RUF at Carson-Newman Year End Update
Christmas parties and matching gifts!
Lessons, Carol Wheels, and Socks
One of the things we love in RUF at Carson-Newman is FUN, and we embody that in our Christmas party. Over the last six years, it’s evolved from a traditional-ish Lessons and Carols service with a white elephant sock exchange afterwards to a somewhat chaotic celebration featuring a reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible and a carol wheel (huge thanks to our friends at Redeemer Knoxville for the idea and for the wheel itself). Here are some pictures and videos:
The hit of the night each of the last two years was a rousing rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
I love this night for a few reasons.
First, in the words of the great American philosopher Buddy the Elf, “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” The week after Thanksgiving is weird - nobody is really sure why they had to come back to school for three days, the stress of finals is bearing down, and the holidays can be difficult for a lot of people. So it’s a really special thing to give students a night to get together, remember the amazing gift of Jesus, and be loud and goofy for the sake of being loud and goofy.
Second, Carson-Newman students have to fulfill 10 Community Life and Worship (CLW) credits a semester, and student organizations can offer 2 of these events. We always save one of our CLW offerings for this party, and for many students it’s their first exposure to RUF. Which…I think is pretty cool.
Third, and maybe most importantly, we end the night singing “Joy to the World.” Besides the fact that this is a great song that we should sing year round, it proclaims the great truth that Jesus comes to make his blessings flow “far as the curse is found.” And so we want to send students out with joy and confidence that wherever the curse of sin is found, God’s grace goes to meet it.
“So…what exactly is RUF?”
This is a question I get a lot - we don’t have many students who come here knowing what RUF is, so inevitably they ask. I had this conversation with a student a week or so ago - she’s a sophomore, but a non-traditional student who is 24 and working full time. She manages to fit large group in to an incredibly busy schedule otherwise, but she was curious as to what was so different about RUF. In the course of our conversation, she told me she had grown up in a very legalistic church setting that seemed to burden her down with every passing week. But then she said “when I was growing up, I just heard about more and more that I needed to do, but at RUF, I feel like we hear about how beautiful Jesus is and it makes me want to follow Him more.”
We can’t make the assumption that even our students who grew up in church have a firm grasp of the gospel - even as a full time pastor, I struggle with it at times! And it’s not to say that the things our students hear at church is necessarily what’s being said, but it is to say it’s a joy to get to walk with students through the beauty of God’s grace in ways they’ve maybe never heard it.
Fundraising Update - Not one, but TWO matching gifts!
As we close out the year, we have been blessed with a couple of really cool opportunities.
First, one of our supporters has graciously offered a $5,000 matching gift, so this means that any gift made between now and the end of the year will be matched up to $5,000! Please consider making an end of the year gift to support RUF at Carson-Newman.
Second, as a part of RUF National’s Catalyst Campaign, we have been selected for a $10,000 matching gift for any new money that comes in between now and March 2, 2025! This means a few things:
Any new gift will be matched 100%. So if you’ve never given before and you make a one time donation of $500, for example, RUF will match that $500.
Any new pledges will be matched for the year. So if you’ve never given before and you make a monthly pledge of $100, RUF will match that gift with $1200.
Any existing supporters who give above and beyond their normal gift will be matched. If you normally give $500 a year but make a special, one time gift of another $500, that will be matched.
Any existing supporters who increase their monthly pledge will see their increase matched. So if you have been giving $100 a month and up that by $50, your $50 increase will be matched for the year.
Any returning supporters who have not given in 2+ years will have their one time or monthly gift matched 100%.
These are incredibly generous gifts, and both will help us long term in continuing the work of RUF at Carson-Newman. Please prayerfully consider supporting us in 2025!
There are a few ways you can give.
First, you can visit this link and set up a monthly or quarterly gift or a one time gift.
Second, you can mail a check with “Reformed University Fellowship” and either “Chandler Rowlen” or “Carson-Newman” in the memo line to:
Reformed University Fellowship
PO Box 890004
Charlotte, NC 28289-0004
Please Pray With Us!
Finally, my family and I humbly ask your prayers for several things.
From a ministry standpoint, pray that our students finish finals strong and that they find rest over the break. We also have a group of 9 students who are considering joining RUF leadership - pray for them as they go through training and consider joining leadership team to pray for and oversee the work of RUF at Carson-Newman. We also have a weekly prayer journal that students ask for prayer in, and as you can probably imagine, we see just about everything students are walking through. Please pray for our hurting students to find peace and healing, for our lost students to know Jesus, and for our growing students to find encouragement and strength in their faith. Also in the next week or so we’ll be finding out whether we were placed with interns in the early placement period. Please pray the Lord provides interns and the means to support them!
From a family standpoint, pray for our sanity! Our kids are amazing and so full of energy, and that can be really fun and really exhausting at the same time. Pray that our kids would come to know Jesus, they’d grow up healthy, and we’d be able to help guide them in the paths they should walk.
Thank you.
It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through year six, and yet here we are. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your continued prayers and support in this journey. God has been so kind and faithful to us, and we trust that will continue into 2025. Thank you so much!