The Campus Outreach Interview (ft. Audy Smothers)

We sat down with Audy Smothers, campus director for Campus Outreach at the University of Tennessee, to talk about how authentic relationships, gospel clarity, and a strong tie to the local church can turn a four-year whirlwind into a lifelong walk with Jesus.

Audy shares his own journey—from meeting Christ as a teen without discipleship to finding mentors who opened their homes and lives. That experience now fuels his work at UT, where the norm often leans toward nominal faith and cultural Christianity. We dig into the real pressures of SEC campus life, the subtle ways students drift, and the practices that help them move from “I’m good” to grounded: opening Scripture together, honest confession, and simple obedience in daily choices. You’ll hear a powerful testimony of a freshman who hid alcohol at the Orange and White game and, months later, trusted Christ, discipled others, and is now joining staff. It’s a vivid picture of multiplication in motion.

We also unpack why Campus Outreach prioritizes fun and real talk in the same room—because students keep showing up where they feel safe, seen, and challenged. From large-group gatherings to small groups and one-to-ones, the aim is to connect every student to a healthy local church so spiritual growth lasts beyond graduation. Audi highlights practical ways to get involved, the reality of spiritual warfare on campus, and why prayer and financial partnership matter for frontline ministry in Knoxville. If you care about the next generation, this conversation offers hope, strategy, and plenty of real-life stories from Rocky Top.

Transcript

Vision For Knoxville’s Ministries

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Knoxville is full of people who love this city, pastors, ministers, and everyday believers who want to see the gospel take root in every corner of our community. We want to sit down with local ministry leaders and hear their stories, how God is using them to make disciples, serve the city, and bring hope to the University of Tennessee and beyond. Because at the end of the day, we're not competing ministries or separate ministries. We're Together for the Joy of Knoxville.

Meet Audi Smothers

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Welcome to Together for the Joy of Knoxville, where we want to sit down with local pastors and ministry leaders to share how God is working in our city today. Today I'm joined with Audi Smothers, who is the campus ministry director for campus outreach here at the University of Tennessee.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Audi, we're thankful to have you, man. Dude, thankful to be here. Thanks for taking time on your schedule and with all the kids and the wife to be here. So for sure, man. For sure. Appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

So Audie, let's start with the first question. For those who might not be familiar, what is campus outreach and what is coming here hard behind the ministry?

What Campus Outreach Is

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Yeah, so campus outreach, we are an interdenominational ministry who are just seeking to serve the students at the University of Tennessee. So our mission statement is to glorify God by building labors on my college campus for the lost world, through the local church, for the kingdom of God. So a lot of a lot of prepositional phrases there, all rooted in scripture. But at the end of the day, we man, we just want to see people love Jesus. If someone doesn't know Christ, we want to help them know Jesus. And if someone already comes in with a saving relationship with Jesus, uh, we want to help them in discipleship. And what does that look like to walk with God?

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Tell us a little bit about yourself and where were you born? How'd you get connected with campus outreach? And what really led you to serve here in Knoxville?

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Yeah, man. Grew up in Northeast Alabama, which don't hold that against me. I grew up an Auburn fan. Uh and now I'm a converted Vol, so I love it. But grew up in Alabama, became a Christian there in my senior year of high school. And God radically changed my life. Um and I loved Jesus, but I had zero discipleship

Audi’s Story And Calling

SPEAKER_01 2:00

whatsoever. And so for me, I wanted to get plugged into a place that was uh all about discipleship and could teach me to share my faith, could teach me to read my Bible and really just walk me through what it looks like to love Jesus on a day-to-day life. And I met some people within campus outreach at Middle Tennessee State University, and they discipled me, brought me into their home. I lived with the guys on staff, and it just changed the way that I viewed scripture, changed the way that I viewed the world around me. And um, my senior year, they asked me, like, hey man, what are your thoughts on coming on staff? And I was like, Well, never thought about doing full-time ministry before, but those guys impacted me so much that I wanted to somehow do what they did for me for someone else. And if I could do that for one person, I was thankful. And now I've been on staff for five years and it's it's been a ride.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

That's awesome, man. That's awesome. Yeah. So college life can kind of be a whirlwind, right? What are some of the biggest spiritual challenges uh or opportunities that you see among students right now?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Yeah. Um, I think being here at the University of Tennessee, there there are no shortage of temptations and everything just seems to be kind of bigger and better here uh in the SEC culture. And so I think the norm is to not walk with God. And so if someone shows up on the college campus and it's like, I'm just gonna do my thing, majority of the times when someone's doing their thing, it's not honoring to the Lord. Um, and for me, that was just a little part of my life. Like I would have told you I was a Christian, but for 18 years of my life, I was not. I was not saved and have a saving relationship with Christ, but I would have told you I was because I grew up in Alabama. So someone growing up in Knoxville or coming here might be like, well, you know, I I think I'm a Christian. Or, you know, I'm a I'm down to dabble in the Christianity thing, but we want to help people biblically walk with Christ and know what it looks like to walk with him. And so I feel like some of the challenges to answer your question would be just the nominal Christianity of as long as I have a Bible verse in my bio, I'm good. Or I can go to the chapter Bible study or one time a week, maybe I go to church or do a campus outreach week uh weekly meeting and I'm good. Um, I would say those are kind of the norms and the challenge is someone seeing

Student Challenges And Nominal Faith

SPEAKER_01 4:06

another person really walk with Christ. Um and after they see that, it's like, wow, that's what it means to to walk with Jesus. And there's not a lot of people on the campus doing that. There are some, but it's not in abundance.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Yeah. So I tell us a story about maybe a moment or even a student testimony that's kind of encouraged you recently.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yeah, this is this is actually great timing because we are about to have one of our interns come on staff with us, which is so exciting. And looking back, uh, it was his freshman year. And there's a lot of other stories in between them, but this one's just recent and on my mind. Uh his freshman year, we were at the orange and white game, kind of like the preseason game for Tennessee. And he was not a believer. We kind of knew each other through just being on campus, and uh he had smuggled some alcohol in to the game and uh not outing the guy, not gonna say his name, but uh he smuggled it in. He set him behind me, and he was like, Man, I gotta hide my alcohol from this like religious guy. And I remember just even praying at that point, like, Lord, would you just save this man? Like, if he doesn't know you. And fast forward that next uh February, we're hanging out and we ended up having some gospel conversations. He comes to a conference with us, gets really involved in campus outreach. We start just an evangelistic relationship, which moves into a discipleship relationship. He comes to faith, he leads him into Christ his whole time. He's a senior now that he's been in college. And then now he's coming on staff with us. And so just to see a radically changed life through the sharing of the gospel, and then he's doing that with other people,

A Conversion Story From The Stands

SPEAKER_01 5:35

living that 2 Timothy 2-2 model out. Um, it's just been such an encouragement for us. Like sharing the gospel and doing ministry really does reap dividends because the more you share the gospel, seems like the more people come to faith. And watching him love Christ, and now he's in a godly relationship, he's coming on staff. Uh, it's just been a blessing to see his life. And it was all through Christ. But uh that's been an encouraging story recently.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

It's awesome. So, when students first get involved in campus outreach, what would you say is maybe one thing that really surprises them about really what your ministry is all about?

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah, I hope, I hope this is the case. This is what I've heard before from other people, but just authentic. Um, when people show up to our weekly meeting or they meet some of the staff on campus or some of the students, uh, we're not just trying to doll ourselves up and be like, oh yeah, we know everything, but it's just uh, man, we are sinners. Uh, and if you're a Christian, you're a sinner saved by the grace of God. And we don't claim to know everything, but we do claim to know the one who does. And so pointing people to scripture, um, pointing people to a saving relationship with Christ. And people don't have to come all dolled up and like know all the answers, but um, just kind of come as you are, and we're gonna share the gospel, we're gonna share our lives as well. And yeah, hopefully that's one of the things they see. It's just authentic. You don't have to be somebody else, but can just show up and you don't have to have all the answers.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Yeah, that's that's for sure really good, man. So Knoxville has so many great ministries. So, how are you or how do you see campus outreach partnering

Authenticity And Discipleship Culture

SPEAKER_00 7:00

with either other ministries, even other local churches in this in this Knoxville area?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Yeah, for us, man, like I I want to agree with that statement. There are so many other good ministries, either at the University of Tennessee or just other local churches that are sharing the gospel. So really thankful for you guys. Um, but then we want to connect students to the local church. That's the biggest thing for us. College ministry lasts four years, maybe five for some people taking the victory lap. Um, but at the end of the day, college ministry is just to help them walk with Jesus while they're in college. But we want to point them to a lifetime walk with Jesus. And so the church is the place. That's God's plan for discipleship, uh, to teach people how to share their faith, to walk with them through hard times, to be under good teaching. And so we want to be a ministry that points people to the local church, uh, knowing that we are not the end-all be-all, we are just an arm of the local church that maybe goes out and tries to reach the lost and disciple them. But that's one of our big goals. Get people plugged in for a lifetime.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

All right, let's make it a little bit of a lighter note. If you were to scribe campus outreach on the UT campus in three words,

Partnering With Local Churches

SPEAKER_00 8:05

what would you what words would you use to really describe those?

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Wow. Okay. Uh authentic. What I said earlier, um, just showing up as you are. That's a big thing for us. Not having to have all the answers. We don't claim to have all the answers, but again, want to point people to the one who does. So authentic, uh, real. We're actually going through a series this whole semester on let's be real, because that's what not only the world is craving, but especially college students, is we're not gonna shy away from the gospel. We're not gonna shy away from what the Bible teaches, but we're also gonna talk about the really hard things in culture that maybe seems like a gray area because we want to be real and people are tired of the fake. And so we want to be a place where you can actually talk about these things, whether it's in our large group weekly meeting or in our small groups or one-on-one discipleship. That's what we want to do. Uh, I think the other one would just be fun. I think when people feel like they can let their hair down and they look forward to showing up to things, God shows up and shows out in different ways because people have to actually show up uh to hear the gospel and to be discipled. And from at least my experience, students have said, man, Wednesday nights at 8:30, that's something I really look forward to.

Three Words: Authentic, Real, Fun

SPEAKER_01 9:15

And I plan my whole week around it because I want to be with you guys. I want to be with these other students who are walking through the same things as me. And it's just a ton of fun. Uh, and college is a time that you're supposed to have a good time. So we want to have that mix of uh people being discipled, knowing more about Christ, but also looking forward to the meeting and hanging out with each other and community.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

That's great. You can kind of create an environment where they want to look forward to it. Like we're on a campus, yeah. But they look forward to being in the presence of God, being with other believers, and also just having a good time that you know, Christians can have a good time. Oh, dude. So having a good time together as well.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Yeah, that's something that actually kept me away from God for 18 years of my life is I just thought, oh yeah, I'm just have to read my Bible and be up in my room all the time and never sin. And it was like, man, that is that is not what God calls us to. He came down in a sinful and broken world. Um, and he just revolution revolutionizes how we can go about this world and have fun at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

So outside of ministry, give us something that you love to do, you and your wife, you know, you're married, you have a wife, you have a little kid. Yeah. Uh what what do y'all love to do in your downtime?

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yeah. Uh well, we have a six-month-old now, so there's feels like there's not a lot of downtime. But when I am able to, I feel like just be a human and I love to golf, I love to go hunting. Um, I love just to to kick it with the guys and again have real conversations, go eat some good food in Knoxville. So I feel like I'm kind of just like a stock male of like the things

Life Outside Ministry

SPEAKER_01 10:40

that I like to do. Um, but yeah, those are those are some of the things. Anything UT sports, I'm all about it. So catch me doing those on a Saturday. Man, how does your family from Alabama feel about that? Uh, very indifferent. But I've been an Auburn fan kind of my whole life, uh, before converting to being a UT fan. So, man, I've I've been against Bama and Georgia my whole life. So it's really a little bit easier. Yeah, it's nothing new.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

All right, one last question. If students watching want to get connected to campus outreach, or even church members or other people want to support or get connected to what

How To Get Connected And Support

SPEAKER_00 11:10

you're doing, what's the best way for them to do that?

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah. Uh for a student, I would say check out our Instagram page, uh C-O- underscore UTK. Maybe we can throw that in the notes for something. Uh, that's a great place to get connected to us. You can also reach out to me or anyone that you know is involved in campus outreach. It's uh you don't have to sign up to just show up to our 830 weekly meeting. And we'd love to get you plugged into a small group of some sort, even if you don't know Christ, um, or if you do a discipleship group of some sort, that's a great way to get connected. Um, I'd say for any any parents or anyone involved, church members, I think just praying for our ministry is a huge thing. Uh, spiritual warfare is real and there's uh spiritual darkness on the campus, but I think it is so encouraging to see what the Lord is doing uh on college campuses all throughout the nation, but especially at the University of Tennessee. It's been really cool to see. And then lastly, it's just even we raise our full-time support, uh, being full-time missionaries on the college campus. And so if anyone would like to partner with us, we are in a major need of just monthly, yearly, one-time support to keep us on the campus doing ministry. And so um, we have a link. Maybe we can send that in there too. Sure. Comes out like any kind of monthly bill, and you know where it's going to. It goes 100% to us. And so we would love to talk to anyone who would be interested in partnering with us in ministry too.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Audio, we're so thankful, man, what you're doing here on campus.

Closing And Prayer For UT Campus

SPEAKER_00 12:30

We appreciate you and your wife just uh giving up of your time to be cool time, really missionaries on the college campus and where we're literally seeing an impact uh on the campus for God and seeing students, even conversations that we've had, we're seeing students get linked to Christ. And man, that's so encouraging. So we do, we want to pray for you. We're definitely gonna leave a link to where students you can get in touch with Audi and you can get contact and know uh where and when campus outreach is meeting, and as well for those people who want to either prayerfully support or financially support as they need that to as well. We'll leave a link to as well to where they can get connected with you. But brother, we just appreciate you. Yeah, thank you so much, man, for just everything you're doing. Hey, we are working together for the joy of Knox. And if you could be a part of what we're doing, or you want to be a part of what Campus Outreach is doing here, get connected with the body, or we'll help you get connected with them. Have a wonderful week. And as always, pray for the campus here at University of Tennessee. Thank you so much. Amen. Go boss.