[263] MTSU student ministry hosting ‘Thicker Than Water’ watch party

Local cast of Bravo reality show to attend Nov. 24 event

MURFREESBORO — A new student ministry group at Middle Tennessee State University is introducing itself to campus by hosting a viewing party Sunday night for a new reality TV show with heavy local ties.

C.L.U.B. Destiny, a nondenominational group, will host a special viewing of the latest episode of “Thicker than Water: The Tankards,” a new reality show broadcast nationally on the Bravo network featuring the family of Murfreesboro couple Ben and Jewel Tankard, co-pastors of Destiny Center church on Memorial Boulevard in Murfreesboro.

The hourlong show, which airs at 8 p.m. CST each Sunday on Bravo, follows the lives of successful gospel jazz musician Ben Tankard, his business-minded wife, Jewel, and their blended family. As described by Bravo, a division of NBCUniversal, “this southern family integrates their strong religious conviction with their penchant for the finer things in life.”

The Tankard couple recently appeared on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” promoting the show, which drew 1.85 million viewers for its Nov. 17 episode, according to Nielsen. Learn more about the show at http://www.bravotv.com/thicker-than-water.

Cast members will be on hand for the event, which is free and open to the public and will be held in the State Farm Room of the MTSU Business and Aerospace Building. A printable campus map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap13-14.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Sunday with light refreshments in the lobby area, with the show to air at 8 p.m. The cast will answer questions during commercial breaks, and questions can be submitted beforehand via Twitter and Facebook using the hash tag #MTThickerThanWater.

MTSU junior RuChadd Bivins, a business administration major and Jackson, Tenn., native, is C.L.U.B. Destiny’s president and a member of Destiny Center, which sponsors the college ministry. The group’s mission is to minister to college students “with simplicity” with an ultimate goal of “leading them back to Christ.” The C.L.U.B. in the group’s names stands for Christ Leading Us Back.

“I feel our mission with the viewing party is a launch to garner support for our ministry and the show and inform our campus that a new organization is approaching and open to all,” Bivins said. “We want to infect the campus with the love of Christ. If you believe it, you can do it.”

Students interested in joining C.L.U.B. Destiny can contact Bivins via email at reb3d@mtmail.mtsu.edu.