RUF

I feel like I still get a lot of questions about Chris' job.  What does your husband do again?  Is he a youth pastor?  Does he work for Kennesaw State University?


Let me break it down briefly- Chris is employed by RUF, Reformed University Fellowship.  RUF is the college ministry of the Presbyterian Church of America, PCA.  He is a licenced and ordained minister.  However, he does not currently work in or at a church.  He is essentially a missionary (who's mission field is a college campus) ministering to college students, who are the next generation of church leaders, businessmen, political figures, etc.  His current "mission field" is Kennesaw State, yet he could just as easily transfer to another university and "do" RUF there.


Here's a little bit more information about RUF from the RUF website:


What we believe:
As a ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America, RUF holds to the core beliefs of historic Christianity which motivate our heart for God and love for the university.  Some of these beliefs include the need for new life in Christ, the authority of the Scriptures, and the mission of the Church to reach and equip all people with the message of the gospel.  
What we do:
Although we may be familiar with the basic tenets of Christianity, many of us struggle to understand the full meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to experience it in community with others. The purpose of RUF, therefore, is to build a community on the college campus that reaches students of divergent beliefs and doubts with the message of the gospel and equips them to love and serve Jesus and his Church


So on a daily basis what does he "do"?  What does a day look like in the eyes of Chris Bowen?  He holds a weekly large group on Tuesday nights on campus where students come together for fellowship and worship.  They worship through music; then Chris preaches and everyone goes out somewhere fun afterwards.  This semester he is preaching through the Ten Commandments.  He also meets with students for one on one discipleship to encourage/promote personal growth to present/reinforce the gospel truths in their life to equip them to love and serve Jesus.  He organizes fun events to create community, which is especially important and challenging on a commuter campus.  There are of course weekly bible studies and discussion groups.  Much of his time is spent reading, studying, praying, and preparing for large groups, discussions, and answering students questions from a Biblical perspective.  And then like any job there is the administrative side of things- finances and reports and such.

Worship at Large Group

Fall Conference 2011

Braves Game during Orientation at the beginning of the school year

"White Trash Bash" Birthday Party for Intern Aubra

Chris as well as RUF is supported financially through gifts from churches and individuals.  It certainly can be a challenge to raise support, but God has been faithful in providing generous churches and individuals who support the ministry, which confirms Chris' call as a pastor with RUF at KSU.

I have always enjoyed going to large group with Chris and hanging out with the students.  Sadly, Phoebe and I attended our last large group for awhile a couple weeks ago.  Large group starts at 8pm and since Phoebe is going to bed at 8pm, it is just too much of a disruption of her schedule to keep her awake.  I will miss seeing everyone on Tuesdays, but we'll still have students in our house on a pretty regular basis so hopefully we won't miss too much.

Chris Preaching at Large Group

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE RUF as a ministry and as an organization.  Chris and I are both very well cared for by RUF.  And of course we wholeheartedly love seeing and participating in God's work at KSU.