According to Google Maps, there are 20 churches in the 20 square miles surrounding Waynesburg University’s campus. 

Students are “encouraged to attend and get involved with local churches in the area” as a way to fulfill the faith element of Waynesburg’s mission, according to Waynesburg University’s website. Additionally, there are events on campus to connect students with local churches, such as the open house that was held at the start of this semester. 

For some of those churches, Waynesburg University students aren’t just temporary additions to the congregation during the school year; for some students, these churches become permanent fixtures in their lives.

“I would say one of the most impactful ways that we have seen some of the efforts of the college students is we have a significant amount of college students that have started attending our church and have actually stayed in the community and become an integral part of our church on an ongoing basis, “ Jay Buckhalter, one of the founders of Waynesburg Bible Chapel, said. “We have college students that graduated 10, 12, 15 years ago and are living and very active in the church and community.”

We hace college students that graduated 10, 12, 15 years ago and are living and very active in the church and community.

Jay Buckhalter

Buckhalter estimates that there are approximately 60 to 70 students currently attending Waynesburg Bible Chapel, although he said that number tends to fluctuate as students “shop around.” Of those that attend, he said that it is not uncommon for students to take on responsibilities within the church body. Some of those include teaching Sunday school and running slides during worship service. 

Buckhalter said that college students don’t just provide valuable service to the church: they also benefit spiritually. 

“I’m a staunch believer in the fact that our faith is more of a verb than a noun. And so the activity that is expressed through our faith is evidence of it. It’s a demonstration and a consistent way of showing that there is an act of faith,” he said. “I’m not saying that if you’re not involved, that you don’t have a faith, but I’m just saying our faith should necessarily lead us to active involvement in some ministry in some way somewhere.”

“I’m a staunch believer in the fact that our faith is more of a verb than a noun. And so the activity that is expressed through our faith is evidenceof it. It’s a demonstration and a consistent way of showing that there is an act of faith.”

Jay Buckhalter

That active engagement in faith is important to Buckhalter. He said that it is one of many ways that young people can engage with their faith and make it their own.

According to a 2018 Pew Research study titled “About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated,” the percentage of adults who identify as Christian has been steadily falling and is down to 63% in 2021, compared to 78% in 2007. A reason for this? The number of college students leaving Christianity. A 2019 study conducted by Lifeway Research, an evangelical research firm, found that 66% of adults between the ages of 18 and 22 stopped attending church for at least a year.

According to Buckhalter, one of the reasons that young adults stop attending church is a sort of internal struggle over what they believe. He said that college students often realize that they no longer have the same faith as their parents and need to find their own. He said that attending a local church can provide a way to explore different ways to explore their faith without leaving it entirely.

“Being involved with the local church as you become an adult is an opportunity for your faith to actually be challenged and stretched and to become more personal,” he said.  “I think that one of the things that happens with the high school students who are leaving and going off to college, they’re choosing to maybe explore alternative lifestyles, lifestyles that are maybe not as consistent. And they kind of leave their faith behind. Many of them come back to it later in life, but have a lot of regrets of what maybe they lost during that time period,” he continued. “I think the ones that actually embrace their faith and and exercise it kind of have a leg up in terms of being able to maybe walk in a way that’s more consistent with Christ.”

I think the ones that actually embrace their faith and exercise it kind of have a leg up in terms of being able to maybe walk in a way that’s more consistent with Christ.

Jay Buckhalter

Buckhalter encouraged students to find a local church that is the right fit for them. He said he is committed to helping students find the right church for them- even if it isn’t Waynesburg Bible Chapel.

“There are lots of churches in Greene County that are maybe more your flavor than ours. And if that’s the case… let me know what you’re looking for and I’ll help you find another place,” he said. “At the chapel we view the church with a big ‘C,’ not like a ‘little c’ church where we are the only one. There are lots of churches in the county that minister in ways that we don’t or even can’t.”