Nearly a year after former RUF campus minister Ron Brown announced that he would be moving to Panama City Beach, Fla. to pastor a PCA church, the RUF search committee has chosen and called Rev. Scott Wells of Hixson, Tenn. to be the RUF campus minister at Covenant. He will begin his tenure as the RUF campus minister at Covenant this upcoming fall semester.
According to the RUF website, Rev. Wells grew up in Virginia Beach, Va. and is a graduate of James Madison University and Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Fla. During his time at James Madison, Wells met his current wife, Jennifer, and they were married in 1996. The Wells family has lived in the Chattanooga area since 2005 with their two children, Karisa and Harrison.
Wells has been involved in ministry since his college days. As an undergraduate student, he and Jennifer were both involved in campus ministry. For a time, Wells served as an assistant pastor in the PCA in Tennessee, and most recently served on staff with Harvest USA, a ministry that reaches out to those struggling with sexual sin and brokenness.
When asked what excites him most about doing ministry work, Wells replied, “I am energized by the parts of pastoral ministry that connect the gospel of Jesus Christ to the particular areas of hurt, struggle, and brokenness that people experience in the sin and fallenness of this life and this world.”
Wells has demonstrated a clear passion for loving students, preaching God’s word, and engaging in Christian fellowship, particularly on the college campus. “I am encouraged by and supportive of the mission and vision of Covenant College,” he said. “I'm looking forward to the ways RUF can be a partner and serve students.
“I believe the college's mission fits with RUF's vision for helping students meet Jesus, grow in relationship with Jesus, and know how their identity of belonging to and being loved by Jesus shapes the way they interact with the people and world around them.”
Covenant has been blessed with the leadership of RUF intern Barr Overcast this year, who has graciously and competently filled the interim campus minister role for RUF this entire school year.
“I’m really excited to see how the Lord uses Scott at Covenant,” Overcast said. “He has a great heart for discipleship. I’ve had just two conversations with him and he’s already spoken into my life in amazing ways.”
Sophomore student and RUF enthusiast Faith Mydlowski agreed with Overcast, and was especially thrilled about Wells’ family: “I am excited to have a younger minister come who has a family that wants to serve the students alongside him. The family is sacrificially moving homes to physically be more present on the mountain and [when he spoke in RUF last week] he mentioned multiple times that his wife is supportive and excited.”
Students, faculty, and staff alike are eager to welcome Rev. Wells and his family into the Covenant community beginning in the fall. RUF would also like to extend a warm thank-you to Barr Overcast and his wife, Becca, for their faithful service to RUF this year.
RUF is the official campus ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America which seeks to “reach students for Christ and equip them to serve.” These two components are the driving force behind the ministry of RUF, combining the evangelistic mission of the church with Christ’s call to make disciples of the nations. This vision is carried out through large group, small group, and one-on-one meetings that prepare students for a life of faith in Christ that is eager to proclaim the great things of the gospel to the world.
RUF at Covenant meets on Tuesday mornings at 11:00 a.m. in the Caudle Room in Mac/Rymer.