In June of 2011, I was called by the General Synod of the ARP Church to serve as the first ARP-RUF Campus Minister at Erskine College, forging an affiliation and ministry relationship with Reformed University Fellowship (www.ruf.org).

Though employed by Erskine as chaplain for the previous nine years, this change in my call to ministry was beneficial for several reasons, not the least of which were establishing a clearly defined ministry and job description and articulating a philosophy of ministry. I have been asked to share these, as well as why it is both important and strategic to have a ministry of the Gospel on a college campus.

Why have a ministry specifically for college students?
The “college years” – the years in which young people mature through late adolescence into young adulthood – are crucial ones for a person’s education and development. They either significantly contribute, or fail to contribute, to the formation and maturation of a student’s Christian faith. These years also mark the first time students have left their families and church families; and when a student becomes fully exposed to new and competing worldviews, which swirl about on every college and university campus.

During these years, students will not only encounter new ways of thinking, but will also determine what they believe to be true. Influential relationships, habits, and patterns of living, as well as their ultimate beliefs, will be formed; all of which shape their lives as future adults.

Having said that, perhaps it obvious why it is both important and strategic that the church extend an arm of Gospel ministry to the college campus. It is an investment in the future health of the church to have the presence of ministry on the campus, which takes both the Gospel and the university seriously. Pastoring students through these years (rather than hoping they “figure life out” on their own) is an important and strategic work of ministry, which takes the nature and the mission of the church seriously.

What is the ministry of RUF?
Within RUF, each campus minister is tasked to develop and maintain three avenues of ministry: Large Group, Small Groups, and One-on-Ones. Together, these avenues of ministry to students are what RUF “looks” like. Each is developed and maintained through real relationships with real students.

As those students begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Gospel, they become the most effective means of ministering to the whole campus. This happens naturally as students take the Gospel with them relationally (in an unforced manner) as salt and light within the campus community.

Large Group
The hallmark of RUF at Erskine is our weekly large group gathering, which meets outdoors and in a barn. On most campuses RUF meets in a classroom or a lecture hall. Those settings usually feel stale and institutional, making us grateful we have the warm and inviting context of The Barn at Erskine. Our large group provides a weekly cookout, which enhances our fellowship before we sing together and hear the Gospel preached from Scripture by the campus minister. This semester we enjoyed a series titled Close Encounters with Jesus: The Gospel of Luke.

Small Groups
Each semester, RUF offers a variety of small groups for students on campus. Several of those are led by the campus minister and interns, while some are offered by older students. Small groups are beneficial, not only because they create a context for deeper relationships and fellowship, but because they allow students to have conversations about the Scriptures, their beliefs, their struggles and to actually pray for one another.

One-on-Ones
Meeting with individual students, whether over coffee or lunch, on a walk or a run, to intentionally talk about “how life is going” is yet another way in which students are growing and maturing in their faith. Now in my 10th year at Erskine, I have countless fond memories of meeting with individual students all over town for one-on-one conversations. Those conversations with students about the Gospel and the Christian life definitely highlight some of my ministry memories.

It certainly has been my privilege to take the Gospel to the Erskine College campus for the ARP Synod!

Editor’s Note: While RUF is a PCA Ministry and its campus pastors are PCA Teaching Elders, Paul Patrick is a minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and serves in a dual role as Chaplain at Erskine College and as an RUF Campus Pastor. This article appears in the December issues of the ARP Magazine and is used with permission.