On the weekend of Sept. 6 and 7, 60 Waynesburg University Students gathered for Campus Ministry’s annual Fall Retreat at Camp Cornerstone, located approximately 20 minutes from campus. During this time, students had the chance to create memories, develop friendships and explore their faith away from campus and in everyday life, according to Josh Sumpter, who serves as assistant professor of Biblical and Ministry Studies and University Chaplain. 

Sumpter explains that the fall retreats aim to connect students with one another and the Christian community on campus.

 “We started this retreat as a way to help students get connected with Christian community on campus and to provide an early opportunity for students to take intentional time to grow in their faith, especially at the beginning of the semester when people are trying to make friends, especially first-year students,” Sumpter said.“All students at Waynesburg University are welcome to go on the retreat, but one of our aims is just to connect students with students. Our vision for it and the tagline that we use is to grow in Christ and grow in community.” According to Sumpter, out of the 60 students who attended the retreat, approximately one-third of those were first-year students, while the rest were returning students. 

Freshman Public Relations major, Annabelle Bagley, attended the event and felt that she gained everything she was hoping for. Bagley is already involved on campus in the Department of Communication,, Student Activities Board and the Pro-Life club. 

“I got to spend intentional time with the Lord, which I don’t do enough of ‘cause I’m so busy,” Bagley said. “So when Chaplain was talking about pulling back and retreating into the Lord, that’s what I took that day to do. I just made sure to focus on that and also made friendships with other Christians.” 

In addition to mealtimes, worship and community time, Sumpter and those who helped plan the retreat offered opportunities to go hiking, sit around a campfire and play volleyball together. 

Senior Education major and Campus Ministry Assistant, Rachel Davis said that this year on the retreat, students had more unstructured time to make connections and spend intentional time, which has been her favorite part of the retreat in the four years she has attended. 

 “Rather than just getting fed a lot of information, we had time to actually get a little information and then apply it to our own life and to reflect and to ask the Lord to intervene in that space,” Davis said.

Regarding Campus Ministries future events, Sumpter said that they are looking into offering a similar event for the spring semester. This is so students who were not able to attend the fall retreat can have another chance to connect with other students and with their faith. “There’s going to be some intentional opportunities off campus where you can grow in Christ and grow in community,” Sumpter said, “and then of course next fall, 2025, look at the campus ministry Instagram @WU_Campus_Ministry or just be checking your email because we’ll make sure to get that information to you.”