Warren Wilson College and the Church
The story of our congregation’s connection to Warren Wilson College starts at the very beginning.
Warren Wilson College (then the Asheville Farm School for Boys) was founded on land purchased in 1893 by the Women’s Board of Home Missions of the (northern) Presbyterian Church.
For more than a century, the church and the school/college were one inseparable institution. Chapel attendance was required of students and expected of faculty and staff.
That requirement was lifted in 1972. Ever since then, religious and spiritual life at the college have become more diverse, as has the membership of our congregation.
Today, church members and visitors come from all walks of life, not just from the campus community but from Asheville, Black Mountain, Swannanoa and even as far away as Marion. This diversity greatly enriches our congregation.
The church and the college now have separate missions: the church to help build the kingdom of God on earth; the college to provide high quality liberal arts education. Yet we still prize our historic relationship with Warren Wilson College. Indeed, the beautiful sanctuary in which we worship is, in fact, the college chapel.
We are not just neighbors. Warren Wilson College and the Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church are partners in making the world a better place.
For Students
Our connection to Warren Wilson College is one of the things that makes our church community unique. And we especially love having students in our midst!
Warren Wilson students help lead worship on Sunday morning and they sing in our choir and play music for Sunday morning worship.
Students serve on our ministry teams and volunteer with Room in the Inn, a rotating women’s shelter we co-host twice a year, with support from the Service Learning Office on campus. (And, yes, they get service credit for doing so.)
But wait, there’s more!
Members of the college farm crew, and several other crews, help install a stunning harvest display in our sanctuary every Thanksgiving. And students from across the campus help us fill Christmas gift boxes every December, which they deliver to poor families in War, West Virginia, as part of a weekend service trip.
And that’s only some of what we do together!
Our pastor, Steve Runholt, collaborates closely with Shannon Spencer, the Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life at Warren Wilson College, to plan other worship services, volunteer activities and service projects on campus and off. Their efforts along these lines are greatly enhanced and strongly supported by the Church/College Relations Team on the church side, and the Spiritual Life crew on campus.
You can learn more about Brian and Spiritual Life at Warren Wilson College here.
Did we mention we love having students in our midst? If you are one, we hope you’ll come join us some time. There is a place for you here!
