Summer Conference

I cannot think of a better end to the school year than RUF Summer Conference. RUF groups from all over the country come together in Panama City Beach, FL to soak in the sun, have fellowship, and most importantly spend a week learning about the love of Christ through Scripture.

This year's summer conference had 3 one week sessions and over 3,000 students attended! UMD went to the third week to join over 300 students from schools across the country.

We made the 20 hours trip with about 30 students and had a blast with them! We had several new students who were interested in Christianity come along with us as well. It was so great to hear so many of our students say how glad they were to be there - both for the fun and for what they were learning in their seminars and the preaching. It was also great to see our students grow in their relationships with one another.

If you want to hear more about Summer Conference, you can read a two part blog post one of our students wrote about her time at Summer Conference Here!

 In the mean time, here are some pictures of the Fun:

Logan and I got to help lead worship in the mornings & evenings!

After morning worship the students attended seminars ranging in topics from Knowing God's Will, Reading the Bible, Rest, God & Gay, and What the Bible Say about the Arts

 After Lunch was Fun on the Beach!

UMD had two teams compete in the volleyball tournament!

Our students showed lots of school pride during the interscholastic competitions!

One night Logan even DJ'ed a dance party!

  We then finished out each day with an evening Large group of worship and preaching. This year's topic for the week was Trusting Scripture.

 Summer Conference is one RUF event that many students look forward to all year and I do as well! We are so thankful for this week of growing in grace and friendship in the sun!

 Grace & Peace,

In the Words of Students

Today I just wanted to share a short video of students from all over the country sharing what RUF has meant to them. It was made at the first week of our RUF Summer Conference this year. I hope you watch it and are encouraged that God is using this ministry to give students peace and rest in the Gospel.

The words of these students ring true for Logan and me in our own experience with RUF and we have heard stories from our own students at the University of Maryland.



I'm so thankful for my time with RUF as a student and for the opportunity to minister to students with RUF as a staff member! Thank you for making it all possible through your prayers and support!

Grace & Peace,

Senior Dinner

This post is quite late, but I did want to take a moment to share with you about the Senior Dinner we held at the end of the semester to celebrate our RUF seniors who are graduating.

We invited family and friends to come praise God for his provision to our seniors throughout their college careers, to pray for their transition out of college, and to allow these students to share their experiences and give advice to younger students.

It was a wonderful time! I'm so sad that I don't have audio or video to share with you with each of our senior's testimonies. (I filmed them but accidentally deleted them all!)

One theme that ran through each of their advice and testimonies was the need for the Christian to be a member of the body of Christ. Our seniors encouraged their younger friends and RUF members to not only invest in our RUF community but more importantly to be an active member of their churches while in college.

RUF exists to reach students for Christ and equip them to serve - and we want to equip students to serve their churches! RUF's goal really isn't to just provide a great place on campus for students to get together and worship. We encourage our students to grow and learn through the diverse body of Christ uniquely represented in the Church. The Church is also the only place that students can be fed through the means of Grace offered in preaching of the Word, baptism, and the Lord's supper. People in different stages of life, different ages, different problems, and different strengths and areas of wisdom are present in the Church in a way that the college campus just can't match. It is this community that will not fall away when these students grow up and leave the University. The church, though often messy and difficult, is a community that lasts through all stages of life.

Our students also expressed their appreciation to RUF for helping them through college, growing them in their faith, teaching them about community and how to serve the church and others.

I'm so glad that our seniors understand the importance of the church and want to encourage younger students to not only be a part of the community of RUF but the larger body of the Church. They must have been listening! It was also so encouraging to hear what RUF has meant to these students.


Here is our year with RUF in photographic review & a tribute to each of our seniors:

Grace & Peace,

Our Latest Newsletters

Happy Summer!

I apologize for neglecting to post the past few weeks.  We have been quite busy with Summer Conference down in Panama City Beach and traveling! So far in the month of June we have been to Michigan, Chicago, St. Louis, and are currently in Nashville!

I hope to write a post about our Senior Grad Celebration as well as one about Summer Conference in the next week or so, but in the mean time here is a link to Logan and my current newsletters!

Kristy's Newsletter

Logan's Newsletter

Hopefully you received one in the mail this past week. If you don't receive our newsletters by mail and would like to start getting them, you can email me your preferred address at kristy.lowder@ruf.org. In the mean time you can read all about our year with a digital copy!

Grace & Peace,