In his 28 years as a Reformed University Fellowship campus minister, Kevin Twit has seen the PCA’s college ministry expand into more colleges and more cultures. As RUF celebrates 50 years, Twit spoke with byFaith about why he’s excited for RUF’s future and the hymn sing concert that will take place at the 50th General Assembly.
As RUF celebrates a milestone anniversary, what encourages and excites you the most?
The growth of cultural diversity and the kind of campuses we go to — whether Ivy League, HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), RUF-I, and RUF Global … . Being on different kinds of campuses and in areas where the PCA hasn’t typically been has raised questions of context that are good for the denomination. It’s had some challenges, too.
Tell me what’s new with the Indelible Grace movement and RUF music more generally.
I want to do a new record in the next year or two and have gathered some really great new songs. My son and I have started touring, and we made a video series on the gospel and hymns on Teachable.
The fact that RUF groups are led by ordained pastors has always given us a particular concern about the way the songs we sing are shaping our students. Worship is formative, like it or not. Within RUF we have had an ongoing conversation about what actually is RUF music. We have had some very helpful discussions and sought to diversify the musical styles we use at our conferences and on campus.
We want to to celebrate that growth with the hymn sing this summer. It fits well with the General Assembly theme, “Bright Hope for Tomorrow.”
There was an Indelible Grace concert at the Ryman Auditorium during the 2010 General Assembly in Nashville. How will this one be different?
Some people want us to redo the Ryman concert, but RUF is different now. We want to to celebrate that growth with the hymn sing this summer. It fits well with the General Assembly theme, “Bright Hope for Tomorrow.” So we will have some new artists involved, and we are going to have a horn section and a gospel choir (led by Marcus Nobles, RUF campus associate at Alabama A&M). Russ Whitfield will sing “Heal Us, Emmanuel,” and my son Cooper will join us this time, along with many of the Indelible Grace artists people have come to love over the years like Sandra McCracken, Matthew Smith, and Jeremy Casella.
The good thing about college ministry is you can try new things. I want to celebrate how God has grown RUF in the 10 years since the Ryman show.