Who We Are

RUF is the college ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and is present on over 120 campuses across North America. RUF National Website While RUF is the campus ministry of a particular Christian denomination, RUF is nondenominational as a campus fellowship.

RUF is one branch of the church ministering on campus "to reach students for Christ and to equip them to serve."

RUF as a campus ministry began in 1971. However, RUF began at Duke in the fall of 2005. Since that time students and parents have asked, "what exactly is RUF?" One way to answer this question is to unpack our name, Reformed University Fellowship.

RUF: What's in a name?

Why Reformed?
The word "Reformed" means that we hold to an historic Protestant understanding of Christianity, as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (see below). This means we believe that through the bible alone we can know that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, all to the glory of God alone. Therefore, RUF is committed to the bible as God's inspired and inerrant word written for the purpose of reaching and equipping students to follow him through faith in Jesus. This conviction guides both what we do and why we do it.

Why University?
Given the unique character of the university campus, we believe the church is responsible to go to the campus by sending ordained Campus Ministers to establish permanent campus fellowships. We believe the university is a place where students learn, grow and reach others with God's grace in the midst of the campus, not in spite of it. The campus, then, is not reduced to a convenient pretext to do evangelism; rather, it is the place where God has providentially placed students to prepare for legitimate vocations after graduation.

Why Fellowship?
We believe that community is a necessary ingriedient of the Christian faith and essential for effective campus ministry. It is within the context of a permanent campus fellowship that students from different backgrounds and perspectives can exlpore the claims of Jesus, experience meaningful relationships, and mature in the faith. However, the campus fellowship is not intended to be a substitute for the church. Rather, RUF is an expression of the church ministering on campus in order to reach and equip students for a lifetime of service to Christ in the church, near and far.


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