Pronounced 'are you eff,' RUF is a church-based, gospel-driven ministry on over 140 campuses nationwide. It is for students of all backgrounds, regardless of one's beliefs, ideas, or opinions about Jesus. In other words, RUF is for the "convinced" and "unconvinced." RUF seeks to provide students:
Reformed
RUF is a place where students can explore and experience Christianity in a safe yet challenging environment. Because religion is influenced to some measure by imperfect people and communities, we want Scripture to have the final say on what it is we think about God, ourselves, and the world. We are not making things up as we go along. We stand on the shoulders of faithful people who have gone before us in studying the Scriptures and living out their faith across times, cultures, and challenges, and so we expect the Bible to have much to teach and guide our faith communities today. That's what Reformed refers to. All of us are at all times in the process of becoming and we want the Bible to lead us in our journey of faith. We believe that the Christian life is a process and one in which God's grace continually reorients us towards peace, hope, and love. RUF is a safe and challenging place where students do not need to agree with everything to belong, where they are encouraged to ask hard questions, and where they can openly talk about their doubts and beliefs. We desire this kind of openness and solidarity with one another because of the Christian message of grace – that no one person or community is at any time beyond the need of God’s grace for personal growth, social healing, and cultural renewal.
University
The university plays a crucial role in the formation of our world. It is a bustling marketplace of ideas and intellectual innovation. Universities gradually influence our cultural landscape; they provide paradigms that help our world make decisions on economic, political and moral issues. RUF values the university and does gospel ministry on the university and to the university with the goal of impacting Christ’s global kingdom. We believe that Jesus is King of everything, not just our spiritual activities but of all of life. MIT offers great opportunities in engineering, business, science, residential life, and more. We don't want to take students out of those opportunities, but help them to appreciate and understand what it means to see their engineering studies through the lens of the gospel, to apply the kingship of Jesus to their research, or to live in the freedom of Jesus in their sorority/fraternity/dorm houses. RUF wants to serve and influence MIT by offering a counterculture where students don’t just look at their faith but with their faith at all of life.
Fellowship
The best way to try to be a Christian or figure out what it might mean to be a Christian is to have a solid Christian community with whom you can grow in God’s grace and truth together. In RUF we want to journey through life together - caring for one another, praying for one another, and serving with one another. We believe the ideal place for this kind of community is the church. RUF seeks neither to be a Christian bubble on the campus nor a replacement of the local church. Rather we are the church going to the campus, with the vision of building the church through the campus. It is important to our ministry to have a commitment and accountability with the visible church in the Boston/Cambridge area. We understand the general suspicion students have with the church along with the logistical difficulties of being connected to one while in college. It is our desire to connect students to the church and the church to students. We long for students to see the church as a beautiful reality where Jesus is at work and to receive wisdom and encouragement from the broader community of faith, and for these things to happen during and after college.
- A campus community bringing students of divergent beliefs and doubts together with the message of grace
- Spiritual guidance from a campus pastor for mentoring and equipping students for personal growth and service
- World and life view formation by engaging the student's vocation through a gospel counterculture
- Connection to the church by helping students love and serve the church during and after college
Reformed
RUF is a place where students can explore and experience Christianity in a safe yet challenging environment. Because religion is influenced to some measure by imperfect people and communities, we want Scripture to have the final say on what it is we think about God, ourselves, and the world. We are not making things up as we go along. We stand on the shoulders of faithful people who have gone before us in studying the Scriptures and living out their faith across times, cultures, and challenges, and so we expect the Bible to have much to teach and guide our faith communities today. That's what Reformed refers to. All of us are at all times in the process of becoming and we want the Bible to lead us in our journey of faith. We believe that the Christian life is a process and one in which God's grace continually reorients us towards peace, hope, and love. RUF is a safe and challenging place where students do not need to agree with everything to belong, where they are encouraged to ask hard questions, and where they can openly talk about their doubts and beliefs. We desire this kind of openness and solidarity with one another because of the Christian message of grace – that no one person or community is at any time beyond the need of God’s grace for personal growth, social healing, and cultural renewal.
University
The university plays a crucial role in the formation of our world. It is a bustling marketplace of ideas and intellectual innovation. Universities gradually influence our cultural landscape; they provide paradigms that help our world make decisions on economic, political and moral issues. RUF values the university and does gospel ministry on the university and to the university with the goal of impacting Christ’s global kingdom. We believe that Jesus is King of everything, not just our spiritual activities but of all of life. MIT offers great opportunities in engineering, business, science, residential life, and more. We don't want to take students out of those opportunities, but help them to appreciate and understand what it means to see their engineering studies through the lens of the gospel, to apply the kingship of Jesus to their research, or to live in the freedom of Jesus in their sorority/fraternity/dorm houses. RUF wants to serve and influence MIT by offering a counterculture where students don’t just look at their faith but with their faith at all of life.
Fellowship
The best way to try to be a Christian or figure out what it might mean to be a Christian is to have a solid Christian community with whom you can grow in God’s grace and truth together. In RUF we want to journey through life together - caring for one another, praying for one another, and serving with one another. We believe the ideal place for this kind of community is the church. RUF seeks neither to be a Christian bubble on the campus nor a replacement of the local church. Rather we are the church going to the campus, with the vision of building the church through the campus. It is important to our ministry to have a commitment and accountability with the visible church in the Boston/Cambridge area. We understand the general suspicion students have with the church along with the logistical difficulties of being connected to one while in college. It is our desire to connect students to the church and the church to students. We long for students to see the church as a beautiful reality where Jesus is at work and to receive wisdom and encouragement from the broader community of faith, and for these things to happen during and after college.