“I hope that every single student on our campus will have opportunities to grow in their faith in Christ in the classroom, through athletics and all the places that God calls them to here,” Waynesburg University Chaplin, Josh Sumpter said.

Sumpter has served as Chaplain since 2019 when Reverend James Tinnemyer stepped down to become the next senior pastor at Southminster Presbyterian Church.

Sumpter has been dedicated to his work here at Waynesburg, and noted how he enjoys bringing in guest speakers throughout the semester to help “teach the message that’s rooted in scripture.” 

“I am really excited for the upcoming weeks right before spring break. We have two really gifted university counselors that both have ministry backgrounds. Counselor Ed Sutter, our newest counselor who started this fall of 2024, and Tim Thundberg, who was a pastor in Greensburg, PA,” Sumpter said.

Sutter is familiar with the pulpit. He used to work full-time ministry for seventeen years and has spoken at Chapel on two previous occasions. 

“In the past, Ed Sutter has talked about mental health and following Jesus in the intersection of the Christian faith and mental health. It’s given them space to do that in the Chapel setting as a gift to our students,” Sumpter said.

“I’ve always loved being able to speak and share the message from scripture,” Sutter said, noting how Sutter being able to make a connection between life with mental health and how faith is moving through everyone daily is the central idea and “tagline” of his sermon.

“It’s this sort of balance then of being able to realize that, ‘yes, this is hard.’ I’m not denying any of that. All of us go through difficult stuff, but then there’s the encouragement that one day there are things that will be restored,” Sutter said. “I’m always excited to be able to bring this to a message.”

In his sermon on Feb. 18, Sutter spoke about how the word of God can speak and connect to the struggles that people have.

John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

“That does two things: it allows us to recognize that we’re not alone in that, and it also allows us to be encouraged that there is redemption, there is resolution and that there is something new at the end of this [struggle],” Sutter said when referring to this portion of scripture.

Having worked in the South Hills of Pittsburgh for ministries, Sutter served at Westminster Presbyterian Church first as an intern, and then climbed his way into full-time youth ministry.

Sutter used John 16:33 in his sermon to preach how we all have our strains in life, but then ask ourselves where to find hope in the midst of it, which is Jesus, who has overcome the world.

Thunberg, a 2003 graduate from then, Waynesburg College, will be the guest speaker on Feb. 25, which will be the final Chapel service before students head into spring break. Thunberg will be talking about the love God gives to everyone and how it can affect people in their connection with others.

 “I’m going to share a specific story from scripture, talk about the unconditional love of God, how we can exhibit that as people as well and how it can benefit our relationships in that way,”  Thunberg said.

In part with the message, Thunberg will use the passage from John about the women caught in adultery.

“Show people unconditional love in their daily lives and how that can reflect the love of God,” Thunberg said.

Starting on March 18, Becky Juliano from Coalition for Christian Outreach will speak at Chapel, and then Waynesburg University President Douglas G. Lee will be speaking on Charter Day, March 24.

“Then we’ll also go into the ‘Testimony Tuesday’ series, where we have a student and employee sharing part of their testimony and their story,” Sumpter said.

To kickstart “Testimony Tuesday” on April 1, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communication & Sports Information Director, Andy Stanko, as well as senior Sports Media major Meg Barry will speak.