Among the many promises God has made, one of the most frequent is his promise to be faithful to his people, no matter their circumstances. A recent reunion of Reformed University Fellowship alumni at Mississippi State University celebrated that faithfulness in Starkville, Mississippi.
Founded in 1975, the MSU chapter of RUF was the second chapter ever established, just behind the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Throughout 2025, RUF at MSU held anniversary-themed events, and a reunion in February 2026 served as the capstone event. Nearly all of MSU’s former campus ministers returned for a weekend that included celebration, historical survey, and worship, all in keeping with the theme, “A Love That Will Not Let Us Go.”
This reunion took a year and a half to plan, current campus minister Austin McCann noted, but bore immense fruit: over 500 alumni, clergy, and students attended to celebrate God’s faithfulness.
Origins
Serving as the first campus minister was Ford Williams (1975-1985), who, without any official meeting space on campus, hosted the early RUF meetings in his home. Gatherings of a couple of dozen students that first year soon grew beyond anything Williams had anticipated.
“We had students all over the place,” he recalled. “Students in the den, the living room, the kitchen—they could hear me speaking from one room in the house, but I couldn’t see them!”
In that first season, Williams preached on the sovereignty of God:
“Students needed to hear that Jesus is Lord,” he said.
With the knowledge of sound biblical teaching on campus, churches in central Mississippi began to send their graduating seniors to Starkville, knowing RUF could help students find a soft landing when they arrived.
Recalling those first days of the ministry, alumnus Les Triplett noted how RUF provided guidance beyond what he was learning in the classroom.
“It was a steadying anchor at that time in my life,” Triplett told byFaith. “You met like-minded people and you got a spiritual part of college that gave you some accountability. RUF gave me a moral compass.”
Growth
For the first three years Williams served RUF full-time, but he reduced his time with the ministry in the late 1970s when he helped to plant Starkville Chapel, which later became Grace Presbyterian PCA, a longtime supporter of RUF. These additional duties eventually led him to give the reins of the campus ministry to Hal Farnsworth, who arrived on campus in 1985.
Under Farnsworth (1985-1989) the ministry continued to grow, expanding into new spaces on campus and adding new Bible studies and worship nights alongside outings, conferences, and special events.
But amid this growth, the core of RUF ministry remained committed to four principles: Scripture, justification, sanctification, and glorification. Seeking to honor these principles, the reunion featured former campus ministers expounding on each one.
Joe Johnson (2021-2024), spoke on the perfections of Scripture, taking a classic theme from systematic theology and helping listeners see the beauty of God’s Word.
“Scripture tells us a better story than the story that the world tells us,” Johnson said. “The real story of who we are and what we’re made for.”
Similarly, Ricky Jones (2001-2006) taught on the doctrine of glorification, sharing powerful stories of his own upbringing with a father who abandoned his family, and how even hardships such as those can and will be redeemed in the new creation. For students struggling with mental health issues or other traumas, Jones encouraged them to take heart in how all our wounds and all our broken relationships will be healed at Christ’s return.
“Even those,” Jones said, “we can’t possibly imagine.”
At the worship services, Brian Habig (1995-2001) preached on Psalm 121, and Brian Sorgenfrei (2009-2017) preached on Titus 3 — both texts intending to show how God sustains and keeps his people, and continually invites them to draw near to him. Those promises, these sermons declared, remain as true today as they did for all the figures in Scripture.
Pouring In, Pouring Out
Such messages represented the hallmarks of an RUF gathering: bold teaching and a clear presentation of the gospel, followed by a warm invitation to meet Jesus and become a disciple. Indeed, during the reunion alumni from across the decades recalled how frequently an encounter with RUF almost always led to an invitation of some kind: to a large-group gathering, to a Bible study, to a music night, or even just to coffee.
Wilson West, an alumnus who studied political science, began attending RUF while still in high school in Starkville and noted how the ministry helped to correct his early struggles as a college student.
“They’ve always done an amazing job of preaching grace: the tenderness, kindness, and forgiveness of God. I always felt poured into enough that I could try to pour out into others as well: Who do you know that doesn’t know Jesus? Where can you inhabit a place that you’re not just looking inward?”
Brandon Ball, a recent alumnus whose father had also attended RUF at MSU, echoed the sentiment.
“I met my best friend at the freshmen intro party,” Ball recalled. “Then at large group, small group, Sunday night fellowship, one-on-ones, you name it — I always felt plugged right in. The teaching was very relational — how do we respond to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ?”
“This ministry isn’t just about theology,” Ball added. “It’s about becoming vocational. About raising up leaders in the church.”
Two current students, Hannah and Elena, agreed. “RUF has a focus on teaching the gospel rather than getting caught up in other things,” Elena said. “Students are distracted: coming to large group and to small group helped to reorient myself on Jesus first and foremost.”
Hannah concurred. “I love the relational way of doing ministry here—it’s focused on knowing you, understanding you, and talking to you. I had a background in church, but when I walked into my first RUF event it felt like I heard the gospel for the first time.”
That personal connection remains a priority even today: asked to sum up RUF’s ministry in a single word, a group of current sophomores and juniors huddled for a moment before coming up with a single unifying description: “rooted.”
Future
Though reunions such as this one are extraordinary events, the true beauty of the church lies in its ordinary work — teaching, serving, worshiping, and growing — activities that are part of daily and weekly rhythms for believers. Indeed, though the 50th anniversary of RUF at MSU may feel exceptional, the founding of RUF in the 1970s means that more golden jubilees will take place as other RUF chapters mark this milestone.
Yet glorious though this weekend might have been, those present recognized that it is not nearly so glorious as the larger reality that it signals: the advance of Christ’s kingdom, and the joy in heaven over a single sinner repenting (Luke 15:7).
McCann, the current campus minister, noted that a commitment to Scripture, the Church, and reaching and equipping MSU students remains the ministry’s highest priorities.
“These three things are the unfurling realities that we want to keep for the next 50 years and beyond,” McCann observed. “A lot has changed on campus, but we pray that those things will never change.”
Amid these commitments, Ford Williams added one more: “Most of all,” he said, “I’m grateful for the students that the Lord gave me.”
A full recap of the 50th anniversary reunion weekend, including recordings of the panel discussions and teaching sessions, is available here.