 at the University of Southern Mississippi. The mission, vision, and guiding principles of RUF were approved by the PCA in 1979, and Lowrey became the first National Coordinator in 1982. [3]

RUF grew significantly in the early 21st century. It went from 35 campuses in 1998 to over 100 in 2012. Its revenue was $200,000 in 1995, but $24 million in 2012. [4]

As of 2021, RUF has 170 campus ministers, 49 campus staff, and 176 interns. [5]

Other similar movements

The Reformed Youth Movement, while a ministry similar to RUF, is not officially a part of the PCA.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregational church</span> Religious denomination

Congregational churches are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Church in America</span> Conservative Reformed Christian denomination in the United States and Canada

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presbyterian in government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Reformed Church in North America</span> Protestant Christian denomination

The Christian Reformed Church in North America is a Protestant Calvinist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was founded by Dutch immigrants in 1857 and is theologically Calvinist.

Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a confessional Presbyterian seminary in Taylors, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1986, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary exists to equip preachers, pastors, and churchmen for Christ's Kingdom. The school is modeled on Old Princeton Theological Seminary of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It teaches the accuracy and doctrinal integrity of the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as adopted by the Presbyterian Church in America. It is not affiliated with a specific denomination, but graduates of the Seminary minister in denominations such as the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA), Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS), Reformed Presbyterian Church, Free Church of Scotland, Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales (EPCEW), Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil, Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA), Reformed Baptist Network (RBN), Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), Bible Presbyterian Church (BPC), Presbyterian Reformed Church (PRC), and in a number of Independent congregations. The current president of the seminary is Jonathan Master, formerly the Dean of the School of Divinity at Cairn University.

The Confessing Movement is a largely lay-led theologically conservative Christian movement that opposes the influence of theological liberalism and theological progressivism currently within several mainline Protestant denominations and seeks to return them to its view of orthodox doctrine, or form a new denomination and disfellowship (excommunicate) them if the situation becomes untenable. Those who eventually deem dealing with theological liberalism and theological progressivism within their churches and denominations as not being tenable anymore would later join or start Confessional Churches and/or Evangelical Churches that continue with the traditions of their respective denominations and maintaining orthodox doctrine while being ecclesiastically separate from the Mainline Protestant denominations.

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an association of evangelical denominations, organizations, schools, churches and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches from about 40 different denominations and serves a constituency of millions. The mission of the NAE is to honor God by connecting and representing evangelicals in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Theological College</span>

The Presbyterian Theological College (PTC) is the theological college of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. It provides theological education for candidates for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, as well as for members of other Christian churches. It is an approved teaching institution of the Australian College of Theology and is based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States)</span> Protestant Reformed Evangelical church body

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) is an American church body holding to presbyterian governance and Reformed theology. It is most distinctive for its approach to the way it balances certain liberties across congregations on "non-essential" doctrines, such as egalitarianism in marriage or the ordination of women, alongside an affirmation of core "essential" doctrinal standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Conference of Reformed Churches</span>

The International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) is a federation of Reformed or Calvinist churches around the world. The ICRC was founded in 1981. The ICRC convenes international meetings every four years. Its theology is more conservative than the larger World Communion of Reformed Churches and is similar to that of the World Reformed Fellowship. The participating churches endorse the Reformed confessions. Moderator of the ICRC is Rev. Dr Dick Moes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covenant Theological Seminary</span> Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America

Covenant Theological Seminary, informally called Covenant Seminary, is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, it trains people to work as leaders in church positions and elsewhere, especially as pastors, missionaries, and counselors. It does not require all students to be members of the PCA, but it is bound to promote the teachings of its denomination. Faculty must subscribe to the system of biblical doctrine outlined in the Westminster Standards.

Mid-America Reformed Seminary is a graduate-level theological institution located in Dyer, Indiana, offering a biblical and theological education in the classic Reformed (Calvinistic) tradition. The seminary offers a three-year Master of Divinity degree program for students seeking ordination. A two-year Master of Theological Studies degree is offered for students who desire a theological education without seeking the ordained ministry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gerstner</span> American theologian and academic

John Henry Gerstner was an American Reformed and Presbyterian theologian and professor of Church History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He was an expert on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ligon Duncan</span> American pastor and scholar

Jennings Ligon Duncan III is an American Presbyterian scholar and pastor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenth Presbyterian Church</span> Church in PA, United States

Tenth Presbyterian Church is a congregation of approximately 1,600 members located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Tenth is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a denomination in the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition. It is located at the southwest corner of 17th & Spruce Streets in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square neighborhood, in the southwestern quadrant of Center City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Reformed Fellowship</span> Ecumenical Christian organization

The World Reformed Fellowship (WRF) is an ecumenical Christian organization which promotes unity between confessional Calvinist churches around the world.

Briarwood Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in suburban Birmingham, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in the United States</span>

Protestantism is the largest grouping of Christians in the United States, with its combined denominations collectively comprising about 43% of the country's population in 2019. Other estimates suggest that 48.5% of the U.S. population is Protestant. Simultaneously, this corresponds to around 20% of the world's total Protestant population. The U.S. contains the largest Protestant population of any country in the world. Baptists comprise about one-third of American Protestants. The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest single Protestant denomination in the U.S., comprising one-tenth of American Protestants. Twelve of the original Thirteen Colonies were Protestant, with only Maryland having a sizable Catholic population due to Lord Baltimore's religious tolerance.

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan was officially established in 1971 when the First Presbytery was formed as a result of the union of various conservative Presbyterian and Continental Reformed congregations planted by various missionary groups. Its origin could be traced back to the 1950s when the very first missionaries of those Presbyterian and Continental Reformed missionaries arrived in Taiwan.

References

  1. 1 2 McDonald, Jeffrey Stephen (2017). John Gerstner and the renewal of Presbyterian and Reformed Evangelicalism in modern America. Eugene, Oregon. ISBN   978-1-4982-9632-8. OCLC   1015828636.
  2. "Campus". Reformed University Fellowship. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
  3. "About". Reformed University Fellowship. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  4. McDonald, Jeff (2017). John Gerstner and the Renewal of Presbyterian and Reformed Evangelicalism in Modern America. Wipf and Stock. p. 180. ISBN   9781498296311 . Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  5. Chapell, Bryan. "Actions of the Forty-eighth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America 2021" (PDF). Presbyterian Church in America . Retrieved 31 July 2021.