University of Memphis
Join us Tuesday nights at 7:45 PM in the UC
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Welcome to RUF Memphis, RUF has been serving all types of students on the campus of Memphis for the past twenty years. We like to say we are a ministry for the masses. Our aim in RUF is to create a safe place for all students to explore Christianity and grow in their understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him in community with others at the UofM. We are here for the “convinced” and the “unconvinced,” the lost, the found, the burned, bored, cynical and spiritual. We invite you, no matter where you are in the process, to RUF at the University of Memphis.
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Meet Our Team
John Crosby
John was born and raised in what he firmly believes as God’s country, Columbia, South Carolina. He graduated from Bryan College, in Dayton Tennessee, in 1996. The year prior to that he spent a summer in Macon, Mississippi at Lake Forest Ranch where he was a camp counselor and got to hang out with students by day and write sappy love notes to the Girl Counselor in Cabin 5 by night. In August of 1997, John convinced Girl Counselor in Cabin 5 to marry him, and Trina, a die hard football fan, who graduated from the University of Alabama that same year, became his bride. John later earned a Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, and he was ordained at Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis in 2008, where he served for 7 years. He then served at Lexington Presbyterian Church in Lexington, South Carolina for almost 4 years, and he has currently been serving as Student Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Rome, Georgia. In the spring of 2016, John was called as the RUF Campus Minister to the University of Memphis. John is humbled that after so many years in ministry, he has been given the opportunity to continue living out his dream and passion of hanging out and loving students and teaching them about the crazy, radical, free and unmerited love of Jesus. John and Trina are the exhausted parents of three loud, dirty, silly, amazing boys. They sometimes answer to the names of Charlie (13), Henry (10) and Max (7).
Carey Helms
Carey (Horne) Helms grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina. She graduated from The University of North Carolina Wilmington with a degree in Secondary English Education. Carey was introduced to RUF her freshman year at UNCW and says it was the sweetest part of her college experience. She loves playing sports and wants to coach high school volleyball one day. Her favorite things include sundrop slushies, reality TV (especially The Bachelor), and sunrise surfing. She is excited to get to know the students at the University of Memphis and eat some good barbecue!
Justin Helms
Justin grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina, right outside of Charlotte. He attended Anderson University in Upstate South Carolina where he played college baseball for four years and received a bachelor's degree in Christian Studies. Upon graduation, Justin married his high school sweetheart, Carey, who took a job with RUF at the University of Memphis. Doing ministry alongside Carey was Justin's first exposure to RUF, and he is excited to join the staff at Memphis! Justin enjoys watching and playing any kind of sports (go Braves, go Panthers, go Grizz), watching movies, and playing with their golden retriever, Dansby. Justin is most excited to come alongside college students in their understanding of the beauty of the Gospel and how it radically changes their lives.