Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) is more than just a university campus ministry; we seek to be a ministry for the university. We strive to serve at this unique stage of student life…in the world they live in; exploring together the Lordship of Christ in every area of life. We are the Church going to the campus with the message of Jesus Christ. As a ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America, RUF holds to the convictions of historic Christianity, which motivates our hearts for God and love for the university. These convictions 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 gospel message.
Cam Smith grew up in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State in 2008. Both he and his wife became Christians in RUF at their respective colleges. His wife Kaela grew up in Bradenton, FL and the two met halfway in the state of South Carolina. At that time Kaela was a student at Erskine College where Cam was an RUF intern. They spent their first years of marriage in Saint Louis, MO while Cam attended Covenant Seminary (2010-2013). They have three children Zoe (b. 2013), Lucy (b. 2015), and Penn (b. 2019). Cam served as the RUF campus minister at Carson-Newman from 2014-2019. Cam started at Penn State since 2019.
Richard Smith is the RUF International campus minister at Penn State University. He is a graduate of both Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina and Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). His wife of 25 years, Lynne, was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. They have one son, Rick (22), who is currently at Georgia Southern University, and one daughter, Evelyn (20), who is married to Tony Powell and lives in New Jersey. Richard and Lynne are excited to be working with the many international students at Penn State University.
Chris Peter grew up in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington DC, in a wonderful family and church where he heard and believed the Gospel from an early age. While in college at Virginia Tech, he got connected to the ministry of RUF, where he found amazing community and grew greatly in his faith in Christ. After graduating in 2015, he served for 2 years as an intern with RUF at NC State. He then went on to get his Masters of Divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, from 2017-21, working with RUF at Winthrop University during his time there. While in seminary, he met Kelsey (originally from Hickory, NC, and a graduate of Western Carolina University) at an RUF training, and after she finished her RUF internship at the University of Vermont, they got married in 2019.
Chris is incredibly thankful to have the job of pouring the truth of the Gospel into college students’ lives. He would love to grab a cup of coffee with you (or his real preference: tea), and chat about Jesus, theology, sports, board games, sci-fi/fantasy stories, food, or really just about anything.
Chris and Kelsey love college students and are so excited to welcome the students of Millersville into their lives and home!